Twenty years after airlaid technology exploded in North America—leading to a long period of overcapacity—the technology is having a rebirth of sorts as new companies look to enter the market and new applications are developed using the technology. Machinery specialists are creating new technologies that offer more options in terms of processing types, fiber choice and size allowing potential customers to get exactly what they need to target niche areas across a number of categories.

“Our lines offer flexibility and some of our customers also prefer smaller footprint production lines because they can make high capacity compared to competing production lines in the market,”says Tuukka Vihtakari, project manager at machinery supplier Anpap Oy.

Airlaid machines manufactured by Anpap Oy can process pulp as well as manmade fibers, allowing its customers to make a wide range of products. Anpap machines offer benefits like flexibility in design and raw material usage but also are available in a smaller size, meaning investment costs are lower.

Anpap Airlaid, a Finnish company that was in the early days of airlaid, a part of United Paper Mills Walkisoft Business Division and later Buckeye Technologies, offers airlaid technology with full turnkey production lines starting from fiberizing to packing.

“Everything that is needed, we can supply. Most of the components of the machinery are our own design. We design them and manufacture them with the support of our long-term co-operation partners,” Vihtakari says.

This allows the company to truly cater to the needs of its customers offering customized parts throughout the processing unit. While executives could not go into detail, the company did report it is currently building two new airlaid production lines for customers in Europe.

“We make what the customer needs,” Vihtakari adds. “When the customer says we want a certain kind of product then we check what kind of machinery is needed. The volume then correlates to the size of the machine.”

Anpap engineers have been working in the airlaid market for more than three decades, and have delivered some of the largest installations in the history of airlaid. During this time, they have seen many ups and downs in terms of supply and demand for the technology. Currently, the company is reporting increased interest in the technology, thanks largely to increased focus on natural fibers. “People are starting to understand how important recyclability is and how important it is to use natural fibers. We also don’t use as much water in our process as wetlaid,” Vihtakari says.

While wipes markets continue to drive a lot of airlaid investment globally, hygiene products—particularly core applications—are increasingly turning to the technology as well as industrial applications, he adds.
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There is a whole spectrum of materials where you can use airlaid and we can supply lines ranging from pilot lines to big commercial lines, depending on the customer needs and scope of the application.”

Campen Machinery Offers Beater Forming Technology
Campen’s new Beater Forming Technology can advantageously be combined with conventional airlaid forming technology, as well as with meltblown, spunbond, carding systems and wetlaid technology. The Beater Forming head can be equipped with an outlet chute, where the fluff pulp fibers are being blown out. Combined with two melt and/or spunbond beams, the filament fibers are led into the endless pulp fiber stream. This process makes it possible to produce nonwoven material in one process without further bonding, which is the case with spunlace and drying.

According to the company, the technology has also proven to be an excellent fiber opener with the ability to process long fibers up to 30 millimeters, such as algea, straw, hemp and many more. The many combination possibilities as well as many fiber choices make it possible for Campen’s new technology to produce airlaid material for wipes and hygiene products as well as cotton pads, packaging for food and non-food and more on one compact and efficient line.

“With the Beater forming technology, we are able to produce different blends of fiber mats and for later dry molding to containers—trays within nonfood and food industry,” says Jens Erik Thordahl, partner and senior airlaid specialist. “The new trays/containers are 100% home compostable and do not contain any plastic at all. The new type of trays/containers can be hydrophobic or hydrophilic and still without any plastic, coatings or fibers.”

He adds that the company is seeing significant interest in moving from plastic molding and wet molding process to new the Beater forming airlaid technology and later dry molding. “In general, we see that customers are looking for high flexibilities, reduced energy and CO2 footprint as well cost reduction,” he says.

Thorough testing of Campen’s innovative system shows that it requires 45% less process air and filter systems and uses 55% less energy than similar existing systems, thereby contributing to substantial savings on operating costs and improving the carbon footprint of its customers’ production.

At Campen’s testing center, which opened in December 2019, Campen and various leading airlaid customers have undergone successful tests of the technology and development of sustainable airlaid products of the future made with a broad scope of fibers up to 30mm in length and in combination with other nonwovens processes. Key growth markets include packaging for the food, transportation and medical markets; biodegradable wipes, napkins, towels and face masks and materials combined with other webforming technologies.

Thordahl adds: “Our pilot line is frequently used by customers for testing and R&D purposes, and we have already sold the technology to leading airlaid companies worldwide.”

Oerlikon-Teknoweb Gains License to P&G Nonwovens Process
Another new machinery technology is combining components of airlaid and spunmelt technology designed to deliver new flexible ways of creating wet and dry wipes while reducing resources and costs. This technology, developed by Procter & Gamble and known as Phantom, has recently been licensed by Oerlikon Nonwovens-Teknoweb Materials to distribute worldwide.

Phantom technology merges one step to combine cellulose fibers, long fibers such as cotton and even powders with polymer fibers. By removing the hydroentanglement process, a drying step is removed. Adjusting the process can optimize relevant product characteristics such as softness, strength, direct absorption and liquid absorption. In the end, this even increases the quality of the product itself.

The greater freedom for formulating continuous and discrete fibers allows for more flexible and absorbent structures and highly textured materials. Wipes feel softer to the touch while providing more protection for the hands. Up to 90% of the material can consist of pulp fibers, although natural alternatives like cotton or synthetic fibers can be added to the mix.

In addition to wipes, Phantom technology can be used in areas like absorbent cores for feminine hygiene products and diapers.

Mondi Develops CAC Technology
Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper, has developed a new carded airlaid carded (CAC) line to create a more sustainable three-layer nonwoven for wipes. These can be used for personal hygiene and cleaning purposes. This new line will use 100% cellulose content, including viscose and pulp from certified sources, resulting in a nonwoven material that is fully biodegradable.

The new technology being used on a CAC line—located at Mondi’s plant in Aschersleben, Germany—makes it possible to combine three layers into a highly functional and stable composite material. This will deliver optimal absorption and lotion load for high-quality biodegradable wipes and uses fewer resources than comparable carded mono-structures. The technology can produce the entire sustainable nonwoven material in-line, while enabling hydro-embossing to increase softness and improve cleaning power.

Mondi’s vision is to contribute to a better world, and its focus lies in producing innovative products that are sustainable by design.

“The innovative technology means we can produce 100% biodegradable, high-performance nonwovens for wipes that are more accessible, and we are looking forward to introducing this to the market,” explains Kelly Wright, Mondi’s product expert for Personal Care and Components.

Producers Focus on Growth
After years of challenges, line closures and consolidations, manufacturers of nonwovens are showing optimism. Georgia-Pacific, once a major player in airlaid, has sold its European operation to Glatfelter and reportedly shuttered all but one of its U.S.-based lines. The remaining line is a 50,000-ton-line, purchased from Buckeye Technologies in Gaston, NC.

G-P’s divestments, along with an ambitious investment strategy has made Glatfelter, the world’s largest manufacturer of airlaid nonwovens, and this company continues to grow in size and scope.

Recent investments include the acquisition of the operation in Steinfurt, Germany, from Georgia-Pacific, as well as the creation of a new site in Fort Smith, AR. These two investments, which came to fruition in late 2018, helped propel the company’s airlaid sales from $311 million to $406 million in 2019. In fact, growth was seen across all of the company’s key areas for airlaid including feminine hygiene, specialty wipes, tabletop, adult incontinence and home care.

While feminine hygiene continues to represent the division’s largest segment, its share dropped from 63% to 51% in 2019, reflecting continued diversification and the company’s growth in markets like wipes and tabletop products thanks to the Steinfurt acquisition and additional capacity in Arkansas.

The Fort Smith site, capable of making 22,000 short tons of material per year, came onstream in mid-2018 representing a $90 million investment. The new line has helped Glatfelter meet growing demand for wipes and sustainable substrates. “The current pandemic has increased consumers’ hygiene awareness which is reflected in the current markets,” says Chris Astley, chief commercial officer. “The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fort Smith continues to be an essential component in Glatfelter’s global growth strategy.”

This facility primarily supplies material to the specialty wipes market which has helped Glatfelter meet the growing needs for light-weight substrates among customers in the North American market.

Meanwhile, Glatfelter’s recently acquired Steinfurt, Germany, operation adds approximately 32,000 metric tons to the company’s global output. “With the addition of the Steinfurt site we acquired increased airlaid capabilities in Europe, which has enabled the optimization of our product portfolio and increased efficiency of our manufacturing assets,” Astley adds. “Also, planning processes have been optimized, allowing us to effectively reallocate manufacturing capacity for faster response to customer demands.”

According to Astley, company research shows that demand for airlaid materials will remain strong given the increased use of personal hygiene products and strong demand for wipes. “We also remain committed to innovation by exploring new and expanded opportunities across all of our product segments.”

Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute (NIRI) Invests in Dan-Web Technology
In January, the Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute (NIRI) in Leeds, U.K., expanded its extensive prototyping facilities—used by worldwide consultancy clients and industrial partners—with the addition of a new Dan-Web airlaid machine capable of prototyping pilot-scale samples.

Sustainability was a key factor in NIRI’s investment in airlaid prototyping equipment. “With the EU Directive on single use plastics, the nonwovens industry is focused on experimenting with processes that work towards increased sustainability,” says Matt Tipper, CEO. “Manufacturers are exploring airlaid technologies as these use a high percentage of natural fibers—predominantly fluff pulp which is both cost-effective and sustainable, biodegradable and renewable.”

Having worked with more than 200 companies to develop and improve more 450 products, to-date, NIRI’s investment in new airlaid equipment particularly benefits clients in the medical and hygiene sectors where airlaid technology is most used. Additionally, market intelligence gathered over the last few years shows that  filtration industries and sectors such as automotive are revisiting airlaid technology—reducing the reliance on synthetics and improving the sustainability of their products.

Tipper adds that the technology encompasses the full breadth of the airlaid process and NIRI has been heavily involved in the design and development of airlaid products for many years.

“We have the ability to offer our partners a chance to work on a smaller scale airlaid process,” he adds. “We can work with anything from a few kilos on up so they can design a product on a smaller scale and work their way up.”

Beyond traditional markets for airlaid like wipes and hygiene, Tipper notes that automotives is a big market for the technology, particularly acoustical applications. These materials are also made with recycled materials sourced from waste clothing, offering a better sustainability profile to automotive manufacturers as well as lower costs.

Airlaid also offers the ability to create a product that can be recycled.

“We are seeing a trend away from focusing just on recycled products to products that can be also be recycled,” Tipper adds. “When you design a recycled product that can later be recycled, you have to consider, not just a second life but a third life. Auto makers try to make everything polyester but that doesn’t help with the first life.”

In combination with NIRI’s other carding, spunmelt and wetlaid web formation lines as well as chemical, thermal, hydroentanglement and needlepunch bonding capability, it offers pilot-scale facilities for prototyping products across a plethora of industries with a host of end users, as well as the research and commercial expertise to help clients including medical, hygiene, geotextiles, automotive, insulation and filtration, increasing the speed to get products to market.