The textile dyeing and finishing industry is the most pollutant and energy-intensive process in the textile supply chain. To overcome these problems and meet the expectations of manufacturers and consumers, sustainable technologies are being developed. Let’s check out the new advances at ITMA 2019.

Loris Bellini opens up a new eco era for yarn dyeing

To celebrate the company’s 70^th anniversary, Loris Bellini showed a strong presence at ITMA this year with a total of six exhibits.

According to Luca Formentini, partner of Loris Bellini, the main protagonist which attracted the attention of the numerous visitors at the show was the innovative yarn dyeing system Pulsar.

He said the Pulsar machine is the result of over four years of intense research and development activity, as well as in-depth field tests. It provides outstand dyeing quality and shades consistency.

An important feature of the Pulsar machine is its sustainable advantages. It guarantees an impressive 70% electric saving, as well as reducing the consumption of water, steam and chemicals between 20% and 30%. “Sustainability is one of the most important trends nowadays. The eco-friendly solution represents our biggest bet for the entire dyeing process today, as much as for tomorrow,” he highlighted.

“At Loris Bellini, we believe technological evolution is the only true driver to move ideas towards a higher level of efficiency,” he said. “Therefore, we have continuously invested in R&D for new innovations. We have put around 20% of our revenue on it.”

“To date, there are more than 150 Pulsar technology machines installed worldwide.” Although initially it was born exclusively for dyeing yarns and yarns in cones, this solution amply demonstrated that it is also suitable for dyeing wool tops, as well as yarn beams. Pulsar is also compatible with the ARSP Loris Bellini quick pressure dryer, an exclusively designed system for drying bobbins after bleaching or dyeing.

Another machine with new improvement was ABEP 4 Hanks Spray-dyeing machine. It has a new lid opening with pneumatic cylinder. In addition, the extractable arms can make the hanks loading or unloading operation easily.

Commenting on the market development, he revealed: “China is the most important market for us, accounting for around 30% of market share. It is followed by India, Pakistan and Turkey. We have also made our presence in South America and Europe.”

Pentek’s resource-saving machines offer high-added value

Italian company Pentek demonstrated three highlights at ITMA 2019. Andrea Prologo, International Business Developer, Pentek Textile Machinery Srl., told CTA that the machines on display improve fabrics quality and reduce energy consumption at the same time, offering high-added value to customers.

Talking about the development of sustainability of the industry, Prologo pinpointed that the starting point comes from the consumers and they should be aware of the garments they are buying. At the same time, the brands should encourage the fabrics producers to sell sustainable fabrics while the technology suppliers should invest in R&D to develop more resource-saving machines.

“I expect the recycling system will be the future possibility because the world population is going higher and sustainability is definitely a major trend,” he underscored.

He revealed that, in order to expand production capacity, the company is building a new 6,000sqm manufacturing factory near Florence. It is expected that the new factory will be completed in January 2020. 

“Our annual turnover is around €16-17 million. Among them, 90% is generated from the export market while 10% is generated from the Italian market. We expect our turnover to grow to €20 million by 2020 after moving to our new manufacturing factory,” he said.

In the interview, he also emphasized the importance of Chinese market. “China, together with Pakistan and turkey, are the major markets of Pentek. In China, we have been experiencing constant growth since 2014 and we are working with the top names of the industry. Nowadays, Chinese customers are looking for quality products and it is for sure going to be very positive for us who are selling machines that produce high quality fabrics. And I expect China will grow in the finishing sector.”

As introduced, a major highlight at the booth was PowAIR. It is Pentek’s most performing dryer within a continuous tumbler. The machine is equipped with an internal recycling system, which enables to recover the majority of the air. This cuts off dramatically the gas/steam consumptions (-50%) and brings the cost per meter to minimal standards within a huge productivity.

Another highlight DreamAIR was designed to perform all specialty wet finishing which require high mechanical action in a continuous process, with total repeatability and safe from any crease mark, lustering or abrasion. It can handle various fabrics, from silky goods to shirting to denim and bottom weights up to the new cellulosic fibers and polyester, both on woven and knitwear.

Wanny was born as a modular washing unit to rinse and neutralize fabrics after DreamAIR chemical processes. The huge versatility, low consumptions of water and power as well as its continuous mode, make it a valid alternative for preparation for dyeing or preparation for printing. Wanny is now popular in China, Southeast Asia, India and Portugal.

CHTC Fong’s: Energy saving enabled by smart manufacturing is the way forward

The CHTC Fong’s Group is currently making a huge investment in the infrastructure and advanced automation technology required for manufacturing next-generation Industry 4.0 dyeing and finishing machines in China.

CHTC Fong’s produces some 250-300 stenter frames and between 1,000-1,200 discontinuous dyeing machines every year, including those made by its European companies and brands Monforts, THEN, Fong’s, Goller and Xorella, all of whom will contribute their know-how to the new developments in China.

Speaking during ITMA 2019, CHTC Fong’s CEO Ji Xin said the company was making a very substantial investment in infrastructure in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, as the base for its new subsidiary, CHTC Fong’s Intelligent Printing and Dyeing Machinery.

According to him, CHTC Fong’s has purchased some 76,000 square metres of land in Shaoxing City as the base for this new company, and in addition has recently completed the second phase of construction at its new Monfongs plant in Zhongshan, Guangdong, China

The new Zhongshan plant contains a dedicated Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) for customer trials, as well as a miniature smart dyeing factory.

“The trade dispute that has recently been taking place between the US and China have had a significant impact on the world economy and led to uncertainty in the market, but we believe high efficiency, energy savings and environmental protection – enabled by full automation and smart manufacturing processes – are the way forward in the long term,” said Mr Ji. “Fully intelligent dyeing and finishing equipment will provide the high quality and inexpensive textile products of the future.”

Biancalani develops water-saving washing machine based on years of experience

Biancalani exhibited a total of four machines at the booth, including three drying systems (Airo 24, Airbox, Brio 24) and a washing system (Aquaria).

As introduced by Rossano Biancalani, President, Biancalani Textile Machinery, the new washing machine Aquaria was created based on years of experience in treating fabrics by air.

“In most of our machines, the fabrics are always treated by air. We dry the fabric and at the same time make it soft. Aquaria, which is a continuous and open-width washing machine, can wash all types of fabrics. As we’re experienced in air treatment, we can use the air drying system also in this washing machine,” he described.

Aquaria keeps a very good mechanical action to the fabric. Besides, the air pushes the water or the chemicals through the fibers of the fabric making it very clean. This also allows the use of less water compared with other machines.

The Aquaria model can be developed into a complete product line, such as including the module of washing preparation or fabric rinsing, depending on customer’s requirements.

He was satisfied with the response of visitors during the show. “This is only the third day of the show and people arriving here have shown a lot of interests in the new machine. Many customers who visited us during these 2.5 days are from India, Turkey and China, which are our most important markets.”

“The Europe market is returning to be very important for us. For example, there are a lot of Portuguese, Italian, French and German visitors – maybe because they’re starting to specialise in some particular sectors and our machines are good for specialised productions,” he added.

Benninger: Resource efficiency a major concern for the industry

Benninger, a provider of advanced, highly-developed textile finishing and tyre cord solutions for the global textile, chemical fibre, tyre and conveyor belt manufacturing markets, presented its latest developments at the booth.

According to Marcel Moser, Area Sales Director, Textile Finishing, Benninger, resources saving is a very important topic to the dyeing and finishing sector in countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. Water-saving, in particular, in China, is probably the most important point right now.

In view of this, the company presented its Benninger Küsters DyePad, which was the heart of Benninger’s cold pad batch (CPB) system. The CPB dyeing process allows salt-free dyeing of woven fabrics and knitwear without the use of energy.

“The system has been popular in China, although the North African market is rising fast,” he commented.

In addition, in order to give customers an overview of their production facility at all time, Benninger has further developed the established management information system Ben-iDATA. This allows the customer to query all important machine data, the maintenance status and the ecological footprint of the current production batch.

“After a few years’ development, Ben-iDATA has become more efficient and can be connected to any Benninger machine,” he said.

“Tools with the Industry 4.0 concept open up a lot of new opportunities,” he observed. “There is now a trend towards preventive maintenance. Users can have closer maintenance support through the tool, e.g. monitoring the temperature of the motor, vibration of a gear, etc. It can also trigger the order of spare parts. The maintenance cost could then come down.”

Mario Crosta offers innovative finishing solutions with high connectivity Mario Crosta, an Italian specialist in the field of textile finishing, launched its new innovative and sustainable solutions at ITMA this year. As introduced by Marco Crosta, President and Managing Director, Mario Crosta, the company launched a revised version of brush sueding machine LISA 4.0. It is made especially for knit fabric and synthetic fibers. Another highlight at the booth was Polaris 28, a double drum raising machine which presents new applications for synthetic or performance fabric, especially knitwear and warp knit fabrics. He said there were some new features in mechanical and electronic aspects under the company’s Industry 4.0 strategy – connectivity between machines. “I don’t think all the customers are ready for this at the moment, but we are getting ready before them,” he highlighted. “More features of Industry 4.0 have been included in the machines, so that customers could connect the machine with Mario Crosta if they want.” He revealed that the company exports more than 95% of its production every year. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, China, Vietnam and Uzbekistan are among its key markets. Commenting about the current market situation, he pointed out that the US-Sino trade tension has brought uncertainties to the Asian market. “Customers are not rushing to invest because they don’t know what will happen,” he said. Corino uncovers a new generation of automatic weftstraightener Corino Macchine uncovered a new generation of SUPER N fully-controlled by PLC and managed by touch screens, offering the advantage of memorizing and recalling various machine settings and fabric recipes. SUPER N is an automatic weftstraightener for all woven fabrics. It is capable to correct all types of distortions, diagonal, curved, sinusoidal and asymmetric, thanks to a simple but effective physical principle. The weft yarns are brought back to their original position by tensioning them transversally. The company also showcased a re-styling of the SUPERSLIT rope opening/slitting line, which includes a completely new drop needle detection system as a further development of the GOLDEN EYE system. The SUPERSLIT is also a favorite among many important Chinese knitting dye houses. The line offers outstanding performance as well as low fabric tension and fabric elongation. MCS presents a spectrum of dyeing and finishing solutions With the theme “Feel the Power of Water”, Italian manufacturer MCS S.p.A. presented its wide range of dyeing and finishing solutions at the fairground. One of the highlights was COMBY JIGGER 143 HT Open-Width Dyeing Machine. The machine provides maximum winding diameter up to 1.100 mm and features Inverter-controlled variable-speed pump. MCS JIGGERs are very versatile machines allowing reduced processing cycles at very low consumption values. Ideal machine for any woven fabric, MCS Jigger can work at low tension (down to 10kg) with fibers of different thickness. Another focus at the booth was the SOFTFLOW 18 HT Rope Dyeing Machine. The machine features pump suction with variable speed motor and preselected machine inclination. In addition, it has micro touchscreen and is possible to work in double rope.