AutoFoam Systems Limited from UK, a leader in foam application of chemicals to textiles and carpets, displayed its proven AutoFoam System in the fair consisting of a foam applicator, dynamic foam generator and automated control system.
Dynamic Foam Generator which produces fine structured foam with 200-400 micron bubble size has a unique dynamic foam mixer with twin rotors and a positive displacement chemical pump.
The applicator in the generator ensures accurate and even foam distribution. It monitors the application of chemical and provides feedback to the generator to maintain the application.
The AutoFoam Foam Application Control Terminal (FACT) is easy to use and is completely automatic. It controls all aspects of the application process and links to the process line speed for automated operation. It stores up to 500 process programs and consists of a unique laser feedback of the foam status and application.
Roger Attwood, MD, AutoFoam and Anil Behl share their views on new developments and market needs of foam technology in an exclusive interview with Team StitchWorld and elaborate why AutoFoam is the need of the day.
Interview
SW What is the scope of foam technology in the area of textile finishes? What benefits does it present compared to the traditional finishing methods?
Roger Attwood : Basically foam technology has been around for a long time and in its early days it was very popular when it started but it didn’t really catch on. But chemical technology has advanced now and foam has become popular again. Instead of using water as a medium which is used in the traditional pad method, this technology uses air as a medium, which helps in reducing the amount of time for drying which means running your line at a higher speed.
Another disadvantage with the traditional pad method is that when the fabric goes through the pad trough, the excess water is squeezed out from the fabric; this water runs back into the trough and ends up diluting the solution. So you end up with tailing in your actual production line where one starts with the right concentration, but it gets weaker as you go through, causing inconsistency. That’s where the major savings come in with our technology, we get a much better use of the chemicals as the pick-up is very less, we get very even application on the fabric and the drying time is greatly reduced.
SW Can you quantify how much is the pickup?
Roger Attwood : Basically there is 25-30% of wet pickup using foam technology whereas it will be up to 70 to 80% using the standard pad technology.
SW Are there any finishes that are popular these days?
Roger Attwood : Yes, water repellents are very popular these days. It’s being used for sportswear. What they want now is water resistant polo shirts for golfers. So when there is a shower of rain out in the golf course, the players should remain dry but at the same time when the sun comes out, the clothes should be breathable, so that the players are not perspiring. So what is needed is an absorbency on the inside and repellency on the outside. Using pad technology you can’t do that, because the finishes are applied on both sides but using foam technology it’s possible to apply in only one side also.
SW This was all about foam technology. Now why AutoFoam? How is this machine better than the others?
Roger Attwood : I would recommend AutoFoam, because we have a unique style of generator for generating the foam. So the heart of the system starts with our foam generator. The foam generator is a mixing head with a unique design where we use twin rotors to actually create the foam. We produce foam in which the bubble size is 200 to 400 microns, which is really small.
The second part is the application of foam. This technology is patented by AutoFoam. When we create foam of a specific density, we exactly know what pick-up we will be dealing with.
If I want a higher wet pick up, I reduce the density of the foam which means I put less air into it so that there is more chemical and if I want less wet pick up, I put more air into it. We have a laser sensor on the top gear that looks down on the foam bank to maintain a constant height. So basically, AutoFoam gives us a very consistent finish by giving us the option of applying the appropriate volume of chemical and also prevents wastage.
SW So what about the Return on Investments?
Roger Attwood : It’s very good. But if you are doing run of the mill finishes, just applying softeners, then don’t look for foam applicators because the Return on Investment will be too low. This technology has more advantages in the woven sector where the finishes are wet-on-dry (wet chemicals are applied to dry fabric). If you look at the knits industry, it is usually wet on wet finishing (wet chemicals applied on wet fabric) but still we do a lot of work in the knit sector where specialized finishes need to be applied such as water and stain repellents, antimicrobials etc.
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