Posted May 31, 2017

 

By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)

 

RALEIGH, N.C. – Faculty and administrators welcomed distinguished guests and supporters to the grand opening of The Nonwovens Institute’s (NWI’s) new facility for spunmelt and hydroentanglement on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus here last week.

 

Made possible through the support of N.C. State and in collaboration with Reicofil, Andritz, Hills, Celli and others, the facility represents the most advanced state-of-the-art technologies in the nonwovens industry, according to Behnam Pourdeyhimi, executive director of the NWI. It will provide a unique test bed for education and industry, he added.

 

The Nonwovens Institute is an innovative global partnership between industry, government and academe. The institute also serves as a business incubator, an economic development engine that helps bring new products to market.

 

The new facility occupies 40,000 square feet of high bay space, and NWI’s headquarters have moved to this building on the second floor overlooking the pilot facility. The rest of the building has as much as 64,000 square feet of space available for lease. The facility will provide additional space where industry partners can test-manufacture and refine products before bringing them to market.

 

“This new pilot facility has been in the planning stage for a number of years and many have contributed to the effort leading to this new page in NWI’s history,” Pourdeyhimi said. “N.C. State administration has taken on a great financial load to make this dream come true. Without the support of our partners – Reicofil, Andritz Perfojet, Hills and Celli – we would not be able to take on such a grand challenge."

 

Nonwovens technologies, which touch all 100 North Carolina counties, play an important role in the state’s economy. About 40 percent of the U.S. nonwovens industry is based in the state.

 

Equipment and capabilities

 

The facility houses a Reicofil 1.0 meter wide bicomponent RF®4 spunbond line with the addition of the high-quality equipment from Perfojet and Andritz – including a thermal calendar, a hydroentanglement unit, a kiss roll and a through-air dryer. The line has a fully automated Celli winder with on the fly slitting capability.

 

This facility complements the recently established meltblowing pilot facility with a stand-alone Reicofil 1.0 meter wide state-of-the-art meltblowing unit with various die configurations – including single-row and multi-row (Biax) die cassettes.

 

Other capabilities in the facility will include extrusion coating, and other forms of web formation and a full analytical facility. This new facility will augment other capabilities at The Nonwovens Institute that include fiber extrusion, coating and lamination, carding, crosslapping, needle punching and chemical modification of nonwovens as well as extensive analytical facilities.

 

“This is a spectacular facility,” Kris Senecal, NWI Executive Committee Chair who is with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC), told more than 200 attendees during an post-ribbon-cutting dinner. “I’m just awed by it. I speak for my members when I say I’m proud to be affiliated with a university that places research and innovation and economic development at the forefront of academic innovation, which allows us to find solutions and face challenges that we otherwise would not be able to tackle on our own.

 

“Our membership sees this facility as a hub of scholarship, innovation and teaching,” she continued. “And it will significantly advance N.C. State’s and The Nonwovens Institute’s mission to foster interdisciplinary research, design for innovation, collaboration and scientific breakthroughs for years to come. This site will be the next engine for economic development at N.C. State and beyond.”

 

The Nonwovens Institute was launched in 2007 as the world’s first accredited academic program for the interdisciplinary field of engineered fabrics. But it traces its history back to 1991, when the Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center (NCRC) was established as a state-industry-university cooperative research center with matching grants from the National Science Foundation, the State of North Carolina and several industry partners. In 1998, upon the conclusion of NSF grant funding, the NCRC continued to enhance its technology and research capabilities while growing its membership to become North America’s largest state-industry-university cooperative research center.

 

Leadership in nonwovens

 

This investment is another demonstration of NWI’s commitment to maintaining its leadership position in the inter-disciplinary field of nonwovens, Pourdeyhimi said. The NWI is dedicated to training future leaders for the industry and being a resource to the nonwovens industry, he added.

 

The institute supported the work of 50 Ph.D. students last year across many programs at N.C. State as well as partner institutions, both in the U.S. and the U.K. The NWI has 68 industry partners, and more than 170 N.C. State alumni currently work in the nonwovens industry. Research and development here has generated 80 U.S. and international patents.

 

Distinguished industry guests from across the nonwovens supply chain were present at the event, including facility supporting partners Dr. Bernd Kunze, Reifenhäuser Reicofil; Dr. Frederic Noelle, Andritz Perfojet; Arnold Wilke, Hills, Inc.; and Alessandro Celli, A.Celli.

 

Special guests from N.C. State on hand for the ribbon cutting were Chancellor Randy Woodson; Warwick Arden, provost and executive vice chancellor; Al Rebar, vice chancellor for research; Scott Douglas, vice chancellor for finance and administration; Brian Sischo, vice chancellor for university advancement; Eileen Goldgieger, general council; Jon Horowitz, associate vice chancellor; Kelly Sexton, assistant vice chancellor; and the deans and associate deans of participating units.

 

With contributions from N.C. State University Relations