Opportunities in Nonwovens and Technical Textiles

8/6/2019 Opportunities in Nonwovens and Technical Textiles

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Nonwoven TechnicalTextiles: 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: [email protected]

*Tecnitex Nonwovens, Ltd., Bangalore, India

Presentation given at the FICCI Agrotextiles conference held on 1stOct 2008


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Global Economic Situation:Public Humiliation

World Economyis at Crossroads

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


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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.


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Implications ofGlobal Economy andIndian 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 globaleconomic situation.

Indian textile industry should diversify.


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Diversification into Non-commodityTextiles

Indian textile industry should go on a higher gear in

diversifying into unconventional textiles.

Even after 30 years of organized sector status, thenonwoven 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.


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Technical

Textiles&

Nonwovens


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Technical Textiles are value-added textile products thatprovide added functionality and applications other thanregularfiber-to-fashion supply chain products.

These technical textiles encompass high performancefibers, yarns, woven, knitted, nonwoven, braided andcomposite structures.

What are Technical Textiles ?


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Are Nonwovens Technical Textiles?

Most of the nonwovens are technical textiles as they havenot yet penetrated into the apparel sector.

Nonwovens are predominantly disposable and semidurable goods.

All nonwovens are technical textiles but all

technical textiles are not nonwovens


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What are Nonwovens?

As the name indicates nonwovens are not woven fabrics.

Cost effective process as it skips intermediary processes suchas spinning, weave preparation and weaving.

Fiber Fabric

without weaving

High speed and productivity compared to conventional/wovenprocesses.


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GeneralDefinition of Nonwoven Fabrics

Nonwoven fabrics are flat structuresmainly defined as sheets or webs made by

bonding and entangling fibers or

filaments by mechanical, thermal orchemical means.

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


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Major Nonwoven Technologies

Needlepunching

Thermalbonding

Airlaid

Spunbonding

Meltblowing

Spunlacing/hydroentanglement


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Nonwoven Technologies

Spunbond Synthetic

Meltblown Synthetic

Needlepunching Versatile (natural and synthetic)Hydroentangling Versatile (natural and synthetic)


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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


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Technology and End-use Applications

Spunbonding surgical gowns, diaper coverstocks

Meltbowning barriers, filters and face

masks Needlepunching Geotextiles, automotivefabrics

Thermalbonding upholstering, cussionpads

Hydroentangling wipes


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Needlepunching Technology

Nonwoven Laboratory at Texas Tech University


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Contoured Needleboard TechnologyContoured Needleboard Technology

Width: 1.2 mts.


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Contoured Needle Zone


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Nonwoven Line

Hopper Feeder

Double CylinderCard

Cross Lapper

H1 Needle Loom

Opening fine beating and tuft reduction

Web forming removal of tufts; parallelorientation

Web formation - high loft, layered webs

Web consolidation Interlocking of fibers


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Meltblown Process


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Spunbonding Process


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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


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Global

NonwovensOutlook


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Worldwide Production By Region(millions of tonnes)

2.69

5.75

8.41R. Of World

Mid. East

South 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

23

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1997 2002 2007 2012

Source: INDA Estimates, Ian Butler, INTC-2008


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NonwovenGrowth By Region(%, based upon tonnes)

0 5 10 15 20

he a a

d a

Japan

u ope (27)

N F

Ch na

o d

2007 2012

1997 2007



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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



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Nonwoven Consumption Per Capita(kilograms)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Taiwan

Korea

NAFTA

Europe -27

Australia

Japan

Malaysia

Saudi Arabia

Turkey

MexicoChina

South America

Brazil

S. Africa

Russia

India

Developed Markets

Early Development Markets

Emerging Markets

High export volumes



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Nonwoven Consumption Rises asGDP Per Capita Increases *

Source: INDA Estimates, Ian Butler, INTC-2008 * PPP in US$

equivalents

Kg/Capita

0

0.51

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

apan

NAFTA

Taiwan

India now

China now

India,2012

Trend line


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Worldwide Consumption ofTechnical 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


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Worldwide Consumption ofTechnical 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


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Growth

Prediction ofTechnical

Textiles inIndia


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Consumption Of Nonwovens/TTin 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


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Consumption Of Nonwovens/TTin 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 4.322015 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 26.10



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



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Indias Per Capita Consumptionvs. Income Levels (2005-2050)



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Agrotextiles(Few Examples)


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What are Agrotextiles ?

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

Agrotextiles are basically technical textiles that have specialtyapplications in agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, animal

husbandry & forestry.

Agricultural Textiles find applications right from sowing toharvesting.

They offer new insight on solving the problems faced by agricultural

industry.

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


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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


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Agro Shade Cloths

Shade cloth/Shade Netting

These are sunscreens and providenecessary protection to the plantsagainst:

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%


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Frost Covering

Adverse Effects of Frost

Frost can kill the seeds and adversely affect theariel portion of the plant.Frost makes the plant loose its moisture anddry 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 dryquickly are used. These fabrics should provideopen spaces for crop treatments.

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

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

Examples:Nonwoven spunbonded mesh fabric andnonwoven UV resistant polypropylene fleece.


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Harvesting Aides

Harvesting nets are used tocollect the fruits falling froma tree.

This helps to keep the cost ofcultivation low byeliminating additional laborassociated with harvesting.

Harvesting nets are

predominantly gripstructures which can bedeveloped using warpknitting technology.

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

Source: http://lh3.ggpht.com


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Windshields

Windshields are used to protect thecrops from high velocity wind damage.

These can also be used to control thetemperature by hindering cooling due to thewind.

These are installed perpendicular to thedirection of the wind to reduce the windspeed.

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.


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Landscape Covers

These are used for weed control andprevent 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


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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


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Pesticide

ProtectiveClothing


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Pesticide Protective Materials

Three layered Chemical Protective

Fabric: Patent Pending


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Conclusions

It is extremely important for the Indian textile industry to diversifyinto 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 doubledigits around 13 %.

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Opportunities in Nonwovens and Technical Textiles