Advances in Technical Nonwovens

George Kellie

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9780081005842
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Industrial Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Advances in Technical Nonwovens presents the latest information on the nonwovens industry, a dynamic and fast-growing industry with recent technological innovations that are leading to the development of novel end-use applications. The book reviews key developments in technical nonwoven manufacturing, specialist materials, and applications, with Part One covering important developments in materials and manufacturing technologies, including chapters devoted to fibers for technical nonwovens, the use of green recycled and biopolymer materials, and the application of nanofibres. The testing of nonwoven properties and the specialist area of composite nonwovens are also reviewed, with Part Two offering a detailed and wide-ranging overview of the many applications of technical nonwovens that includes chapters on automotive textiles, filtration, energy applications, geo- and agrotextiles, construction, furnishing, packaging and medical and hygiene products. - Provides systematic coverage of trends, developments, and new technology in the field of technical nonwovens - Focuses on the needs of the nonwovens industry with a clear emphasis on applied technology - Contains contributions from an international team of authors edited by an expert in the field - Offers a detailed and wide-ranging overview of the many applications of technical nonwovens that includes chapters on automotive textiles, filtration, energy applications, geo- and agrotextiles, and more

1

Introduction to technical nonwovens

G. Kellie Kellie Solutions Ltd, Tarporley, United Kingdom

Abstract

This chapter provides a comprehensive introduction to the technical nonwovens sector. It provides a detail backdrop to this publication by dimensioning the sector and its growth and application expansion.

A number of sectors are reviewed, and these will be covered in more detail in later chapters.

Keywords

Acoustic and thermal insulation; Automotive; Batteries/fuel cell separators; Building and construction; Durable; Filtration; Geotextiles; Lightweight; Medical; Nonwovens; Technical; Technologies

1.1. The nonwovens industry

The nonwovens industry has maintained an almost unbroken period of growth over the past 40 years and has become a key constituent of the man-made fibre market. Nonwovens are, however, not always well understood because of the breadth and complexity of the sector and its applications.

Before looking at technical nonwoven, it is vital to put the nonwovens industry into context.

To scale the sector, the best place to start is with the European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA), the international association serving the nonwovens and related industries. EDANA's most recent summary of its annual statistics on European annual statistics was for 2014 [1]. This report showed that overall production of nonwovens in Europe grew by approximately 4.7% in 2014 to reach 2,165,000 tonnes.

EDANA recently estimated the annual turnover of the European nonwoven roll goods industry is around €4.8 billion. EDANA has also previously estimated that the production of nonwovens in Greater Europe represents approximately 25% of the worldwide market.

Within this market report, it can be seen that three of the four most significant growth areas for nonwovens in 2014 were in technical nonwovens.

The high-growth end uses were personal care wipes (+12.1%), floor covering (+12.3%), civil engineering (+11.9%), and automotive interiors (+13.1%).

EDANA has assessed the main market segments in terms of volume for nonwovens roll goods: [2].

• hygiene (31.9%)

• construction (18.2%)

• wipes (15.8%)

• filtration (6.9%)

A wider analysis has been carried out by IntertechPira (now Smithers Apex), which studies the nonwoven market in detail [3]. They recently forecast that the worldwide nonwovens market would exceed $40.0 billion by value in 2015. If achieved, this would represent a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 8.0% from its 2010 value [3]. The primary driver for this projected explosive growth was seen to be developments in the Far Eastern economies. IntertechPira estimated a total market in excess of 161 billion square metres (m²).

In a more recent study, Smithers Apex estimated that the global consumption of nonwovens in 2015 at 8.95 million tonnes. They valued this at over $37 billion and in excess of 23 billion m² [4]. The global nonwovens market is valued at over $37 billion in 2015 and is projected to exceed $50 billion by 2020, according to a new study by Smithers Apex [5].

In our analyses, we have assumed that the current worldwide nonwovens market is over 190 billion m² per annum (2015).

The spread of markets by geography is also changing. Unsurprisingly, the industry is moving from being largely concentrated in North America and Western Europe. The key movement is towards manufacturing in the Far East, principally China.

1.2. What are technical nonwovens?

The development of nonwovens is often associated with the advancement in the hygiene and disposables market. All of these sectors are technically demanding but have tended to mask the equally rapid rise for nonwovens into more durable long-term applications. While we draw the distinction that these are ‘technical’ applications, we should make it clear that nonwovens used for many of the other disposable applications are no less important or technically complex.

The rate of innovation technical nonwovens, measured by our Nonwovens Innovations Index, shows that technical applications are, for the first time, outpacing hygiene in the development of innovative new solutions. In addition, these innovations place nonwovens close to the top in the category of advanced industrial materials.

The exceptional growth in technical nonwovens is a subject that we have reviewed extensively.

The sector is difficult to precisely define, as it covers many markets. However, we have estimated that more than 3 million tonnes of technical nonwovens were produced in 2014. This fits with a recent review from Smithers Apex, which estimated that global consumption of nonwovens for industrial applications could increase to over 4.90 million tonnes by 2017 [5]. The demand for technical textiles in many Asian countries is believed to be growing at the rate of over 12% per year.

We have loosely defined this group of nonwovens by the end use markets, which are typically durable, or performance end uses. In doing so, we distinguish these materials from nonwovens for largely disposable applications. Although disposable nonwovens are also increasingly technically complex...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• The Textile Institute and Woodhead Publishing
• Copyright
• List of contributors
• Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles
• 1. Introduction to technical nonwovens
• 2. Developments in fibers for technical nonwovens
• 3. Developments in the use of green (biodegradable), recycled and biopolymer materials in technical nonwovens
• 4. Developments in the use of nanofibres in nonwovens
• 5. Developments in manufacturing techniques for technical nonwovens
• 6. Methods for characterisation of nonwoven structure, property, and performance
• 7. Developments in composite nonwovens and related materials
• 8. Developments in nonwoven materials for medical applications
• 9. Developments in nonwovens for automotive textiles
• 10. Nonwoven fabric filters
• 11. Developments in nonwovens as specialist membranes in batteries and supercapacitors
• 12. Developments in nonwoven as geotextiles
• 13. Developments in nonwovens as agrotextiles
• 14. Developments in the use of nonwovens in building and construction
• 15. Developments in the use of nonwovens in home furnishing
• 16. Developments in the use of nonwovens in packaging
• 17. Developments in nonwovens for wound dressings
• 18. Developments in the use of nonwovens for disposable hygiene products
• Index