As a member of the Dörken group, Multitexx draws on almost twenty years of experience in spunbond production.
To meet the demand for lightweight, high-strength spunbond nonwovens, Multitexx, a new company based in Herdecke, Germany, offers spunbond nonwovens made from high-quality polyester (PET) and polypropylene (PP) for demanding applications.
As a member of the international Dörken group, Multitexx draws on almost twenty years of experience in spunbond production. The parent company was founded 125 years ago and began developing and producing pitched roof underlays back in the 1960s. In 2001, Dörken acquired the Reicofil spunbond production line and began producing its own spunbond materials for the composite construction laminate market.
“After 15 years, the rapid growth of the business led to the need to purchase a second high-performance Reicofil line,” the company explains. “This solved the capacity problem at Dörken and also provided the impetus for the creation of Multitexx.” Since January 2015, the new company has been selling high-quality spunbond materials made from thermally calendered polyester or polypropylene.
The Dörken Group’s two Reicofil lines can alternate the use of two polymers and produce spunbond from any material with low density and extremely high consistency. The polymer enters the production line through separate feed lines modified for the appropriate raw material. Since polyester particles agglomerate at 80°C, they must first be crystallized and dried before extrusion. It is then fed into the dosing chamber, which feeds the extruder. The extrusion and melting temperatures of polyester are significantly higher than those of polypropylene. The molten polymer (PET or PP) is then pumped into the spinning pump.
The melt is fed into the die and smoothly distributed over the entire width of the production line using a one-piece die. Thanks to its one-piece design (designed for a production line working width of 3.2 meters), the mold prevents potential defects that can form in the nonwoven material due to welds created by multi-piece molds. Thus, the Reicofil series spinnerets produce monofilament filaments with a single filament fineness of approximately 2.5 dtex. They are then stretched into endless strands through long diffusers filled with air at controlled temperatures and high wind speeds.
The distinctive feature of these spunbond products is the oval-shaped imprint created by hot-calender embossing rollers. Circular embossing is designed to increase the tensile strength of nonwoven products. Subsequently, the high-quality spunbond nonwoven fabric goes through stages such as cooling line, defect inspection, slitting, cross-cutting and winding, and finally reaches shipment.
Multitexx offers polyester spunbond materials with filament fineness of approximately 2.5 dtex and density from 15 to 150 g/m². In addition to high uniformity, product qualities are said to include high tensile strength, heat resistance and very low shrinkage. For spunbond polypropylene materials, nonwovens made from pure polypropylene yarns with densities ranging from 17 to 100 g/m² are available.
The main consumer of Multitexx spunbond fabrics is the automotive industry. In the automotive industry, a number of variants of spunbond are used, for example, as sound insulation, electrical insulation or filter element material. The company says their high degree of uniformity also makes them well suited for filtration of liquids, successfully used in a range of applications from cutting fluid filtration to beer filtration.
Both spunbond lines operate around the clock and have correspondingly high productivity. According to the company, GKD’s CONDUCTIVE 7701 loop is 3.8 meters wide and nearly 33 meters long, meets multiple standards and is suitable for long-term pressure. The tape structure design promotes good breathability and uniformity of the mesh. It is also claimed that the ease of cleaning of GKD belts ensures high performance.
“In terms of product properties, GKD belts are undoubtedly the best belts in our line,” says Andreas Falkowski, Team Leader for Spunbond Line 1. For this purpose, we have ordered another belt from GKD and are now preparing it for production. This time it will be the new CONDUCTIVE 7690 belt, which features a significantly coarser belt structure in the direction of travel.
This design is said to provide the conveyor belt with a special grip designed to improve traction in the stacking area and further optimize the cleaning efficiency of the conveyor belt. “We’ve never had any problems starting after changing the belts, but the rough surface should make it easier to remove drips from the belts,” says Andreas Falkowski.
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Post time: Dec-09-2023