Kelheim Fibres Presents New Fiber Solutions at Dornbirn
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In line with the theme of this year's 52nd Man-made Fiber Congress meeting September 11 -13 in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg, Austria, Kelheim Fibres, Bavaria, Germany, reported on several "new challenges and new solutions" for its specialty fiber products and markets. The company noted that the spread of product or trademark piracy is one of these challenges "as it inflicts an enormous loss on our global economy every year and is becoming increasingly explosive. Almost 70% of all businesses are affected," Kelheim Fibres said.
Bernd Probst, a member of Kelheim's R&D team, presented a range of specialty fibers that protect products from illegal counterfeits with a visible or invisible fingerprint.
Another hot topic is the mega-trend "Ageing Society" and the increasing demand for convenient, discrete, and safe incontinence products, the company reported. Kelheim's Dr. Ingo Bernt presented viscose specialty fibers from Kelheim that enable "perfect liquid and moisture management." Their absorption levels, he noted, range from "extra absorbent" to "hydrophobic," hence they allow the production of incontinence solutions that consist completely of renewable materials and at the same time are washable and re-usable.
Dr. Philipp Wimmer gave a lecture on the opportunities that Kelheim's viscose specialties offer in the filtration industry, "a market that is growing in importance in our increasingly ecologically aware and health-conscious society." In contrast with other cellulosic fibers such as cotton, he continued, "viscose fibers stand out not only as a result of their definable and reproducible geometry, which enables a perfect match to be made to the specific processing route or end application. The porosity or surface of a filter, for instance, can be precisely controlled by adding the appropriate viscose fibers with different cross sections. Further, the incorporation of functional additives allows the manufacturing of tailor-made fibers according to the end product's exact demands," Dr. Wimmer pointed out.
Dr. Roland Scholz and Dr. Nina Köhne presented a series of interesting analyses regarding ionically activated viscose fibers and their applications. According to Dr Scholz and Dr. Köhne, by using different technologies, Kelheim's R&D can deliver fibers with cationic or anionic functional groups and thus control the fiber properties. Particularly when it comes to ion exchanging properties, fibers offer a distinct benefit. In comparison with common ion exchange resins, the diameter of the ionically functionalized fibers is considerably smaller and the active surface is significantly larger. Hence they operate up to 10 times faster.
Kelheim Fibres is a global producer of viscose specialty fibers, including viscose fibers for the tampon industry. Approximately 90,000 metric tons of viscose fibers are produced and tested every year at Kelheim's facilities in South Germany. These are used in diverse applications, from fashion, hygiene, and medical products to nonwovens and specialty papers.
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