Monforts Softcoating unit bypasses padder to ensure significant energy savings and reduced quantities of softener for Belgium’s leading ‘terry’ specialist, Santens.Europe’s leading manufacturer of terry towelling products, Santens, has recently installed a Monforts Softcoating unit in its continuous dyeing line, bypassing the padder and ensuring significant energy savings with the reduction in moisture content and reduced quantities of softener. Formed in 1913 by Jean Baptiste Santens manufacturing cotton fabrics, handkerchiefs and kitchen cloths, the company introduced a range of terry towelling products in 1927. Today from its 70,000 m2 centrally located facility in Belgium’s historic city and centre of textile production, Oudenaarde, Santens is producing the equivalent of a million towels a week. With its own in-house weaving operation, dyeing and finishing house, make-up and packaging, the company specialises in plain dyed terry, as well as yarn dyed jacquard towels and a wide range of beach, bath and kitchen towels, plus snag-resistant towelling for bathrobes. At the same time Santens also introduced bamboo yarns offering a superior product to cotton with a higher softness and absorption; making it Europe’s only bamboo yarn producer for towelling. Although only a small but growing sector with Santens producing around 5t/day of high quality bamboo terry, the company recognised the increased benefits of a more cost effective bamboo and cotton mix yarn; enhancing even further the cotton terry products. Operation Once sized to prevent yarn breakages and washing, the yarn is processed through the continuous dyeing line featuring the newly installed Monforts Softcoating unit at the end of the line. “We had always used a padder – with a 2-roller or 3-roller system – at the end of the line before the fabric is processed through the continuous tumbling line to soften the terry product; ensuring good handling and fluffing’,” said Dyeing Manager, Johan de Smijter. He went on to explain that with the padder becoming less efficient, the company undertook a feasibility study to evaluate alternative process solutions including new softening and spray techniques. “The preferred option was the Softcoating unit supplied by Monforts and ordered through the local representative Le Clair & Meert NV,” he confirmed. The new process using trough and roller techniques, applies just the required amount of liquid/coating to the fabric via contact with the roller. First launched a ITMA 2009, it has been designed to offer three options – to apply a liquid/coating to one side of the fabric; to apply a liquid to both sides of the fabric; and to apply a liquid to one side and a different liquid to the other side. Applications for the Monforts process include nano coating, water repellency, softeners and pigment dyeing. The soft coating process could, for example, apply soil-to-water repellency to one side of the fabric and softener or water absorption, respectively, to the second side. For Santens the new Monforts process eliminates the need for the padder, applying the softener via a roller. The fabric passes through two ‘troughs’ – one for each side of the terry and is continuously read and automatically adjusted for the correct moisture content by three sets of digital readers throughout the process. Because the existing padder was installed in the dyeing line, it was decided to continue the process by installing the Softcoating unit in the line, with the terry run bypassing the padder. “Further,” said Johan, “It meant we only needed one unit instead of two had we installed it in the inlets of the two stenter lines.” The disadvantage of the padder system was the high moisture content in the terry passing into the tumbler line. “As a result,” he confirmed, “We are already recognising the benefits of the Monforts system with at least a 20% reduction in moisture content ensuring significant energy savings, particularly in the tumbling line which can run at faster speeds with reduced drying times increasing productivity.” Since the softener ‘pick-up’ is also applied at the exact strength and, on top of the pile on both sides of the terry instead of saturating the fabric, Santens is also able to make large savings in the reduction of softener required. The company produces a wide range of terry towelling products ranging from 1 m x 1.50 m beach towels, 1.30 m x 0.70 m bathroom towels, 1 m x 0.50 m standard towels, 30 cm x 30 cm face towels, handgloves, knitted bathrobes and bath mats. Towel fabric weights can also vary from 300 – 600 gm/m2 with bath mats ranging between 900 – 1400 gm/m2. The Monforts Montex stenter is used by Santens to straighten the fabric at the end of the production process, according to Mr de Smijter. He elaborated, “We have tried automatic registration in the past but they do not work well with towelling and its unique ‘bowing’ effect caused in the continuous bleaching and dyeing lines.” “We therefore rely on the knowledge and experience of our operators to gauge and set the correct tension and chains,” he concluded. -ends- MON486A.doc
