Nonwoven Technical Textiles: Opportunities

Utkarsh Sata, M. Mallyah* and Seshadri Ramkumar

Nonwovens and Advanced Materials LaboratoryThe Institute of Environmental and Human Health

Texas Tech UniversityLubbock, TX 79409-1163, USA

E-mail: s.ramkumar@ttu.edu

* Tecnitex Nonwovens, Ltd., Bangalore, India

Presentation given at the FICCI Agrotextiles conference held on 1st Oct 2008

Global Economic Situation: Public Humiliation

World Economy is at Crossroads

Source: Public Humiliation by James Surowiecki, The New Yorker, September 24, 2008

American Economy Meltdown

• US is the largest consumer of commodity goods.

• Latest mortgage crisis and credit crunch is hitting the pocket books of American consumer society.

• Monies to spend on consumer good such as clothing will decrease.

Implications of Global Economy and Indian Textile Industry

• Import of commodity textiles in developed economies hit by credit crisis will slow down.

• Increase in the price of raw materials due to global economic situation.

• Indian textile industry should diversify.

Diversification into Non-commodity Textiles

• Indian textile industry should go on a higher gear in diversifying into unconventional textiles.

• Even after 30 years of organized sector status, the nonwoven and technical textile industry is growing at a rate of 8 % in USA and Europe.

• This sector is at infancy in India and offers tremendous growth and opportunities until 2050.

Technical Textiles

& Nonwovens

Technical Textiles are value-added textile products that provide added functionality and applications other than regular fiber-to-fashion supply chain products.

These technical textiles encompass high performance fibers, yarns, woven, knitted, nonwoven, braided and composite structures.

What are Technical Textiles ?

Are Nonwovens Technical Textiles?

• Most of the nonwovens are technical textiles as they have not yet penetrated into the apparel sector.

• Nonwovens are predominantly disposable and semi durable goods.

• All nonwovens are technical textiles but all technical textiles are not nonwovens

What are Nonwovens?

• As the name indicates nonwovens are not woven fabrics.• Cost effective process as it skips intermediary processes

such as spinning, weave preparation and weaving.

Fiber Fabricwithout weaving

• High speed and productivity compared to conventional/woven processes.

General Definition of Nonwoven Fabrics

Nonwoven fabrics are flat structures mainly defined as sheets or webs made by bonding and entangling fibers or filaments by mechanical, thermal or chemical means.

- Mahmud and Ramkumar, Man-Made Textiles in India, September 2001- Mahmud and Ramkumar, Man-Made Textiles in India, September 2001

Major Nonwoven Technologies

• Needlepunching

• Thermalbonding

• Airlaid

• Spunbonding

• Meltblowing

• Spunlacing/hydroentanglement

Nonwoven Technologies

Spunbond – SyntheticMeltblown – SyntheticNeedlepunching – Versatile (natural and

synthetic)Hydroentangling – Versatile (natural and

synthetic)

Typical Applications of Nonwovens

• Technical applications• Hospital fabrics• Surgical gowns• Face masks• Geo textiles• Consumer and industrial wipes• Upholstery paddings• Military decontamination wipes• Inner liners of protective fabrics• Automotive headliners• Automotive trunkliners• Acoustic and thermal insulation

materials

Technology and End-use Applications

• Spunbonding – surgical gowns, diaper cover stocks

• Meltbowning – barriers, filters and face masks• Needlepunching – Geotextiles, automotive

fabrics• Thermalbonding – upholstering, cussion pads• Hydroentangling – wipes

Needlepunching Technology

Nonwoven Laboratory at Texas Tech University

Contoured Needleboard TechnologyContoured Needleboard Technology

Width: 1.2 mts.

Contoured Needle Zone

Nonwoven Line

Hopper Feeder

Double Cylinder Card

Cross Lapper

H1 Needle Loom

Opening – fine beating and tuft reduction

Web forming – removal of tufts; parallel orientation

Web formation - high loft, layered webs

Web consolidation – Interlocking of fibers

Meltblown Process

Spunbonding Process

Major Machinery Makers

Spunbond/Meltblow – Reifenhauser, Germany

Hydroentangling – Fleissner, Germany. Reiter Perfoject,

Switzerland

Needlepunching – Dilo, Germany Saurer, Switzerland.

Fehrer nonwoven operations have been acquired recently by Saurer group

NSC (Asselin + Thibeu), France

Global Nonwovens

Outlook

Worldwide Production By Region (millions of tonnes)

2.69

5.75

8.41 R. Of WorldMid. EastSouth America

Asia Pacific

Europe - 27

NAFTA

0.9

0.8

0.80.1

1.2

1.3

1.2

0.2

1.5

1.7

2.0

0.3

1.8

2.3

3.2

0.4

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1997 2002 2007 2012

Source: INDA Estimates, Ian Butler, INTC-2008

Nonwoven Growth By Region(%, based upon tonnes)

0 5 10 15 20

Other Asia Pacific

Mid East

Japan

Europe (27)

NAFTA

China

World

2007-2012

1997-2007

Source: INDA Estimates, Ian Butler, INTC-2008

2007 Nonwoven Production(000, tonnes)

Regions• Europe (27) 1,659• Asia-Pacific * 2,047 • NAFTA 1,491• South America** 254• Mid. East 174• R. of World 126

* Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,Taiwan,Thailand

** Top 6: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela

Selected Countries• Mexico 126• Brazil 135• Mexico 130• Taiwan 160• Korea 213• Turkey 93• Japan 338• S. Africa 26• Saudi Arabia 52• Australia 62

Source: INDA Estimates, Ian Butler, INTC-2008

Nonwoven Consumption Per Capita(kilograms)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Taiwan

Korea

NAFTA

Europe -27

Australia

Japan

Malaysia

Saudi Arabia

Turkey

Mexico

China

South America

Brazil

S. Africa

Russia

India

Developed Markets

Early Development Markets

Emerging Markets

High export volumes

Source: INDA Estimates, Ian Butler, INTC-2008

Nonwoven Consumption Rises as GDP Per Capita Increases *

Source: INDA Estimates, Ian Butler, INTC-2008

* PPP in US$ equivalents

Kg/Capita

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

$0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000

Czech Rep.

Korea

Brazil

Turkey

Europe

Japan

NAFTA

Taiwan

India now

China now

India, 2012

Trend line

Worldwide Consumption of Technical Textiles (000 tonnes)

Region Years CAGR%

1995 2000 2005 2010 95-00 00-05 05-10

Americas 4,288 5,031 5,777 6,821 3.2% 2.8% 3.4%

Europe 3,494 4,162 4,773 5,577 3.6% 2.8% 3.2%

Asia 5,716 6,963 8,504 10,645 4.0% 4.1% 4.6%

ROW 473 558 628 730 3.3% 2.4% 3.1%

Totals 13,971 16,714 19,683 23,774 3.7% 3.3% 3.8%

Source: David Rigby Associates

Worldwide Consumption of Technical Textiles (000 tonnes)

Application Area Years CAGR%

1995 2000 2005 2010 95-00 00-05 05-10

Agrotech 1,173 1,381 1,615 1,958 3.3% 3.2% 3.9%

Geotech 196 255 319 413 5.4% 4.6% 5.3%

Medtech 1,228 1,543 1,928 2,380 4.7% 4.6% 4.3%

Protech 184 238 279 340 5.3% 3.3% 4.0%

Totals 2,781 3,417 4,141 5,091 4.68% 3.93% 4.38%

Source: David Rigby Associates

Growth Prediction of

Technical Textiles in

India

Consumption Of Nonwovens/TT in India Vs. GDP Per Capita

(Assuming An Increase Of 13.27% In Per Capita Every Year)

GDP per capita source: World Bank

YEAR GDP PER CAPITA (US$)

CONSUMPTION OF NONWOVENS/TT (kg)

2005 733 0.08

2010 1374 0.15

2015 2563 0.27

2020 4780 0.51

2025 8912 0.95

2030 16618 1.77

2035 30985 3.31

2040 57773 6.16

2045 107720 11.49

2050 200850 21.43

Consumption Of Nonwovens/TT in USA vs. GDP Per Capita

(Assuming An Increase Of 4.6% In Per Capita Every Year)

YEAR GDP PER CAPITA (US$)

CONSUMPTION OF NONWOVENS/TT (kg)

2005 42499 3.5

2010 52435 4.32

2015 65656 5.41

2020 82213 6.77

2025 102943 8.48

2030 128901 10.62

2035 161404 13.29

2040 202103 16.64

2045 264705 20.84

2050 331452 26.10GDP per capita source: World Bank

India vs. USA Per Capita Nonwoven/TT Consumption (2005-2050)

GDP per capita source: World Bank

India’s Per Capita Consumption vs. Income Levels (2005-2050)

GDP per capita source: World Bank

Agrotextiles(Few

Examples)

What are Agrotextiles ?

Agricultural Textiles are used for Increasing yield, quality and safeguarding agricultural products.

Agrotextiles are basically technical textiles that have specialty applications in agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, animal husbandry & forestry.

Agricultural Textiles find applications right from sowing to harvesting.

They offer new insight on solving the problems faced by agricultural industry.

Various technical textiles such as woven, nonwoven, knitted, nets and coated textiles are used as agrotextiles.

Applications of Agrotextiles

• Sunscreening (shade cloth)• Frost Covering• Harvesting• Wind protection• Landscape covering• Bird protection• Insect protection• Turf protection• Irrigation• Drainage• Aquaculture• Insulation• Horticulture• Animal Husbandary

Agro Shade Cloths

• Shade cloth/Shade Netting

These are sunscreens and provide necessary protection to the plants against:

• Excessive heat,• Burning of the crops due to

direct sunshine and• UV damage.

Source: www.karatzis.gr/products/agricultural/04s.jpg

Examples:

Knitted or woven polyethylene fabrics.

Should not rot or become brittle & should avoid mildew formation

Range of shade percentages are:

25%, 35%, 50%, 75% and 90%

Frost Covering

• Adverse Effects of Frost

Frost can kill the seeds and adversely affect the ariel portion of the plant. Frost makes the plant loose its moisture and dry out.

• Frost Covering

Minimizes moisture and heat loss.Keeps the plant warm and healthy.

Nonwoven fabrics are preferred for Frost Covers:

Lightweight, breathable and those which dry quickly are used. These fabrics should provide open spaces for crop treatments.

Source: http://www.anti-frost.com/

Source: http://www.anti-frost.com/

Examples:Nonwoven spunbonded mesh fabric and nonwoven UV resistant polypropylene fleece.

Harvesting Aides

• Harvesting nets are used to collect the fruits falling from a tree.

• This helps to keep the

cost of cultivation low by eliminating additional labor associated with harvesting.

• Harvesting nets are predominantly grip structures which can be developed using warp knitting technology.

Source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2638810726_a4ceefdcc6.jpg?v=0

Source: http://lh3.ggpht.com

Windshields

• Windshields are used to protect the crops from high velocity wind damage.

• These can also be used to control the temperature by hindering cooling due to the wind.

• These are installed perpendicular to the direction of the wind to reduce the wind speed.

These Prevent:

Breaking of branches,Early falling of the fruits andDamage to the leaves and flowers.

Source: http://www.karatzis.gr

Source: http://www.arrigoni.it

Examples:Woven and knitted UV stabilized windshields using high density polyethylene monofilaments.

Landscape Covers

• These are used for weed control and prevent penetration of thin roots of weeds.

• In addition they also maintain optimal soil temperatures for rapid plant growth.

Source: http://www.terramdirect.com

Examples:Biodegradable needlepunched nonwovens and coated fabrics

Spunbonds with Phase Change Materials

Spunbond PP Row Cover Fabric Agrotextiles in Experimental Strawberry Rows

Source: Wadsworth L. C. et al. Nonwoven & Technical Textiles, Oct-Dec 2007

Pesticide Protective Clothing

Pesticide Protective Materials

Three layered Chemical Protective Fabric: Patent Pending

Conclusions• It is extremely important for the Indian textile industry to diversify into durable

technical textiles and disposable nonwovens.

• Technical textiles should at least contribute 15 -20 % of the total textile sector by 2015-2020.

• Our growth prediction is that the industry should grow in double digits around 13 %.