ANDRITZ’s needlepunch line for Italian firm

For the first time in Italy, the line will feature air-through bonding capabilities in combination with calendering.

ANDRITZ has received an order from Manifattura Fontana, based in Valstagna, Italy, and part of the Belgian technical textile company Sioen Industries, to supply a neXline needlepunch eXcelle line for the production of geotextiles. Start-up of the line is scheduled for October 2018.

The scope of supply includes all of the machines from opening and blending to an automatic packaging system. The line incorporates cutting-edge ANDRITZ technologies and equipment, such as:

• a TCF-X high-capacity chute feed capable of processing long staple fibers

• an eXcelle card with 3.5 m working width

• the state-of-the-art ProDyn and Isolayer systems for weight evenness

• high-speed needlelooms with the innovative Zeta drafters to fine-tune tensile strength parameters and boost the production capacity for lightweight fabrics.

For the first time in Italy, the line will feature air-through bonding capabilities in combination with calendering. It is targeted to become the most productive line in Europe.

Manifattura Fontana joined Sioen Industries, a publicly listed Belgian company specialized in technical textile solutions, in 2016. It has been manufacturing nonwoven geotextiles from synthetic fibers for nearly 50 years and is developing new solutions and improved products for separation, filtration, protection, drainage, and reinforcement. Manifattura Fontana is a leading company in the global geotextile markets and provides its customers with added-value geotextiles for many applications, such as the construction of roads, railways, reservoirs, dams, and tunnels, as well as for earthworks, foundations, erosion control, drainage, waste disposal, or containment.

ANDRITZ is a globally leading supplier of plants, equipment, and services for hydropower stations, the pulp and paper industry, the metalworking and steel industries, and for solid/liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors as well as for animal feed and biomass pelleting. Other important business segments include automation and service business. In addition, the international Group is also active in the power generating sector (steam boiler plants, biomass boilers, recovery boilers, and gasification plants) and in environmental technology (flue gas cleaning plants) and offers equipment for the production of nonwovens, dissolving pulp, and panelboard as well as recycling plants. The publicly listed technology Group is headquartered in Graz, Austria, and has a staff of approximately 25,700 employees. ANDRITZ operates more than 250 sites in over 40 countries.