Edana Nonwovens Symposium: Rome June 4th-5th 2003

Key Points

• The development of 3-layer spun-laced nonwovens containing pulp promises to allow further wipes-substrate cost reduction by removing the need for the more expensive viscose fibres.
• As a step on the way to viscose elimination, the development of a 3-layer viscose/PP/viscose substrate with 75% PP offers cost reduction and better release of lotion.
• A 36 gsm 3-layer laminate of spunbond PP with a pulp core contained 20gsm of pulp.
• A semi-durably hydrophilic polyester staple also allows spunlaced wipes substrates with minimal viscose content.
• A breathable backsheet with comfort levels between microporous film and SMS is claimed to result from a 3-layer laminate of conulated film, melt blown and spunbond.
• “Extreme Modularity” in diaper machinery, said to be used by P&G and K-C, allows the production of training pants and diapers on the same line.
• A long-fibre card-less air-layer allows heavier weight nonwovens to be made with two layers. Powders and scrims can be easily added to allow, for instance, through-air powder bonded high-loft structures without use of bico fibres.

Introduction

Krzysztof D. Malowaniec (Paul Hartrmann - Germany) opens the meeting

Approximately 300 delegates, 12 from the USA, braved the heat, traffic and expense of a flaming Roman June to hear 18 diverse papers loosely linked by the themes of Strategy, Markets, Value, Environmental Benefits, New Materials and Machinery Development. As often happens with EDANA programs, the days are so full of speeches that the opportunities for networking and speaker cross-examination are limited. Nevertheless the audience appeared well satisfied with the event and looked forward to meeting again in Barcelona in June of next year.

World Market Update

Tom Van Gyseghem of Arthur D Little ( Belgium ) updated the 1999 survey of nonwovens in Europe presented at the EDANA Nonwovens Symposium in Prague . The current study was based on 35 interviews throughout the value chain and conversations with industry experts.

The key points:
• In 2006 world production will be 5.14 million tonnes; Western World growth will be 5% and the emerging countries 10-15%, giving an overall 7% CAGR.
• Most growth will be in the Middle East (CAGR 15%: Turkey , Israel and Saudi Arabia being the leaders) with Asia/Pacific at 11%, Rest of World 10%, and US/Europe at 5%.
• Recent growth in Asia has been entirely due to China : other major Asian nonwovens markets ( Korea , Japan , Taiwan ) declined.
• China continues to show the largest growth potential.
• Within Europe, Germany and Italy are the key producing countries; the former being strong in huge volume high speed lines while the latter favours smaller more flexible production.
• While wipes have grown at 25% between 1996 and 2001, this will reduce to 9% over the period from 2002 to 2006.
• Hygiene growth will similarly decline from 10% (1996-01) to 5% (2002-06) p.a.
• Overcapacity, a slowdown in innovation and a slowdown in industry consolidations characterise the current nonwoven roll-goods scene.
• Structural factors (commoditization, market saturation, consolidation failures, private label pressures) and cyclical factors (RM price increases, health care savings programs, slowdown in investment) combine to cause low profitability. European NW producers profitability is ~2%.
• Raw materials now account for 60% of total manufacturing cost.
• Half of world growth with be in spunlaid production.
• Worldwide market for web-forming and web-bonding equipment in 2002 was €700million: €450M in webforming, mainly spunlaid, and €250M in bonding, mainly needling.
• Most investment will be in China , Turkey , India , Korea , Taiwan .
• Chinese machine makers are beginning to break in to the Western equipment supply market.

In response to a question, Mr Van Gyseghem said that niche products were now providing the profitability for the roll goods producers, but large scale commodity production is needed to sustain the big-business approach to innovation. Learning to combine these extremes was a key to success. He recommended a book: “Innovation Premium” by a colleague at ADL.

China Market Update

Mr Wang Yanxi of CNTA ( China ) could not be present to give his paper, but the written version was available.
• Average annual growth of nonwovens production since 1978 was 23%
• 477,700 tonnes of nonwovens were produced in 2002 representing 0.36kg/capita.
• >90% of this feeds the domestic market.
• 71% were dry-laid and 29% were spunmelt
• Of the dry-laid, 145,000 tonnes were needled, 21,500 tonnes were spunlaced and 15,000 tonnes were airlaid.
• The spunlaced was produced on 18 lines, 7 of which used imported (western) machinery.
• The 128,000 tonnes of spunmelt is produced on 76 lines (65 PP, 10 PET and 1 SMS) Half of these lines were produced in China .
• Waddings (120,000 tonnes) remained the largest application.
• Hygiene/medical used 78,000 tonnes and Household/Wipes used 28,000 tonnes.

Nonwovens Declining

Teruo Yoshimura of the All Nippon Nonwovens Association ( Japan ) said Japan 's deflation had caused drastic restructuring of the nonwovens industry, which had declined by 5% in 2001 and 1% in 2002. Imports had increased by 70% since 1998 (30,000 to 51,000 tpa) but these changes were minor compared with the effects of deflation on the textile and fibre producers.

Over the same period, exports had also risen, from 24000 to 30000 tpa but the value of exports, 1461 Yen/kg was very much higher than the value of the imports (406 Yen/kg). 21% of these exports go to the USA and only 7% to Europe , so Mr Yoshimura felt that new emphasis on the European market was required. He drew some comfort from the fact that the decline was in commodity products, not in the high value specialities.

Of the 296,000 tonnes of nonwovens produced in Japan in 2002, 86,000 were needled, 83,000 were spunmelt, 42,000 were thermal bonded, 38,000 were latex bonded and 17,000 were spunlaced.

2003 had started well with Q1 nonwoven shipments up 2.6% over last year, but prices were still too low for comfort. Domestic demand (Production plus imports less exports) remained strong and did not show any decline over the deflationary period.

He felt the future lay in further developments of quality products made to Health, Environment, IT and Living themes:
• Biodegradable nonwovens
• Flushable and biodegradable diapers
• Stain-free materials using photo-catalysis
• Antimicrobials
• Industrial waste management nonwovens
• Chemical absorbing masks (esp formaldehyde)
• Anti-virus masks
• Anti-pollen masks
• Products for old age, e.g. Incontinence products, compresses for aches and pains.
• Fuel-cell separators
• PTT polymer for ultra soft nonwovens
• Aramid nonwovens for tyre reinforcement
• Precision Wipes (e.g. for LCD displays)
• Antistatic and electromagnetic shielding nonwovens

Hydrophilic Polyester for Wipes

Michael Witschas of Dupont-Sabanci Polyester ( Germany ) introduced their new Hydrofix® fibre which addresses the problem of finish wash-off in hydroentanglement. The fibre was “semi-durably” hydrophilic and the only clue he provided to how this had been achieved was to say what they had not done: i.e used plasma treatment, which was too slow and costly, or modified the polymer, which would make the fibre weaker. His definition of semi-durable was that the hydrophilicity would survive wet processing and several further wet extractions.

Comparisons of Hydrofix® with viscose in wet-wipe structures showed it to have:
• Better total absorbency and a sink time of 3 seconds compared with 1 for viscose and >600 for PES after hydroentanglement.
• In the nonwoven drop absorption test, the drop disappeared in 108 microseconds compared with 20 microseconds for viscose and 50 microseconds for the viscose/Hydrofix® blend.
• It has the same strength as regular polyester and gives HE fabrics 2-3 times as strong as viscose.

Asked publically about the cost, he could not say more than that it would be at a premium. Did they modify the polymer in any way? No: the process involved an aftertreatment to the fibre. In private conversation he said the price was likely to be nearer viscose than polyester. They had not used alkali hydrolysis to make the surface hydrophilic, neither had they grafted a surfactant to it. Wipes made from 100% of the fibre pass the lotion-drainage-in-storage test.

Better Lotion Release

Niina Salonoja of J W Suominen ( Finland ) described their development of a new wet-wipe substrate. The converters need strength with softness, wettability, absorbency and bulk and these properties were largely met with current market leading products. However, functionality, as perceived by the consumer, could be improved by providing better release of the liquid onto the surface. The standard 65% viscose/35% polyester substrate only needed absorbency for holding the lotion in place in the pack: in use it retained too much fluid. Increasing the synthetic content or moving to PP from PET both improved release, but compromised the in-pack performance.

The solution in all its elegant simplicity was to separate the viscose and synthetic into layers which will release the fluid more easily and hence allow the wipe to be made with less fluid addition in the first place. The 3-layer product, essentially a PP core with thin viscose skins, required three cards prior to HE.

Testing using a Dynamic Wiping Device provided proof of principle by showing that an 80/20 PP/viscose substrate released 75% of the simulated lotion (Triton X100) in 6 wipes compared with 56% for the 100% viscose. Further testing was carried out on a layered 70/30 PP/viscose blend in comparison with the 33/67 PET/Viscose standard. The layered product had a total free absorbency of 10.5 g/g compared with 8.5 g/g for an intimate blend of the same fibre composition, and 10.0g/g for the PET/Viscose control. Lotion release improved to 80% compared with 67% for the control.

Porosimetry measurements showed that the layered structure collapses more completely under pressure and hence retains less fluid. Clearly the main unspoken attraction of this approach will be the saving in costs for the nonwoven producer who needs to buy less viscose, and the converter who needs to use less lotion. Privately she confirmed they had tested the new fabric to prove it had sufficient vertical wicking to allow the top layer of a wipes pack to stay wet in prolonged storage

New Spunlace Structures

Mr Münstermann of Fliessner Maschinenfabrik ( Germany ) provided an update of developments on their Aquajet™ system. The newer claims were:
• Their twin-belt wet-out system with through-belt HE allows 10gsm webs to be processed on the line as a whole
• 300m/min was the top line speed quoted, 200m/min being the top speed for aperturing.
• 7m wide lines can now be made.
• They have an exclusive licence for 3-layer production with pulp filling whether tissue or air-lay. (From Georgia Pacific).
• Structuring or embossing the webs increases their bulk by 50-100%.
• Spunbond-fluff-spunbond structures allow 75% pulp to be used. (Collaboration with Reifenhauser)
• A 60 gsm SFS embossed wipe fabric is 1.2mm thick and costs €0.925/kg cf €1.52/kg for 60gsm viscose/PET with a 0.6mm thickness. Without embossing the SFS structure would cost €0.762/kg. (All costs for raw materials only)
• For 200gsm and above they can now process direct from a tuft-feeder, avoiding the cost of cards. (Collaboration with Trutzschler).

In response to questions, Mr Münstermann said embossing does not affect strength but increases fabric elongation. The lightest 3-layer staple product is currently 40gsm (10/20/10 PES/pulp/PES). 8gsm spunbond could also be used on the outside to reduce the weight further.

Better Breathable Backsheet

Dr Antonietta Splendiani of Tredegar Film Products ( Italy ) identified a gap in the breathable fabrics market. SMMS products provide excellent breathability but poor barrier performance while microporous films provide excellent barrier performance and poor comfort.

To fill the gap Tredegar has created a laminate of conulated film, melt-blown nonwoven and a spunbond, where the perforated cones of the film are upside down creating a raised surface to the composite. The spunbond only contributes abrasion resistance to the other outer surface. When a conulated film with a hydrostatic head of 32mm is laminated to a meltblown with a hydrohead of 305mm the composite had a hydrohead of 686mm. Dr Splendiani thought this was useful synergy rather than evidence that lamination reduced the permeability of the apertured film.

With regard to breathability the new laminate tested at 21,000 g/m 2 /day compared with 40,000 for SMMS and 5000 for a microporous film with a hydrohead of 877mms. Wearer trials showed that the humidity inside the new laminate rose more slowly, to lower peak levels and decayed more rapidly (when exercise ceased) than in the commercial “breathable” control. Tredegar will also develop a version for diaper backsheet use.

Disposables Production Revolution?

Thilo König of GDM ( Italy ) described how their latest “extreme modularity” approach to diaper making would allow the manufacture of training pants and diapers on the same line simply by switching 3 modules. Slides illustrating both the P&G and KC use of the principle with the BT 600 TP system were shown.

The various modules making up the line were independent and were built and tested as stand-alone units, to be assembled on site in whatever way the customer required.

Softness and Touch

Catherine Renault-Hartmann of BBA Nonwovens Corovin ( Germany ) noted that our overall impression of softness is made up of 5 key elements:
• Surface structure
• Stiffness
• Volume or bulk
• “Climate” – does it feel dry, wet, warm, cold, squeaky, slippery)
• Appearance

Every market needs a different combination of these elements. For instance diaper topsheet softness judgement relies mainly on surface structure and appearance and improving other softness elements could be wasting money. For surgeons gowns the key elements were stiffness, surface structure and appearance. Regional differences in the perception of softness exist also, Asian needs differing greatly from US needs.

The Value of Binders

Dr Holger Poths of Air Products Polymers ( Germany ) provided an overview of latex-bonding en-route to showing how their new Airflex EP1188 emulsion could improve resistance to moisture without spoiling the moisture vapour transmission rate.

EP1188 is a vinyl acetate ethylene copolymer with FDA approval, ultra-low (<5ppm) formaldehyde, and free of alkyl phenol ethoxylates. When 15-20 gsm is added to SMS or air-laid pulp nonwovens a contact angle of 91-93 degrees is obtained along with a hydrostatic head of up to 180mms. This is achieved without any lowering of the Moisture Vapour Transmission Rate.

In response to a question, he could not provide a copolymer spin-finish to make viscose hydrophobic.

Long-Fibre (and powder) Air-Lay

Akiva Pinto of Bettarini and Sefarini SRL ( Italy ) introduced a new long-fibre air-lay system that produced heavy felts directly from what looked like a traditional chute feed to a card. The Bemaformer® works with two fibre feed streams to give a two sided product and can also incorporate powders and scrims. The result could be a 100% PET high-loft nonwoven with a 10 kilo/m 3 density or could be compressed into denser structures.

The two fibre feeds to the Bemaformer® are provided by two Bemablow® units which in turn can be fed from Bemamixers® which improve the fibre blend or incorporate powders and chemicals (e.g for fire retardant). Bemaopener® units process the fibre feed to the mixers.

The system can process wool, glass, bico, kenaf, card waste, foam chips with shoddy, and ground-up carpet waste. Woodpulp was also possible! Throughput could be 1 tonne per hour but whether this was per meter width on the 2.5 meter wide line was not clear.

Absorbing Spillages

Robert Van Langeveld of New Pig ( Holland ) reviewed the evolution of oil absorbents from an outlet for waste melt-blown fabrics to the specifically designed systems for:
• Removing oil spillages from sea water, in harbours as well as in major incidents.
• Removing hydrocarbons from drinking water in water treatment plants
• Containing oil leakage from machinery, especially in the metal-working industry
• Cleaning up emergency spillages of oil and fuel in road accidents.

The key product development which “changed the paradigm” was the absorbent sock, a tube of spunbond which could be filled with a variety of cost-effective absorbents according to the problem and local conditions. Waste nonwovens, melt-blowns, vermiculite, straw had all been used.

The key market development was the MRO (Machine Run-Off Oil) which allowed the products to be used to prevent spillages and to keep the working environment in workshops safer and cleaner. The metal-working and chemical industries had become the leading users of these products. Rolls, pads and the more sophisticated disposable mats weighed from 175 to 400 gsm and sold for €8 to €14/kg.

Perhaps unsurprisingly with such a good mark-up on the PP granule price, the industry was now beginning to suffer from what Mr Van Langeveld called a cowboy element. It needed industry standards covering the strength and capacity of the products. Edana had taken the first step of establishing a sub-committee to look at test methods. Commoditisation was also becoming an issue. Incineration is the preferred disposal route, New Pig products being practically ash-free.

Nonwovens for absorbing spillages

Mr Büchsel of Schoeller and Hoesch (France) continued the oil absorbent theme from the standpoint of a fabric producer, pointing out that cleaning up major spills needs a high capacity product with fast uptake that can be delivered to the scene of the spill quickly. Melt-blown PP could be formed into booms, pillows, sheets, rolls and sweeps to replace the fluff, waste, cotton, sawdust, clay, and calcined diatomaceous earth now used. The products needed to have maximum capacity for rapid accidental spillage clean-up and here low strength was acceptable. However for preventative use, higher strength products with high abrasion resistance (spun bond skins) were needed and here the absorbent capacity could be lower. Contaminated products were covered by the hazardous waste directive and needed separate collection and storage in special containers. To absorb and dispose of 1 tonne of oil using the melt-blown products would cost €624 compared with €1200 for the cheaper powders. Furthermore 1 tonne of oil could be absorbed by 40kgs of MB and leave 20gms ash after incineration, cf 1 tonne of ash if diatomaeceous earth was the absorbent.

The main producers of the systems for oil clean-up were 3M, New Pig, and SPC in the USA and these all export to Europe . Ecotextil (Cz) and S&H (Fr) were the European producers. The system approach was however being spoiled by dumping of excess melt-blown capacity into this market.

Clay-filled Landfill Liners

Dr Han-Yong Jeon of Chonman National University ( Korea ) described the development of a clay-filled polyester for use in landfills. Here there is a problem of toxic inorganic compounds in the leachate and the clay helps the polyester to absorb these toxins. In the study presented, 12 denier staple fibre containing 2-3% of clay had been needled into fabrics from 272 to 1500 gsm and compared with similar products without the clay. The clay product had about twice the toxin absorption efficiency as the regular polyester. At one extreme the clay had no effect on iron absorption, and at the other it removed ~95% of the cadmium and lead compared with ~37% for the unfilled polyester.

Why limit the filler to 3%? Because the strength specification for landfill liners cannot be met with higher concentrations. Dr Jeon explained that in use the leachate can reach 80 0 C and has a pH above 8 so that a polyester needlefelt loses half its original strength. There was no consideration of how long the liner might remain effective.

Nonwovens in Furniture

Max Castellani of ATEX ( Italy ) enumerated the requirements the furniture construction industry placed on spunbonds:
• Good barrier to liquids and dust-mites
• Antimicrobial
• Low flam
• Good aesthetics
• Available in a wide range of colours to match the face fabrics.
• Good light fastness
• Breathable
• Sewable/heat sealable

The furniture industry also needed nonwovens for use in the finishing process:
• Polishing wipes
• Anti-scratch surface protectors
• Transit Blankets

Wipes had to be very soft microfibre materials to avoid scratching. Dry wipes were needed for dusting, wet-wipes which can release the lotion and reabsorb it were needed for polishing

Improving Barrier Performance

Clemens Tuente of Cognis ( Germany ) described work aimed at improving the alcohol, oil and static properties of SMS without spoiling the hydrostatic head. Cognis targeted an improvement in alcohol repellency ranking from 2 to 10, in oil repellency from 0 to 7 and a reduction in electrical resistance from 10 13 to 10 11 ohms by using combinations of their fluorocarbons, extenders and antistats.

Unfortunately the drying/curing temperatures required for the fluorocarbon were close to the melting point of PP, and the heat treatment spoiled the water barrier performance (hydrostatic head test, HH). Furthermore the HH was also adversely affected by the antistats used.

Mr Tuente concluded that with a low melting fibre like PP, it was impossible to meet all the goals simultaneously. However their Repellent NFC/KFC would allow higher alcohol hold-out (>5) without compromising the other properties.

Dr Schacher of the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Industries Textile de Mulhouse ( France ) compared disposables and reusables in hospitals in France and Portugal . The EU-funded study carried out between March and September 2001 contacted 169 French and 83 Portuguese hospitals and was compared with a 1996 survey of 89 Portuguese hospitals. Only 32 of the French hospitals responded. None of the data appeared convincing and the only conclusion of note was that private hospitals used more disposables than public hospitals, a trend that had increased since 1996.

Innovation Focus

Rich Chapas, Consultant (USA) reviewed the route to the successful introduction of new products from a nonwoven industry viewpoint. He listed:
• Set Strategy and Goals
• Define the Innovation Leadership Team
• Analyse the portfolio of possible projects
• Define the opportunity
• Appoint the project champion
• Use tools such as market research, focus groups, trend analysis.

Cotton Surfaced Nonwovens

Dr Larry Wadsworth of TANDEC (USA) recycled his paper on cotton/PP laminates made by calendering the webs together in various combinations. The work was supported by Cotton Inc. and Eastman. If the PP was replaced by Eastar Bio or PLA a biodegradable laminate could be obtained. Unfortunately Eastar Bio proved uncardable due to its elasticity, and the PLA as received proved unwettable. A bico fibre with a PLA core and Eastar Bio sheath gave better laminates with cotton. Sonic bonding gave better bulk than calendering, but less strength. Wetting agents gave faster wetting.

C R Woodings 11/6/2003

PLMA 2003: Amsterdam Holland : 27-28th May

Introduction

This Amsterdam PLMA show was smaller and less crowded than last year's Chicago event, and according to several exhibitors was probably less well attended than the previous Amsterdam show - “but the quality of attendee has been excellent”.

From a nonwovens and disposables viewpoint a notable feature was the large number of stands showing wet-wipes, cosmetic wipes, dry-dusters and floor-cleaners of every description. Micro-fibre wipes, both nonwoven and knitted were also much in evidence.

You can't ignore Private Label say SCA Hygiene

SCA Hygiene AG, Europe 's leading producer of tissue and personal care products with such well known brands as Velvet, Edet, Tena and Libresse had a large presence to underline their commitment to the private label sector. According to Peter Irish, Director Customer Development , private label was shedding its cheap and cheerful image, and supermarkets were increasingly interested in premium own-label products. This was seen as a new retailer strategy: they want to match the quality of the international brands and still undercut them while in some way differentiating their products from those of the other retailers.

SCA want to participate in this quality-end of the PL market, not just to fill up capacity but as real partners of the major retailers. The growth in PL and the advance of the discount retailers such as Aldi and Lidl could not be ignored. 61% of tissue products were now sold under private labels. With regard to nonwovens, SCA now made very few, buying-in most of their requirements. They no longer produced tampons, having swapped their made-under-licence o.b. product for the Serenity incontinence range in a deal with J&J last year.

Baby Wipes 13% PA Growth

Nice-Pak UK 's Chris Hall (Marketing) reported that after some signs of stagnation a year ago, baby wet-wipes were not only the biggest wet-wipe category, but they were still growing at about 13% per year thanks to mothers continuing to use them on toddlers. Whether this should really be counted as baby wipes or part of a “toddler” wipe category can be debated, but at Nice-Pak, the baby wipe category remains way ahead of the rapidly growing cosmetic and floor-wipe categories.

Convenience remains the key growth driver in all categories although some seasonality is evident most especially in deodorant wipes. Spun-lace continues to progress outside premium baby wipes at the expense of air-laid which cannot match the strength or aesthetics and has been rising in price recently. Air-lace does not really figure, maybe because consumers don't differentiate it from air-laid. Wet-laid nonwovens are now mainly found in single-wipe sachets, most of which are supplied as complementary refresher wipes. Which products suffered most from the growth of baby-wipes? Mr Hall felt it was the absorbent cotton-wool products that used to be introduced to new mothers by the maternity wards.

On the stand were wipes for: Lime-scale removal, toilet cleaning (flushable), floor cleaning, intended for use on a mop, Exfoliating, Deodorising, Anti-ageing, Glass cleaning, Scouring, Hob cleaning and Personal refreshment. New product introduced at the show: a deodorising foot wipe.

Waiting for a breakthrough?

Rostam were showing the plastic applicator tampon launched at the Chicago PLMA show last December. They were keen to point out that a recent magazine article claiming that it was flushable and biodegradable was in fact a mistake. They said it was nevertheless being very well received in the UK , but its future in Europe as a whole really depended on the increasing success of the branded plastic-applicator products.

According to Haim Ezer, VP Business Development, Rostam could not grow the market by themselves: they could only follow the high-spending branded product producers in. In the USA , the plastic applicator was now well established and selling well. Since Rostam's launch, First Quality had followed with another PL plastic applicator product.

PL Plastic Applicator Tampon in UK

The Chilwood stand displayed plastic applicator tampons as part of its range of private label femcare products. These were made by Rostam and supplied by Chilwood only in the UK to Tesco and Morrisons supermarkets who wanted to buy a full range of femcare from whoever supplied them. Chilwood also make a full range of external protection.

You can't ignore Private Label say Kimberly Clark

Kimberly Clark were showing tampons for the private label market . John Bebbington, the Director of Customer Management, Retail Brands, Europe said their Kotex and Camelia branded tampons come up against very stiff competition and they now believe that private label or “retail branding” provides an excellent additional route to growth. In this sector Rostam is the leading producer, and their introduction of the plastic applicator at this show was a surprise because plastics were still rather “taboo” in Europe .

Talking wipes, the zip-lock fastener on early versions of the highly successful “Huggies” wipes pack had proved troublesome so they now used a new closure without the tab, which could, like freezer bags, be closed by the fingers alone.

Apart from the baby wipes, most of their wiping products were dry. Mr Bebbington thought that K-C's Consumer and Professional divisions could, in principle, move into a broader range of wet-wipes. On the other hand, were wet-wipes really necessary? Maybe in the same way as P&G were promoting the ability to wet-out “Bounty”, K-C would decide to focus on wet-out products rather than pre-wetted products.

Microfiber Wipes the Floor

Christina Hild of A&N&A ( Germany ) demonstrated their new premoistened nonwoven microfibre floor-cloths, one of numerous microfibre products on the stand, all made from the 80% polyester/20% nylon segment-pie bicomponents, many of which appeared durable and either knitted or woven. A&N&A were currently selling 10 packs and 2x15 packs of the nonwoven floor cloths, and intended to introduce a multipack where wet and dry wipes were added. The products were designed to be attached to a lightweight mop.

Keep Your Nose Clean

Fischer Pharmaceuticals ( Israel and Belgium ) claimed more new product introductions than any other exhibitor, but not all of these were wipes. Keren Sliwowicz (International Marketing Manager) showed fruity-fragranced toddler wipes and, also for toddlers, a nose-wipe. Also new at the show were “Age defying facial cleansing wipes with Q10” and pre- and post- birth intimate wipes, apparently with a haemorrhoidal treatment.

Elsewhere on the stand: patient-care wipes, a “head-bath” system intended as a bed-shampoo for institutionalised patients, menthol-loaded vapour-wipes for easy breathing, sunscreen wipes and self tanning wipes (not to be mixed up), and pet-wipes, said to be very popular in the USA. According to Ms Sliwowicz, Fischer have 70% of the Israeli wipes market and are major suppliers to Asda and Superdrug in the UK .

Random Dots for Abrasion

Tecnofibra had an Abrasive/Soft two-sided spun-lace fabric on display, the abrasive side created by random dot-coating with EVA hot-melt in a process which must be similar to that used in fusible interlining manufacture. The dots could be in different colours for different applications. According to Dr Francesco Natale this could be sold at 2-3 times the price of the standard 50/50 viscose/polyester spunlace at 50gsm. A new “embossed” version of this standard wipe was now made using a new patterning roll on the HE machine and this was available at a small premium. A supersoft material for the ultimate baby wipe was made with a PP/viscose blend.

More Microwavable Bathing Towels

Diva International SRL ( Italy ) introduced a microwavable bathing towel in two pack types, one for home and one for hospital use. Unlike the long-established “Comfort-Bath” product from Sage in the USA , these “Daily Comfort” body wipes appeared to be multi-layer spun-lace wipes, bonded and bulked in an embossing process carried out by Diva during conversion. The overall effect was a most attractive soft and bulky material. Elsewhere on the stand were multi-layer tissue kitchen wipes suggesting that the spun-lace had been put through a similar layering and embossing process.

Inherently Antimicrobial

Noam Urim (Israel) were showing an antibacterial kitchen wipe based on needled and thermally bonded 65% viscose, 20% PP and 15% Amicor antimicrobial acrylic fibre from Acordis. According to Sophie Tuviahu, marketing manager it had been on the market for 18 months and was selling particularly well in South America, Europe and Hong Kong . They also had a body-cleansing mitten made from a lofty through-air bonded (and maybe needlepunched) nonwoven impregnated with soap. This dry product was intended to be wetted with hot water prior to use in nursing homes, hospitals, or when camping. A version for car cleaning was also available.

Pulp Friction Disguised

Daniele Mamoli of Orlandi Spa ( Italy ) showed a unique 3 layer wipe substrate made on their new high-output fourth HE line. This 50gsm fabric was remarkably soft considering it contained no viscose and 50% wood-pulp. The pulp was sandwiched between 12.5 gsm of polyester and 12.5 gsm of polypropylene. Mr Mamoli commented that while the dry softness was good, the wet texture was excellent. As well as needled and spunlaced rollgoods, Orlandi supply consumer wipes direct to supermarkets and professional wipes for the healthcare and catering trades to specialist wholesalers. While wet-wipes are a major outlet for the spunlace variety, they do not convert themselves, preferring to feed rollgoods to the major converters for both private label and branded products.

Daily Facials etc

Wecovi bv ( Holland ) were showing Wecotec “Daily Facial Cleansing Cloths” looking very like the P&G Olay® product. They bought in the coarse-apertured spunlace product and added the soap themselves. A transparent plastic tub and a refill pack were on display.

Their microfibre wipes were woven or knitted by their subsidiary in the Far East . Dust attracting floor wipes were described as “3D Quality” apparently due to the embossing achieved during hydroentanglement. These were made without a reinforcing scrim, but they also had a version made with the scrim, and a spray-jet sweeper with absorbent pads made using a needlefelt central layer.

Green Tea Wipes

Albaad's ( Israel ) Amnon Brodie (President and CEO) emphasised that growth, either by verticalisation or acquisition was essential for a company such as his. They had transformed themselves from chemical-bond and spunlace nonwoven producers to fully vertical suppliers of wipes of all kinds. Their offerings were now colour coded to assist differentiation: Yellow for surface wipes, Blue/green for windows, Orange for furniture. He pointed out the springless self-opening plastic wipes box, the “White Cloud” baby wipes for Wal Mart, and their use of embossing patterns to increase the bulk of the spun lace.

Their “Green Tea” line of wipes “delivers the idea of indulgent Spa treatment while cleaning your face and body.” The range includes “Relaxing and Moisturising Facial Cloths” with the calm and healing power of Green Tea's Theanine”. The Deep Cleansing Peeling Facial cloths use the “purifying antioxidant power of the polyphenols in Green Tea” while the Deodorant cloths utilised the antibacterial qualities of the tea's flavonoids.

Biodegradable Femcare?

The CIP4 stand had a display case promoting a fully biodegradable femcare range. The “exploded” pad had a conulated film cover, and an apparently normal synthetic backsheet and acquisition layer, displayed against a photograph of a field of corn. No-one on the stand could say whether PLA fibre was used to make the synthetic components: the display was said to illustrate a concept product which had yet to be commercialised.

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

Sitclin had an innovative “origami” toilet seat cover that stretched over the top and outside edges of the seat and fastened with two small adhesive thumb-tabs. According to Ralf Conrads , the many small paper segments were joined by water soluble glue so that the whole product was totally flushable, and disintegrated within 4 metres of leaving the toilet bowl.

Instant Real Cappucino

Maurice van den Boomen of Fort E.P. Leidische described how the launch of a new coffee making system by Philips and Douwe Egberts 2 years ago had proved popular for making single cups of frothy white coffee, and now had 15% of the Dutch market, where over a million of the Philips machines were now in use. Fort is now introducing PL versions of the coffee bags (called “pads”, but in reality they appear identical to the UK 's round tea-bags) in several flavours and decaffeinated.

The system has so far been introduced to Belgium , France , Spain and Germany and could be expected in the UK shortly. The obligatory taste test proved the coffee to be excellent, and we look forward to an increased market for the apertured tea-bag paper accompanying the success of the PL launch.

O-Pac SRL ( Italy ) were showing a bulky embossed spunlace make-up removal wipe said to be 70/30 Viscose/PET and 50 gsm.

Stenago SRL ( Italy ) “Bio Salviette” cosmetic wipes were 100% cotton and ICEA certified.

Calvin Woodings

Techtextil 2003: Frankfurt Germany: 7-10th April

Technical textiles is one of the few growth sectors in the West’s textile industry, and within technical textiles, the nonwoven sector is the most dynamic. The artificial boundaries between nonwovens and textiles created for trade association purposes do not exist in the real world. The TechTextil organisation therefore continues to target a nonwoven audience, and INDA has recently commenced attracting Technical Textiles producers to its events.


This conference and exhibition comprised three simultaneous sessions of technical papers, mainly originating from German technical institutes and mainly in German. The summaries here are from the papers attended, and from some of the conversations at the exhibition. All the papers on the conference proceedings CD are listed in the appendix

Key Points

• Many of the papers presented were related to funding from those EU and national bodies keen to help the ailing European textile industry switch into technical products.
• Intelligent textiles, textiles incorporating electronics, nanotechnology and advanced composites provided the main themes.
• Progress claimed with computer simulation of polyester nonwovens for sound absorption suggests simulation of absorbent waddings may soon be possible.
• A web-linker allows the production of needlefelts with hollow channels which can be filled with powders, e.g. superabsorbents.
• A process for polymerisation of OMCTS onto cotton in plasma in a helium atmosphere develops full hydrophobicity and a soft slippery surface.
• Shape-memory polymers have been used to develop a breathable barrier film whose water vapour permeability increases by a factor of five between 10 0C and 36 0C.
• A new nonwoven wipe fabric has a rough side with coloured heavy-denier synthetic fibres apparently sprayed on to it. They say it simulates a recent Kimberly Clark product.
• A lyocell fibre filled with up to 50% ion exchange resin for water purification and, after pre-loading, for controlled release, has been developed.
• Disposable femcare now has 54% of the Chinese market (35 billion units/year)

New Perspectives

J A Beckmann of the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry opened the 12 th Techtextil symposium:-
• The 880 exhibitors represented a quadrupling of numbers present at the first event in 1986.
• Technical textiles (defined to include nonwovens) accounted for 40% of the German textile industry.
• 90% of the German textile industry was made up of small/medium size companies employing less than 250 people.
• The most innovative segments were automotive (composites), construction (composites, including fibre and textile reinforcement of concrete), health care (disposables and reusables for OR and wound-care) and functional clothing (especially garments with built in microelectronics to monitor vital functions)

Mr Beckmann called for closer co-operation between the textile and microelectronics industries and for more R&D. With the preponderance of small companies, collaborative projects were the key, and much improved communications and information sharing throughout the textile production chain were required. This should happen not only at the national level, because the 6 th EU Research Framework Programme has just started and offers new possibilities for collaboration on an EU-wide scale.

Mr Beckmann saw textile industry survival requiring change into a “cross-sectorial knowledge-based industry more oriented to the needs of the users”. He also saw the need for technical-textiles producers to work more closely with the other high-technology industries such as electronics.

Intelligent Funding?

Hervé Péro, the Director General of Research at the European Commission ( Brussels ) discussed how the 6 th EU Research Framework programme (6FP) would help to improve the competitiveness of the European Technical Textiles industry.
• Under the 5 th programme (1999-2002) 41M€ was provided to fund 37 projects directly linked to textiles.
• There were 26 European technical centers and universities with specialist technical textiles departments.
• These technical centres were not sufficiently well-known outside their national boundaries, so the “Networks of Excellence” funding within 6FP would better integrate them and would attract more industrial support.
• 6FP was based on 3 political pillars:
• The “ Lisbon ” (2000) objective: EU to become the world's most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy within 10 years.
• The “Göteborg” (2001) objective putting sustainable development at the top of the agenda of all EU activities.
• The “European Research Area” objective requiring 3% of GDP to be spent on R&D by 2010. (c.f. 1.9% in 2002).

Mr Péro did not specify exactly how much funding would be available for technical textiles from 6FP but thought it would come out of the 1.3Bn€ allocation for “materials, production and nanotechnology”. It would target the SME's (small and medium size enterprises) and would be used to promote real breakthroughs only: not incremental research.

He saw the need for large and complex networks in which companies would share research knowledge while continuing to compete in the market place. See also:

Intelligent Textiles

J Berger of Technologiezentrum Informationstechnik GmbH, Teltow (D) foresaw technical textiles offering new functions:
• Displays integrated into wall and floor textiles could act as orientation/information aids. (A Woven fabric has a similar structure to a plasma display screen. With the right yarns, LED's at warp-weft intersections could be made to light-up when voltages were applied to those yarns passing through the intersection.)
• Sensors integrated into textiles could monitor functions of buildings and the movements of people in buildings.
• Electronics and sensors in textiles could be supplied with power by the textile: e.g. from thermal gradients, light or even from the mechanical energy constantly generated by walking on floor covering. (Piezo-electric carpets)
• Intelligent packaging could monitor transportation routes and improve logistics recording e.g. recording the thermal and humidity history of food during shipping.
• A smart bandage could screen for bacteria or viruses in a wound, and signal the need for antibiotics.
• Landfill covers could monitor temperature and gas leakage using “meander-line fibre-optics”.

Intelligent Networking?

Dr Michael Jarrigeon, General Secretary of R2ITH (Industrial Research and Innovation in Textiles and Clothing) described the objectives of this French network:

• To stimulate innovation of new products, processes and services
• To stimulate and consolidate co-operation between all parts of the textile supply chain.
• To provide direction and strategy to public authorities allowing them to identify the real priorities.

Their priorities were:
• Integration of the supply chain via IT.
• Optimisation of material and machinery.
• Developing new technologies for design, production and marketing.
• Functionalisation of the products using active, interactive, and “smart” materials.
• Knowledge management
• Sustainable development.

The network comprised:
• 8 Centres of excellence in the French regions. (Nord-Pas de Calais has the nonwovens center of excellence)
• 8 Regional steering committees.
• A “national orientation committee”.

Each regional committee comprises 15-20 people; industrialists, service providers and public authorities tasked with promoting new projects and guaranteeing inter-area co-operation. The national orientation committee has 50 similar members plus unions and “qualified people” and is tasked with defining strategy, evaluating projects and co-ordination of the whole network.

Of the 16 projects submitted in 2002, 9 have approval.

R2ITH has a grant of 5M€ from the French Industry Ministry.

The Latest Innovations

Prof. Roshan Shishoo observed that cost reduction pressures on man-made fibres had led to R&D being curtailed and production moving to developing countries. The developed countries' share of man-made fibre production had fallen from 79% in 1970 to 26% in 2003. Inevitably, reduced innovation was a consequence, but he thought the following were nevertheless notable:
• Bicomponent staple fibres and filament yarns, the latter being fusible into rigid structures after weaving or knitting.
• Exothermic bicomponents e.g. Thermotron from Unitika, a Nylon sheath on a core containing zirconium carbide micro-particles. “Masonic N” (Kanebo) and “Lonwave” (Kuraray) were similar.
• Shape-memory polymers, i.e. laminates with layers of differing thermal shrinkage which bulk up on heating.
• Electrospinning of nanofibres.
• Biomimetics: simulating natural structures e.g. spider silk and lotus-leaf surface.
• Atmospheric plasma for polymerisation of new functionalities onto fabric surfaces.
• Nonwovens to replace PU foam.

Supporting SME's

Mr R Junker of the German Ministry for R&D felt that the Small and Medium –sized Enterprises had great innovative capacity but found it hard to raise the funds to research and commercialise new ideas. The 6FP described earlier by Mr. Péro had a “thematic priority” requiring 15% of the funds to be used to promote participation by SME's. In addition:
• SME's will continue to receive CRAFT (Co-operative Research Action for Technology) funding to encourage them to use relevant Research Institutes.
• EUREKA is another International funding instrument providing advice an support in launching EU R&D projects and financing collaborations.

At the national level, the Economics Ministry provides:
• Start-up funding for new technology-based companies
• Funding to promote the development of innovation networks.
• Funding to promote structural renewal on the basis of advanced technologies (“ZuTech”)
• Help to start-up companies to file their first patent.

Examples of recent successes of such support for technical textile SME's were:
• New wicking drainage systems for landfills
• Lightweight textile composites for auto-interior use.
• Fiber reinforced thermoplastics for auto-body parts
• 3-D sewing systems
• Plasma treatment of textiles
• Electrically heated rugs for low-temperature heating.
• Wound-dressings which release therapeutic agents
• A transdermal collector system for drugs and their metabolites
• OR barrier fabrics
• Biotechnological modification of natural fibres

For 2004 the Ministry hopes to fund projects under an “Activity-based sustainability concept” heading. The audience was implored to contribute numerous ideas for projects to use up these funds.

Unfortunately no questions were possible and some confusion remained as to whether “success” referred to the Ministry managing to give away some money to start the project, or the project itself turning a profit.

Ion-Exchange Lyocell

Reiner Büttner of TITK Germany described their ion exchange fiber based on adding finely ground commercially available resins (styrene-divinylbenzene and acrylo divinylbenzene copolymers) to lyocell dope prior to spinning. The filled-fibre containing 50% by weight of resin had a tenacity of 10cn/tex and this was felt to be the limit of dope spinnability. If the fibre was to be carded then a 33% filling would be the practical maximum.

Applications in water purification and medicine were envisaged:
• The fibre would reduce the copper content of water from 110 to 10 micrograms/litre in 20 minutes, and the lead content from 110 to 40 in 60 minutes.
• Nitrate removal from 80 micrograms to 10 micrograms/l occurred in 4 minutes with the appropriate resin.
• Both anionic and cationic exchangers could be added to the same fibre.
• 150 mgms of the fibre removes temporary hardness from water improving the taste and clarity of a cup of tea or coffee.
• Pre-loading the resins with metals allows their controlled release into clean fluids. (e.g silver, copper or mercury for biocidal use.)
• Ionic pharmaceuticals can be reversibly adsorbed on the fibre allowing controlled release. (e.g. of nicotine)
• The very high surface area allows the acceleration of catalytic processes.

Mr Büttner confirmed that they had also added 50% ground superabsorbent to make a superabsorbent fibre.

NAPCO Technology: 3d needling

Mr P Poillet of Laroche SA described how the 3d web-linker developed in conjunction with STFI Chemnitz (and supported by Germany 's Ministry of Economics) could produce fibrous “honeycomb” structures in a single operation.

Two lightly bonded needlefelts made of fibres sufficiently long to bridge the gap between the layer are needled together over spacer-bars which hold the layers apart. The resulting product, 12mm thick at 450 gsm had cylindrical air spaces in the MD. If the spacers were hollow, they could be fed with powders allowing a composite structure to emerge.

The machine could be made up to 4.5 m wide, could link many different types of textile product and create composites up to 25mm thick (two layers) or 50mm thick (3 layers). The spaces could be empty or filled with wires, hollow tubes, granulates, powders, foams, recycled fibres. In one example an 8000 gsm product comprised polyester webs filled with cement for a special construction composite.

The list of applications provided did not mention any disposable products, but the system appears to have potential to wick fluids or encapsulate superabsorbents in several novel ways.

12m/min was the quoted maximum production speed.


Extrusion Coating

Bengt Hagström of IFP Research ( Sweden ) has studied extrusion coating a nylon or PET woven fabric.

The T-peel test of adhesion was used (EN ISO 2411.2000) to investigate the effects of Melt temperature, Extrusion speed, Line speed, Nip Pressure and Pressure roll temperature when coating over a range from 60-200 gsm (55-180 micron) with PP, PE and various modified polymers.

The results of the analysis of variance:
• Line speed has the largest effect on adhesion, followed by coating thickness.
• Lower viscosity coats give improved adhesion by greater fabric penetration.
• Slower cooling rates give better adhesion via deeper penetration of the coat into the fabric.
• Unmodified polyolefins show pure mechanical adhesion, while the modified resins (Orevac and Hytrel) show chemical interaction with the substrate.
• The regression equations work well predictively.
• Heat treatment above the MP of the coat improves adhesion (!)

Plasma polymerisation under Helium

Tony Herbert of Dow Corning ( Ireland ) explained plasma treatment as developed by Plasma Solutions – now part of DC.

By using vertical electrodes the operation can be carried out in a helium atmosphere with minimal helium loss and avoidance of oxidative reactions that limit the usefulness of corona treatments. A wide range of polymer precursors can be injected directly into the helium glow discharge to get soft polymerisation onto the fabric. (see Patent WO 02/28548).

Alkenes and acrylates polymerise by free-radical mechanisms while cyclic siloxanes undergo ring-opening polymerisation. The latter allow hydrophobic surfaces with slippery soft textures to be coated onto otherwise hydrophilic materials. Octa-methyl cyclo tetra siloxane has been used under helium to give cotton total hydrophobicity. However in the presence of oxygen, the plasma breaks it down into silicates which increase hydrophilicity.

Also for hydrophilicity, acrylic acid has been polymerised onto polypropylene to give it an absorbent and reactive surface.

Heptadecafluorodecene and other fluoro compounds have been polymerised onto fabrics to confer oleophobicity.

Other “polymer precursors” mentioned were:
• Colloidal metals for optical or conductivity enhancement
• Thiophene or Pyrrole for conductivity
• Mixed monomers for copolymer coatings and pH control.

The system allows high deposition rates and hence high productivity in a true reel-to-reel treatment under ambient conditions.

A New Natural Polymer: PTP®

P Rumeau of the French institute of clothing and textiles (IFTH) introduced a development funded by the EU under its Competitive and Sustainable Growth program (Agrocomposites). PTP® is a Polymer based on Triglycerides and Polycarbonic anhydrides (EP 0836 627). Made from epoxidised vegetable oils the polymer has so far been optimised as a replacement for PU and PVC coatings used in automotive fabrics:
• 100% extensibility is obtained without need for plasticizers
• Room temperature viscosity ( Brookfield ) is similar to PVC, but falls drastically (20000 to 60 mPas) at 90 0 C.
• Knife coating using a release paper is the preferred coating method.
• The resin needs low-temperature storage if long-shelf lives are required.
• Thermal degradation commences at 240 0 C
• Polyester coated with PTP® meet the US FMVSS 302 flammability requirements.

PTP-L, a version intended to replace epoxy-resins is made by reaction with an anhydride (petrochemical-based), and is said to be very safe for workers, consumers and the environment. Comparison with conventional epoxy systems in fibreboard panels for an aeronautical application is underway. It works better with flax than carbon fiber.

Shape-Memory Polymers and PCM Films

Dr B Pause of Textile Testing and Innovation LLC (USA) reviewed the basics of shape-memory alloys and polymers and described a composite of SMP film and nonwoven for breathable barrier applications. Here the water vapour permeability increased with temperature to a maximum at normal blood temperature.

The product is intended for single-use in OR, bedding and incontinence applications. She was unable to provide details of the chemistry and structure of the film other than to say they tended to be block co-polymers with hard and soft segments. Both segments were melted during the extrusion and forming to give the “permanent” shape on cooling. Re-heating to soften just the hard segment allowed the “temporary” shape to be created. Reversion to permanent shape occurs when next heated to the Tg of the hard segment.

Transition temperatures between 10 and 60 0 C were possible with ranges of softness being possible also.

The ingredients were commercially available but their formulation and processing was protected by a patent.

A shape-memory emergency blanket was also mentioned. This was compact when cool and bulked up to provide good heat insulation when at body temperature.

In a second paper she showed how a chemical protective suit with an inner layer of Phase Change Material in a polymer film could delay the rate of heat build-up. The PCM layer kept the skin temperature below 35 0 C for twice as long (1 hour) as the garment without PCM.

New Possibilities for Building and Living

A Roye of the Textile Institute, Aachen saw smart textiles being used in the buildings of the future. Unfortunately none of the examples of high-tech intelligent structures appeared as convincing as the starting point: the old timber-framed “medieval” buildings. Here straw-reinforced clay provided the filling between the timbers. The straw not only reinforced the clay but trapped insulating air into the structure. When wet, the clay absorbed moisture and became impermeable, whereas in dry conditions it became permeable again. In response to a question he admitted that the medieval approach could become modern again - but was unlikely to attract EU funding.

Piezoelectric fibres and electroconductive polymers

Prof U Meier of EMPA, in the course of a review of bridge-building technology, mentioned load sensors based on two concepts:
• piezo-fibres which generate a small current when loaded, or which change in length when a current is applied.
• Electroactive polymer films which expand when a current is applied

Here, Strain was defined as the % increase in length of the film strip as the voltage field is applied in the thickness-direction.

Mr Meier saw their main use in feedback systems to damp wind-induced oscillations in suspension bridge cabling.

Active materials for medical textiles

F Budillon of the Institute for Textile Technology at Aachen (ITA-RWTH) described the use of biodegradable micro-spheres based on poly-DL-Lactide co-glycolid as carriers for various therapies.

The microspheres, said to cost €1000/kg were attached to a needlepunched nonwoven with PVOH for:
• Regeneration of cartilage
• Periodontal disease therapy
• Stem cells differentiation.

He then covered glaucoma stents and shape-memory polymers and alloys.

Virtual Textile Design

Dr A Weigmann of the Fraunhofer Institute for Technical and Economic Mathematics described a collaborative project involving Audi, Sandler (Nonwovens) and Faurecia (Auto-parts). This involves computer simulation of production processes and the resulting product and its properties via:
• Surface inspection linked to 3d image acquisition and analysis
• Textile, filter and glass process simulation.
• The use of “black/gray-box” techniques to fill in gaps in knowledge.

Slides purporting to illustrate computer models of spinnerettes, spunbond fibre laydown, virtual nonwovens, fluid flow through filters, and sound absorption in cars were shown. With regard to sound absorption by a polyester nonwoven headliner, fluid flow had been shown to correlate so well that sound-absorbtion measurements were no longer needed. PET fleeces could be simulated and their performance predicted (using the Acudict II software) without ever leaving the keyboard.

Sandler now use the techniques and can:
• Use in-house fluid-flow measurements (2 hrs) instead of out-sourced acoustic measurements (4 weeks).
• Predict which headliner compression rate will give the best sound absorption from just 2 prototypes.
• Understand how fibre diameter affects sound absorption.
• Support attempts to enter new markets with new acoustic requirements.

Chinese Market

Mr Xu Pu of the China Nonwoven and Technical Textiles Asscociation (CINTA) provided market data. Of the 2 million tonnes of technical textiles produced in China in 2002, nonwovens were within:
• 230,000 tonnes were medical and hygiene products
• 218,000 were synthetic leather substrates.
• 200,000 were filters including cigarette filters.
• 95,000 tonnes were geotextiles or construction fabrics.
• Within the medical/hygiene sector, disposable femcare products now had 54% of the market, amounting to some 35 billion units.
• Disposable diapers now had 4% of the market, or 2 billion units sold.

Nonwoven production in 2002 was 632,500 tonnes of which:
• 180,000 tonnes were needled
• 171,000 tonnes were spunbonded
• 120,000 tonnes were latex bonded
• 110,000 tonnes were thermal bonded
• 21,5000 tonnes were hydroentangled
• 10,000 tonnes were meltblown
• 15,000 tonnes were airlaid pulp
• 5,000 tonnes were wet laid.

The nonwovens share of technical textiles in China was 16%, up from 10.6% in 1997.

Adjustable Insulation

Ch. Eisenmann of W L Gore and Associates introduced AIRvantage™, a garment with an inflatable lining, the thickness of which can be adjusted for comfort over a wide range of temperatures.

Viscose Rayon Production in Photos (1948)

Click here to see the Story of Rayon in pictures

Insight, Tampa: 20th - 24th October 2002

Insight once again excelled with its broad coverage of up-to-the-minute marketing and technical issues via mostly original papers presented to a truly international list of over 600 of the great and good of our industry. As noted at other Insight events, the uncrowded program and longer Q&A sessions consistently allow the speakers to present and develop their themes to the full. The result is, perhaps paradoxically, a higher density of what we all attend conferences for: knowledge, information, understanding, and contacts. Key Points Hydroentangling fully calender-bonded spunbond makes it look and feel like a carded-staple product but with more bulk and strength. Lyocell can now be refined to yield low-cost cellulose nanofibers which have been converted into virus filters. A 1tonne/hour production unit will be operating next year. The objective of tampon research should be to reproduce the superb properties of P&G’s Rely™ product, according to a J&J researcher. A ~100% SAP core uses hot melt powder to bond the particles. On wetting this forms into tubes which acquire fluid rapidly and then empty as the SAP absorbs it. Diaper research is bringing diminishing returns. Major brands are perceived as little better than private label. The market declines due to the better products being worn for longer. 1960’s diaper designs made with 2002 machines and materials could yield a 4 cent diaper which would allow the market to grow rapidly in the third world. New contraceptive methods will allow women to choose when to have a period, if ever. 30 years of EDANA statistics Pierre Wiertz of EDANA charted the progress of the European Industry using their uniquely consistent set of industry surveys commencing in 1971. He saw three distinct periods each of a decade: • ‘71-‘81 being characterised by 11.5% overall growth (from 65,000 tonnes in ‘71 to 190,000 tonnes in ‘81). This was driven by the growth of Spunbond and the arrival of one-piece diapers. The collapse of the once dominant apparel interlining nonwoven sector occurred in this period. • '82-'91, with 8.5% growth (205,000 to 450,000 tonnes), highlighting the emergence of air-laid, hydroentanglement and the effect of a 1987 Financial Times Supplement on the industry as attracting new investors. • '92-2001, with 7.5% growth (500,000 to 1,070,000 tonnes), the decade of hydroentanglement and air-laid growth fuelling the demand for wiping products. Other statistics from the 2001 survey:• Airlaid reached 108,100 tonnes • Wipes reached 151,000 tonnes compared with 57,400 in 1996. Here, the personal care sector used 81,000 tonnes and the household/industrial sector used 70,200 tonnes - down from 73,900 tonnes in 2000 due to the economic slowdown. • 2000-2001 market growth was 4.3% in tonnage but 12.7% in area due to the trend to lighter fabrics in hygiene. Industry profitability was however still declining. • Wet laid production had increased to 68,600 tonnes after a long period of stasis. • Bonding methods: 182,200 tonnes of thermal (static), 108,200 tonnes of chemical (declining), 66,900 tonnes of needling (growing) and 99,500 tonnes of hydroentangling (growing) • Compared with the US split of 66/24 short-/long-life, Europe splits 63/27. • Fibres/polymers used: 120,000 tonnes of viscose up from 92,500 tonnes; 228,500 tonnes of polyester which is growing in staple but declining in spunbond; 491,000 tonnes of PP, declining in staple but growing in spunbond; 129,000 tonnes of woodpulp. Asked what would follow wipes as the next growth application, Mr Wiertz mentioned cosmetics (more wipes?) and breathable sports clothing based on fabrics such as Miratec®, Evolon® and Neotis®. The organo-tin scare has had no effect on sales of disposables, but was good for the analytical chemists. European Absorbent Products Krzysztof Malowaniec , a senior VP with Paul Hartmann AG ( Germany ) and the current Chairman of Edana reviewed the European scene commencing with a patent analysis: • In 1999 the leading company published 328 patents, of which 242 were for diapers, 72 for pads and 14 for training pants. • The No2 published 186 patents, 155 of which were diaper related. (20 pads, 7 training pants, and 4 tampons) • Over the 3 years (96/98) the leading company's patents named 1400 inventors, while the No2 had 842 inventors on the same basis. If you listed patents by inventor it was easy to find the most creative individuals in a company. • One person in the leading company had 48 patents on absorbent hygienic disposables. Mr Malowaniec went on to reveal “No1” as P&G and “No2” as K-C, and used a Stiftung Warentest consumer survey of diapers to point out that despite their enormous R&D efforts, diapers from these companies were only marginally ahead of the private-label products in consumer perception of quality. (He estimated 92% of the intellectual property required to make a diaper was now in the public domain.) In the 2002 consumer survey, only 54% rated the brands ahead of private label compared with 60% in 1992. Other changes since a Jan 2000 survey:• The German diaper market has declined by 5% due to the improved diapers being changed less frequently. • P&G's share has dropped from 39 to 32%. • Private Label has increased from 20 to 30% • Training pants had 3% of the market until P&G introduced a better product and since then the market has been growing. In response to questions, K-C do not have a training pant on the German market, “Swiffer” type wipes are growing rapidly, and the demand for biodegradable materials remains almost non-existent due to lack of composting infrastructure. European Diapers and Wipes Market Sabine Martini of Smartini ( Germany ) provided an assortment of 2001 market statistics: • 64% of WE diapers were branded. Some producers sell into both branded and private label sectors. • Private label diaper share varied from about 50% in Germany and the Netherlands to 15% in the UK and 12% in Italy . • Europe uses 81,400 tonnes of baby wipes along with 35,900 tonnes of industrial wipes and 34,300 tonnes of household wipes, according to EDANA. • P&G had the largest share (~30%) followed by private label (~28%), J&J (~20%) Beiersdorf (~5%) and “others” (~13%) • In the UK in 2001, J&J lead the baby wipe sector with ~40% share, P&G had ~25%, the remainder being private label and others. • In Germany private label led with ~35%, J&J had ~25%, Hartmann ~5%, leaving the remaining ~30% split equally between P&G, Nestle, and “others”. In estimating the theoretical baby wipe market demand and the current penetration of disposables, Ms Martini assumed 2 wipes per diaper change, admitting that while this was more than actually used on baby's bottom, it was justified by the other uses to which these wipes were put. On this basis the theoretical German market was 5.7 billion wipes and the 2001 penetration was 56.3%. The figures for Western Europe as a whole were 33.8 billion wipes and 49.4%. Recent Innovations: Implications for Suppliers Future hygienic absorbent products would be ultra-thin, body-conforming, cloth-like products which controlled odour, promoted skin health and were environmentally friendly according to Pricie Hanna of John Starr Inc.• Thinness: as exemplified by K-C's new “Huggies Pull-Ups”, would need over 55% of SAP in the core. Other products mentioned were Ontex “Hybatex” technology, K-C's “Poise Pantiliner”, SCA's “DriActive Liners” and “Serenity Slender”, and Hartmann's “Ria Ladycare”. • Body-conforming: as in P&G's “Pampers Custom Fit Cruisers” and “Pampers Easy-Ups” using an apertured card/thermal-elastic film laminate, or in K-C's “Huggies Supreme” with a Spunbond/elastic filament/spunbond laminate. • Cloth Like: as in P&G's “Pampers Swaddlers” and “Pampers New Baby”. Fine PP fibres made from Atofina's metallocene resins could make softer coverstocks. • Healthy: as in Mabesa's hypoallergenic diaper with “ProDerm” or J&J's “Carefree super-thin ventilate” pantiliners on the market in China . • Odour Control: as in SCA's “Odasorb Plus” in “Serenity” or Ontex's “Active ODS”. • Environmentally Friendly: P&G's licencing of it's “Nodax” biodegradable polymer process to Kaneka to allow films, fibers and nonwovens to be made available. P&G anticipate a 50,000 tonne/year demand. Cargill-Dow's “NatureWorks” PLA and Eastman's “Eastar Bio” are other contenders. Thong, micro and black pantiliners, youth diapers (for enuresis), swim diapers and K-C's semi-durable beach blanket were examples of new products meeting unmet needs. Advanced leakage protection was exemplified by Tampax “Pearl” tampons and Kao's “Leak-Free” adult diaper with absorbent leg gathers. Increased links between basic material suppliers and the major converters were noted, e.g. the P&G/Equistar Chemicals collaboration on elastic polypropylene from the metallocene route. Asked about wet-toilet tissue, Ms Hanna felt K-C must be disappointed with progress to date, unattractive presentation to the consumer being part of the problem. The lack of progress of pre-formed cores, (femcare, light incontinence and swim diapers apart) was felt to be due to the major economic consequences for converters who would have to re-equip to use the preformed product effectively. Apertured films and nonwoven topsheets seem to have reached equilibrium in femcare: women preferring one or the other, and some products now using both. Wipes Market Developments Lynda Kelly of John R Starr Inc surveyed the wipes market: • Global growth at 5% to 7.7 billion m2 expected through 2006. This will require an extra 1.5 billion m 2 of fabric (or 90,000 tonnes at 60gsm) mainly hydroentangled. • Hydroentanglement will grow at the expense of airlaid due to a major converter deciding to switch. • Airlaced (pulp/cardweb laminate hydroentangled) is not yet accepted in the US wipes market. • Needlepunched fabrics will grow in the washcloth/bathing towel sector. • New US HE capacity has been announced but imports from Europe and the Middle East will continue to satisfy growing demand. • Personal care wipes account for 55% of the 2001 global total, Industrial 32%, the remainder being homecare. • The key companies in “cleaning”, P&G, Unilever, Colgate Palmolive and Reckitt & Benckiser will grow their wipes businesses by developing the wipe delivery system for brands that do not currently use wipes. • Companies yet to employ the wipe delivery system to any extent will also become nonwoven customers: e.g. Estee Lauder, Sara Lee, J&J (non-baby-care), Revlon, Dial, Gillette, Church and Dwight, Schering Plough. In response to questions:• Baby wipes will continue to grow: more will be used per change due to their increasing use in other baby- and adult- cleaning tasks. • Geographic growth to be expected in South America first. • Air-lace will grow as wipes enter the cost-reduction phase. • Wet toilet tissue is still a growth opportunity, but not in the form of the recent K-C product. Real Nanofibers at low cost Evan Koslow of KX Industries has refined short-cut lyocell using a purpose-built refiner designed to avoid shortening the fibre too much. The resulting 100-250 nm fibrils have sufficient strength and length to be wet-processed into filters. Such filters can intercept bacteria whilst maintaining much higher permeability than comparable membranes. He currently operates a pilot system making 10-15 lbs/hour of the nanofiber, but will have a 250lb/hr capability in 6 months and a 2000 lb/hr unit a year from now. The highly self-bonding fibrils form much thinner HEPA filter paper at higher strength and with equivalent particle removal efficiency to conventional epoxy glass products. (The test used 0.18 micron dioctyl phthalate droplets at 32 liters/min through a 100 cm 2 flat sheet). Being 0.16mm thick c.f. the equivalent epoxy-glass at ~0.4mm, the nanofiber paper can be pleated to pack more area into a filter frame yielding 25% lower pressure drop and higher dirt holding capacity. For water filters, the nanofibers are blended with a few percent of bico which is melted without calendering to give a relatively permeable wet-strength paper. (1 litre/sec/cc at 40 psi differential pressure: high c.f. membranes of similar pore-size) When used in conjunction with an active carbon “protective adsorbent”, a 50 cm 2 piece of an antimicrobial-treated nanofiber paper can process 90 litres of contaminated water (over 6 days, gravity fed with a small hydrostatic head) before its viral reduction performance declines below 4-log. The cost of such a filter was put at 3-4 cents. Dr Koslow believes a few percent of low-cost nanofiber based on lyocell would, when added to diaper-pulp, greatly modify the wicking properties. It would also cause dramatic changes in the capabilities of precoats such as diatomaceous earth. In response to questions: • Nanofibres in fluff pulp would reduce odour by reducing bacteria. • A paper machine has to be extensively modified to cope with the <50 CSF slurries. • The electrospinning route to nanofibers will be unable to reach the productivity of the refining approach. • Nanofiber air-filters fail when dirt capacity is reached. • Nanofiber water-filters fail when the active-carbon protective layer breaks down. • The bubble point for the 0.35-micron mean flow pore size is due to a 1.8 micron pore. Nevertheless the paper would intercept 99.9% of 0.35-micron particles. Even Cheaper Lyocell Nanofibers Calvin Woodings (consultant) described how to make a highly fibrillating version of lyocell and pointed out that it would be cheaper than the current textile versions. Furthermore the fibrillation would not be a problem in most products: Soft-touch textiles rely on fibrillation for the effect. Classic finished textiles need to be cross-linked to give them wash stability. The same cross linking may also stabilise a highly fibrillating fibre. No disposable products would suffer from fibrillation problems. Suede-like and micro-fibre wipes would be possible at lower water pressures through hydroentanglement bonding. High performance filters – including cigarette filter-tows - could be made with much less fibre refining. The nanometer-scale microfibrils in lyocell could be liberated much more easily than at present. Mr Woodings described highly fibrillating lyocell as the ultimate islands-in-sea bicomponent fibre, with millions of crystalline nanofibres floating in a sea of potentially-dissolvable amorphous cellulose. He suggested that current lyocell was proving to be a niche fibre, unlikely ever to reach the scales predicted by the pioneers because of it's relatively high price. The key to further growth was to think nonwovens rather than textiles. He suggested future investment should be in a “2 nd Generation” lyocell process using lower-capital, larger-scale plants to make a basic fibrillating fibre that would be fine for mainstream nonwovens and could be cross-linked for the lower-volume critical textile uses. Superabsorbent Composite forms acquisition layer in use Evan Koslow said his KX Industries company makes an active carbon filter element (PLEKX™) by bonding the carbon particles with “microdots” of hot melt adhesive at a level that hardly reduces the active surface area. KXI has now done the same with superabsorbent powder and can make a highly porous 100% SAP sheet that does not gel block. The hot-melt particles are 1/20 th the size of the SAP particles. When sandwiched between a suitable cover (tissue or porous spunbond mentioned) and backsheet (tissue or non-porous sheet) the composite swells with minimal X-Y spreading on wetting. One particular grade of SAP surprised Dr Koslow's researchers by spontaneously forming a 3 dimensional array of tubes which filled with fluid prior to its total absorbtion, leaving air-spaces in the swollen pad. This allowed the 100% SAP layer to capture large insults in a few seconds prior to the usual slow absorbtion by the polymer. The hollow tubes in the SAP are 4-8mm in diameter and appear to form as one side of the laminate swells causing curls and twists. They have minimal integrity and are easily crushed. A 1mm thick layer of the bonded SAP under two acquisition layers has been compared with a branded diaper and a conventional incontinence pad in MTS-TEFO testing. Under compression in the test machinery, the KX-SAP was 0.065” thick compared with the ~0.2” pad/diaper thicknesses. 100ml fluid was applied in 7 seconds and the overflow levels measured. The KX-SAP composite outperformed the inco-pad (12 mls versus 31 mls leaked) but was slightly worse than the diaper (13 mls versus 9 mls.) In response to questions: • Do we buy or make the SAP composite? It would be best made in-house next to the diaper line. • The hot-melt is evenly applied to the SAP “stochastically due to electrostatic charging”. • The process is heavily patented. • Multilayers of the SAP would be better than one. • The laminate is not stiff. The flexibility of the outer “tissues” defines stiffness. • Rewet and multiple insult results will depend on the coverstock used. 2 nd and 3 rd insults are excellent because the tubes are still open. • The tubes will certainly collapse under baby's weight. • KXI's PLEKX™ process can convert 10,000 tonnes/year of SAP into laminate. • Surface cross-linking was “special” for the first product. Hydroentangled 100% Pulp or Thermal bonded 100% Synthetics Henning Skov-Jensen of M&J Fibretech described trials to entangle 100% pulp, both with and without a tissue carrier. • 60-1200 gsm pulp can be entangled without a carrier; down to 8gsm can be entangled with a carrier. • Untreated pulps give the best wicking: 25-30 cms after about 10 minutes. • Absorbent capacity drops from 9 to 6 gms/gm as entanglement pressure increases. • Treated pulps give the best tensiles: at 200 gsm MD tensiles ranged from 10-15 N/5cm, and CD's from 6-14N/5cm. MD Wet ranged from 2-4 N/5cm. • 150 gsm pulp could be entangled at higher energy to get 25-33 N/5cm in the machine direction. Latex bonding would triple/quadruple these figures and addition of synthetic fibres, even without thermal bonding, would also give a useful strength boost. Here 20% of 6mm lyocell gave the best tenacities at 80N/5cm, and also enhanced the final absorbency. However the best strengths of all came when 20% bico fibres were melted. Mr Skov-Jensen introduced 100% synthetic air-laid high-loft, high resilience nonwovens of a wide range of basis weights for use in waddings and acquisition layers. In response to questions, up to 25% of the pulp could be lost through the wire in hydroentanglement, but 15% was more typical. Even at this level, 100% pulp HE was said to be commercially viable. The use of a carrier could reduce pulp loss to about 4%. He claimed to have hydroentangled 400 gsm webs - but did not comment on the commercial viability of this. Hydroentanglement of Thermal Bonded Spunbonds Daniel Feroe of Rieter-Perfojet described work reminiscent of the BBA approach to bulking fully formed textiles by passing them through a hydroentanglement machine. Taking advantage of the fact that their new spunbond pilot line can feed directly into their hydroentanglement line, R-P has explored the effects of water jets on a fully calendered spunbond. Point bonded PP nonwovens in basis weights from 17 to 60 gsm were processed under undisclosed conditions. The hydroentanglement process, as expected:- • Doubled the thickness of the 60 gsm product and added 30% to the thickness of the 17 gsm.fabric. • Bending lengths were halved at 60gsm, the effect diminishing with basis weight similarly to thickness. • Tensile strength was 30% down at 17 gsm and 15% down at 60gsm. However this was on the basis of MD+CD results. • CD tensiles were increased (from 26 to 33 N/5cms at 20 gsm) • The HE'd fabrics looked more even and felt better than the controls (no jet-lining, presumably due to the fact that the point bonds survived the treatment) Just as air-jet texturising can make a filament yarn feel more like a spun yarn, spun-lacing a spunbond makes it more like a carded thermal bond. Despite the strength losses, the HE'd spunbond remains stronger than the equivalent carded product despite being at least 50% thicker. It also emerges with higher CD strengths and higher elongations than other spunbonds. Mr Feroe estimated the spunlacing could be done on a spunbond line for an additional $0.05/kg. The process was not yet commercial, he had not yet tried spunlacing SMS structures, and while hydrophilic spunbonds could be treated, we guessed they would emerge hydrophobic, and need refinishing afterwards. USA 's first fine-denier spunbond Stuart Smith of American Nonwovens Corporation described their experiences since the 1997 decision to install their first fine-denier spunbond line. This system accelerates the filaments to higher velocities at laydown, and hence allows more orientation to be developed and, if required, finer filaments to be produced at higher productivity than on conventional machines. In principle, the technology should, from a single beam produce something with a cover factor equivalent to an SMS. Furthermore, it's ability to accelerate filaments up to 8000 m/min should allow it to run a wide range of polymers, including nylon, polyesters and polylactic acids. The higher orientation leads to improved fibre properties and hence nonwovens with higher strength, lower extensibility and reduced heat shrinkage. In practise the American Nonwovens line has successfully produced 24-50 gsm nonwovens at an MD/CD of 2:1 from PP, PET or CoPET (Eastar Bio) polymers with filament deniers from 0.9 to 1.5, giving a basis weight uniformity of +/- 7.5% across the width. These have been successfully tested and accepted in various markets but not released for sale because American Nonwovens feel this range is too limited for their purposes. A major machinery upgrade is now underway in collaboration with the machine supplier, who will redesign and re-engineer to achieve: • 10-120 gsm fabrics • at 0.5 to 4 denier • with an MD/CD of 1.2-1 • using a wider range of polymers • to give a uniformity better than +/-5% The line is now expected to be competed in mid-2003, 6 years after commencement of project. American Nonwovens want the line to make speciality, high performance products for niche markets, and clearly the first iteration could not do this. In particular they are targeting barrier materials with higher air permeability and hydrostatic heads at lower basis weights than SMS, and filtration products. In response to a question, they have not run PLA on the line. Reicofil 4 Detlef Frey of Reifenhauser promoted the latest version of their spunbond machinery. The main improvement over Reicofil 3 relates to it's ability to process polymers other than polypropylene, especially polyester into fully crystallised polyester filaments (i.e. laydown at >5000m/min). These would have a tenacity of up to 33 cN/dtex (sic) with a boiling water shrinkage of less than 5%. For polypropylene the main advantage would be higher potential throughput or the ability to make finer deniers Asked if a Reicofil 3 line could be fitted with the improved Reicofil 4 cooling, stretching and laydown system, Mr Frey thought not because the new system required 5m depth per beam compared with 4.4m available on the “3” system. No “4” lines were yet running commercially but two were scheduled for start-up in mid 2003. He did however claim to have installed a total of 125 lines (270 beams) of the earlier systems, in 30 different countries. Reicofil 4 worked well with polybutylene terephthalate. Diamond Technology Tom Daugherty of P&G positioned the stretch-apertured nonwoven (“SAN”) technology, now available for licence, as a spin-off from years of studying the failures around point-bond sites when producing stretchable diaper components. They had learned how to make bonds fail on demand by designing them to be the weakest link. So, if a thermal bonded nonwoven was embossed with intermittent lines and then stretched by passing through interdigitating grooved rollers (ring-rolling) the lines became apertures in a regular pattern defined by the embossing pattern, while the original thermal bonding pattern, and hence the fabric strength, survived. Fabric widths could be doubled (basis weights halved) in the process and the resulting nonwoven would be considerably softer, more porous and more flexible than the original. Apertures of the highest clarity (no fibres crossing the hole) and with lint-free edges could be up to 30mm in diameter, and total open area could be as much as 70%. The process also allowed lamination of multiple layers of nonwoven. Patent protection is of course available: USP's 5628097, 5658639 and 5916661 being listed. In response to questions: • Most nonwovens can be apertured: there are few limitations. • The pilot line at P&G is 355mm wide. • Two nonwoven producers are already operating the process on a commercial scale. • Wipes are among several areas where this technology will allow unique products to be produced. • The line will operate at speeds to allow on-line use in any current nonwoven production process. Spike forming Carsten Andersen of Formfiber Denmark ApS positioned his Spike airlaid nonwoven former as a high productivity waste recycling machine capable of making a wide range of bulky waddings from a wider range of raw materials. Inputs could be trim-waste, scrap, cut-outs etc from the hygiene, medical, textile, carpet, paper and automotive industries. The machine would handle any fibre length from dust to 75mm. Outputs could be 10-5000 gsm in thicknesses up to 40cms. At 1000 gsm a 1 meter wide former would consume tonne per hour of raw material. Hammermilled wipes production waste has been processed into 250 gsm white boards. Mixed textile and carpet waste including foam has been processed into thermoformable sound absorbing boards for use in automobiles. Cleaner fibres could be made into 5000 gsm webs and through air bonded if 10% bico fibre was added. Cotton and cotton waste had also been processed. Diapers for the Third World ? Rich Chapas (Consultant) argued the case for really low-cost disposables made locally to allow the world's “base of pyramid” consumers to enjoy their benefits. The target market would be those on incomes of under $1500/year, most of whom were without power or clean water. Successful examples of “base of pyramid” marketing were nutritional products and the provision of mobile phones (one per village) to allow commerce to start. Nonwoven sales were admittedly a few years away but water-purifiers, femcare and constructional composites were possible starting points. An in-country entrepreneur and a multi-national company prepared to take the long-view were necessary to get going. Diapers for the Third World – Part 2 Bill Ouellette of Chlorox Services Company, formerly with Procter and Gamble, emphasised that Chlorox was not interested in the diaper market, and gave the paper originally intended for May 2002's NTC conference in Ottawa. In a nutshell he argues that if 1960's style (and performance) diapers were made with current advanced materials and conversion machinery, they would be so cheap they could be sold in markets where diapering does not yet exist. This, he thought, was the only way to grow the diaper sector at any reasonable rate in the next few years. The target price to open up this market, defined as the population of the third world on $3300/year or more, must be less than 4 cents per diaper, c.f. the 21 cents for today's economy diapers in the USA. Other points of interest: • The billions spent on making near-perfect diapers a little better is now reducing revenue. Diaper usage is declining as they are worn longer. • A Z-fold diaper made of tissue paper with plastic back could meet the price target. • Cover/core/backsheet composites formed on an air-lay line would come close. In response to questions: • Small companies producing such diapers locally would do better than the multi-nationals. • The new diapers would not replace cloth diapers: diapering would be a cultural change for the target population. Is your period really necessary? Ruth Zielinski of Childbirth and Womens Services PLC thought women would soon be electing to reduce the frequency and/or intensity of their menstruation, or even to eliminate it altogether. Options include: • Taking oral or non-oral contraceptive hormones continuously until it is convenient to have a period. • The new Seasonale™ pill will be marketed on the basis of a period every 3 months. • Patches (e.g. Ortho Evra™) or vaginal rings (e.g NuvaRing™) containing hormones are normally omitted once a month to allow menstruation, but can be used more or less continuously. • An intrauterine device (Minera™) can be left in for up to 5 years. While using this total flow reduces and after one year, 20% of women have no period at all. • Removal of the endometrium altogether causes 62-74% of women to stop having periods and causes flow reduction in the remainder. The “ablation” procedure takes 10 minutes as an out-patient procedure, and most women can be “back to work” in 3-4 days. • Extreme exercise suppresses menstruation, apparently without any harmful side effects – assuming pregnancy is not required. Femcare materials: Needs and Insights John Poccia gave a personal view of femcare materials having pointed out that his views were not necessarily those of his employer, Johnson and Johnson . During an overview of the female anatomy, menstruation and markets, the following points were notable: • Peak pressure on a tampon would be 100mbar • Highest “normal” recorded fluid loss was 42 g/24 hours (day one). Typical values for the first two days were 10-20g/day. • The fluid is shear-thinning and does not clot. • A lot of fluid remains in a pad's acquisition layer: better cores are needed. • Additives to pads (protein cleavers) can reduce the fluids viscosity to aid its absorbtion by the core. With regard to the market: • The US market (2001) uses 26% thickpads, 14% thin pads, 30% liners and 30% tampons by volume. • Nonwoven and apertured film covers have equal shares of the pad market. • Winged pads have 45% of the pad market. • 45% of liners are used only between periods, and 15% are used only during periods. The remainder is classed as “dual usage”, which seems to mean that 40% of pantiliner users use them all the time. • Thong, black and micro products were growing most rapidly. • J&J is marketing Carefree™ in China with a spun-laced cover and core to get maximum “textile-like” quality. • P&G and J&J together make 75% of the world's tampons. • 9% of US tampons are digital, the remainder being equally split between plastic and paper applicators. • Only 10% of German tampons use applicators whereas in the UK , 45% are digital. • The fastest growing tampon sku is the multipack system. • While innovation in tampons has been minimal over the last 60 years, P&G's Rely™ was truly innovative and the best performing product. But for TSS all tampons would now be made like this. It had high capacity, freedom from leakage and was very comfortable to use. • Innovation was clearly still possible in this category: target – the properties of Rely™ without any TSS connotations. • Materials used in external protection would “spill over” into tampon designs. • Tampon patenting has been rising over the last five years. In response to questions: • Interlabial products avoid the TSS issue but still have design problems. Superabsorbents were not required: product design was the key issue. • P&G's Pearl™ tampon is “incremental” rather than revolutionary. • Would 2 different ADL's help in absorbing the 2 phases of the fluid? No. • The driving forces in pad and liner design will be ultrathin and textile-like. 100gsm cores with acquisitive coverstock Jim Hanson of MTS continued his crusade for pre-formed diaper cores with part three of the series: • 400ml absorbent core capacity is unnecessary: 100ml would do. • 100 gsm bico/SAP core with cover and back would be adequate c.f. 600gsm now. • 90% SAP would be possible in these lighter structures. 50-70% would be used in practice. • Waterproofed wet-strength tissue paper could be the backsheet. This could also be air-laid. • Multiple layers of lightweight cores would be a better way of reaching higher absorbency • SAP's would not have to be surface cross-linked for high retention under pressure. The resilient bico-structure would provide this. • The ability to use really different superabsorbents would allow newcomers to avoid existing patents. • Diapers would need redesigning to get the best out of the new cores. Wicking tests, and diaper testing on live consumers remained to be done. Testing Food Pads Genevieve Beland of Lysac Technologies (Canada) pointed out that the absorbency test methods used in the food industry are a) not standardised and b) do not reflect the performance-in-use of food-pads. In particular: • The use of 0.2% saline or even tap water to test absorbency gives very different results to the exudates e.g. from chicken. • Pads have to work at lower temperatures than testing temperatures. • Pads are often in use at a 45 degree angle on supermarket shelves. • Stacking during transport increases the pressure on the pad to at least 0.3psi. Lysac therefore developed a synthetic exudate to simulate the high viscosity, protein and salts content of real exudates. They also standardised on a 30 min dunk followed by a 10 minute horizontal drain, for the TFA test, and a 24 hour soak under 0.1 psi at 4 0 C for the AUL test. For retention they applied 0.3 psi in a centrifuge. These methods showed their Safe and Natural Absorbent Polymer (SNAP) performs just as well as the cheaper “synthetic” SAP's . Ms Beland would not reveal the chemistry of SNAP beyond saying it was a polysaccharide. The Jewel in the Crown? Andrew Urban – Consultant listed the problems facing the start-up hygienic product producer: • Higher materials cost due to less powerful purchasers. • Minimal R&D expenditure. • Minimal “infrastructure of engineers and technical personnel”. • One plant can't supply nationwide. The solutions to these problems were said to be: • Sole sourcing – admittedly with the disadvantage that this would prevent the buyer from staying in touch with the changes in market price. • Patent analysis: using a patent professional is expensive, so read the magazines, ask suppliers to share their surveys, and maybe use a consultant. • Patent licencing: expensive, but so is defending an infringement suit. • Having a quality control system: “simply the logic of production put on paper”. • Having a process control system such as that used at Pope and Talbot before it was sold to Paragon Trade Brands. Mr Urban felt this last point was the “jewel in the crown” in attempts to succeed against P&G and K-C. Down to the wire? Tom Israel of Albany International has studied the effects of forming-wire weave-pattern on the properties of air-laid nonwovens. Four wires, (two warp- and two weft- faced, each at two different permeabilities) were tested by making 50, 100 and 200 gsm webs from Weyerhaeuser NB416 pulp at 300 inches/min on one DanWeb former. The conclusions: • Web thickness is affected by the wire pattern (and by the basis weight). • Warp-faced wires increased the MD/CD orientation slightly, weft-faced wires had the opposite effect. • The wire pattern is visible on the underside of the webs. • Latex bonding masked the effects. Mr Israel explained that the data would probably not be applicable to a large machine working at higher speeds. He proposed checking the effects of thermal bonding next. High Wet Strength EVA's for Wipes John Parsons of Vinamul Polymers explained that the family of self-crosslinking EVA binders typically used in airlaid latex-bonded wipes gave excellent absorbency and colour but would not give usable structures with wet CD tensiles above 500 g/inch. They were also low in solvent resistance, a point which became important as household cleaning wipes used increasing aggressive lotions. This strength could be improved with external cross-linkers, or bico fibres or, if cost and stiffness were not a problem by using more binder. Vinamul had however decided to try to make a better EVA, targeting a 50% improvement in wet strength. The result was their new 25-135A, ready-for-use, 50% solids emulsion which featured a 0 0 C Tg polymer. First trials with 25-135A at M&J Fibertech demonstrated the required 50% strength increase, or strength equivalence to the old binder at 20% lower add-on (16%). Methyl Ethyl Ketone strength was up by 60% but the fabrics were stiffer and the absorbency rate (5 down to 37secs) and capacity (16.4 to 15 g/gm) had deteriorated. Reformulation to improve this had restored the absorbency to acceptable levels while maintaining a 45% strength benefit over the old latex. The new latex can now be used like the old to yield the required improved strength in industrial wipes, or at a 16% binder level to reduce the cost of baby wipe products. If lighter products could be marketed, then at 20% binder add-on, strength equivalence was obtained at 47gsm c.f. the 60 gsm standard. The binder is now in commercial trials in the USA with issues such as wet caliper, loft, extractibles, machine speeds, and wire fouling still to be investigated. The brand name will be Elite ULTRA. In response to questions: • The binder is FDA compliant. • It does tend to neutralise antimicrobials. • There is no wicking data yet. • Vinyl acetate monomer levels are below 1000ppm • It can be foam-applied. • 150 0 C for 2 seconds is needed for full cure. • There is 80-90ppm of formaldehyde in the emulsion. • It costs less than bico fibre to achieve the target strength. • EVA itself is not absorbent. Lamination combining winding Allessandro Celli of A.Celli spa ( Italy ) promoted Celli winders and once again included some details of the hot-melt lamination stage being added, thanks to a collaboration with Nordson, to a full speed slitter/rewinder. This time the possibility of multiple lamination steps leading to the ability to, for instance, stick backsheet to core to ADL was discussed. He thought this was a better way of making absorbent pads on roll than trying to form several different layers on an air-lay machine. Soft Elastic Michael Toal described how Caligen Foam Ltd (UK) has adapted their elastic foam to provide an alternative to conventional elastics in leg-cuffs. The new SoftSeal® product: • Will give a better seal over a larger area, eliminating red marks on baby's legs. This is due to a higher retraction load at 2/3rds stretch giving a better seal over a larger area. • Has >300% elongation at break with <10% creep over 1 hour or <30% creep over 4 hours. • Is available in a wide range of colours, co-ordinated with waist-bands. • Is ultrasonically weldable. • Looks good to mothers. Diaper producers would need a new unwind stand to take the 1metre diameter, 0.8 metre wide spools of 14-50mm wide, ~1.5mm thick foam. The width is typically slit into two on-line to feed each cuff, and this width will be halved at 100% extension. In response to questions: • 16mm foam, stretched to 8mm was used in the Joa trial • Unicharm diapers did indeed use a similar foam in the 1980's “Moony”. The patents have expired. • Spools run for 4-8 hours between splices. • The foam is stable up to 160- 180 0 C so an elastomeric adhesive or sonic bonding can be used. • Caligen's successes to date are not in diapers. • Price? “We feel we can compete”. Multistrand Elastics Greg Hearn of Hyosung (America) Inc., a newcomer to the US diaper scene, reviewed the evolution of diapers from the dawn of time through Victor Mills' invention of Pampers in 1961 to the introduction of leg elastic in the 1970's. Leg elasticity was initially provided by a 0.25 inch low-modulus rubber band about .007 inch thick: the success criteria being containment through even pressure at a level which did not leave red marks on the baby. Multi-strand rubber thread, spreading the pressure over a greater area, did this better than the band, and multi-strand spandex yarns followed. Hyosung produce these and are now trying to offer innovative solutions to the containment problem. Asked if spandex could be available in ribbon form, Mr Hearn thought not. Their spandex shelf life was about a year.