Conference Report on
International Conference on Technical Textiles & Nonwovens
November 11-13, 2008
Venue: Seminar Hall, IIT Delhi
Organised by
Department of Textile Technology
IIT Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110016
Nonwovens are no doubt among the most promising textile products of the past 2 decades. They are not only replacing traditional textiles, but are also creating new markets for new products. Nonwovens are most widely used in diverse applications of technical textiles due to their unique characteristics, performance and cost advantage. With the sustained and rapid economic and social growth in Asia, the development of the nonwovens industry has been pushed forward rapidly in many countries on the Asia-Pacific. China and India have extremely good potential markets for nonwovens equipment, machinery as well as nonwoven products.
This growing concern led Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi to organize an International Conference on Technical Textiles and Nonwovens, which was held on November 11-13, 2008.The conference gathered participants from technical textiles industry and institutions worldwide. The conference has received enthusiastic support from Government of India organizations, industry sponsors, speakers and delegates. During 3 days of the conference, 30 papers from industry participants and 26 papers from academic institutions, research organizations, consultants and Government of India participants was presented and discussed. On the final day of the conference, a panel discussion with representatives from Ministry of Textiles, Industry and Institutes was organised. The conference provided a major impetus to the development and growth of nascent technical textiles and nonwovens industries in India and served as a major platform for interaction between all the stake holders in the future of these important technological areas of textiles.
Inauguration
The conference was inaugurated by Shri A. B. Joshi, Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. He presented the Technical textile market trend worldwide and the scope for its development in India. Government initiatives for the development of this important sector of textile industry were also highlighted by him.
A warm welcome was extended to the guests by Prof. V.K. Kothari, Professor, Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi. Prof Kothari introduced the conference background, its structure and welcomed delegates from different parts of the country and the overseas delegated. Prof Kothari also gave brief introduction related to status of Indian technical textile and nonwoven industries.
Technical Sessions - Day one
On the first day of conference, various interesting topics related to emerging trends, value added products and applications of nonwovens were discussed. The conference was started with inaugural lectures. Mr. Arun Pal Aneja, Chief Science & Technology Officer of Reliance Industries Limited presented “Emerging trends in technical textiles and nonwovens”. Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Professor, North Carolina State University, USA presented keynote lecture on “Opportunities in nonwovens and their future value-added products and processes". He explained that filtration industry alone is estimated to reach $75 to $100 billion by 2020. The Nonwovens Industry have more than $30 billion roll goods industry and $300 billion Products industry.
Mr. Pierre Wiertz General Manager of EDANA presented a paper on “The contribution of nonwovens to a sustainable world”. This paper explained about the industry’s sustainability strategy based on continued efforts to improve quality of life and health, the gradual extension of the scope of life-cycle assessments to all nonwoven product categories and the development of good sustainability practices to be applied throughout the supply chain. Prof. S.C. Anand from The University of Bolton, Bolton, UK presented a paper on “Novel composite materials for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)”.
Mr. Rahul Dharmadhikary, Alhstrom Nonwovens, discussed the importance of nonwovens for medical textiles and their relevance to Indian industry and export potentials. In his presentation he also highlighted the infection prevention standards AAMI (Association for advancement of Medical Instrumentation) PB70 developed for drapes and gowns.
Technical Sessions - Day Two
On second day, the first session opened with a presentation of Smt. Shashi Singh, Joint Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, on emerging Indian market trends in technical textiles and nonwovens. Geus Hans-Georg from Reicofil, Germany, disscussed manufacturing of geotextiles and other technical nonwovens using Reicofil process.
Mr. Timothy Robson, Hills Inc., USA presented multicomponent spinning technology for novel spunbonded & meltblown nonwovens. The speaker focused on the technology to produce unique technical fibres and textiles. Mr. Vividh Chaturvedi, Business Development Manager, Shell India Pvt Ltd. presented “PTT - a new polymer for technical textiles”. He quoted that polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) has extensive applications in textiles, carpeting, nonwovens and mono-filament etc. Mr. Dave Hill, Business Development Manager, Technical Absorbents Limited, UK, presented a paper on “Super Absorbent Fibre (SAF®) Technology – Innovative Fluid Management Solutions for Key Technical Textiles Applications”. The speaker explained how SAF® is an extremely effective and versatile super absorbent technology.
The second session was started with presentation of Mr. André Michalon, Sales Director - Rieter Nonwovens Systems. He explained in detail how to address product development with nonwoven machinery. Mr. Geoff Kershaw, Director-NSC, UK presented “Innovations and flexibility in the manufacture of staple fibre nonwovens”. He outlined the range of technologies for production of needle punched, hydroentangled, thermal, chemical and laminated nonwoven fabrics. Last presentation of this session was presented by Mr. Chetan Bhagat, Oerlikon Textile India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India on “Modular machine design for nonwoven carding installations”.
The third session was started with presentation of Mr. Uwe Kamps, Temafa, Germany on “Fibre preparation systems for needle felting production lines”, after that Mr. Frank Kieras, Spinnbau, Germany presented his paper “Latest developments on web forming systems for needle felting nonwovens”. Mr. Kieras gave information of nonwovens growing rate worldwide and forecast on capital investment. His presentation also included line concepts from the fibre opening up to the finishing of the product. Hjalma Schwab, Dilo, Germany presented about new needling technology for technical felts. Mr. Antonino Giustiniani General Manager, FIR, Italy presented on topic “Design and Structure of composite nonwovens used as clothes dryer seals and for rehabilitation of pipelines”. Mr. Franco Godi, Managing Director and Mr. Carlo Brusco, Marketing and Sales Director Texno, Italy, presented on “Role of Malivlies stitchbonded nonwovens in visible and non visible automotive interior applications”. The speakers described the applications in automotive end-use utilising Malivlies Stitchbonded fabrics manufactured by TEXNO. Mr. Andrea Troncon and Prof N.K.Sharma, Matex srl, Italy presented the role of coating and impregnationin the production of technical textiles and nonwovens. The speakers described coating, impregnation, lamination, embossing and drying techniques.
The afternoon parallel sessions of second day included papers on topics related to medical textiles and textile composites. Prof. Bhuvanesh Gupta, IIT Delhi started medical textile session with presentation on designing biotextiles for tissue engineering of urinary bladder reconstruction. Mr. Ravishankar, Director, K’s Technical and Management Consultants, India talked about polyester based spunbond nonwovens. Mr. Elham Amirnasr, M.S. student, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran explained improving the bending properties of medical composite for making the cast of broken limbs by different warp knitted structures. Mr. V. Parthsarathi, from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore presented a paper on synthesis and characterization of titanium dioxide nano particles and its application on textiles for microbe resistance.
Parallel technical session was started by Prof. Bhuvenesh Goswami, Clemson University, USA. Prof. Goswami presented about quadriaxial tubular braiding machine. Dr. Toldy Andrea, Assistant Professor, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary discussed flame retardancy of fiber reinforced epoxy resin composites. Mr. M.S.R Naidu, Saertex India Pvt. Ltd., India described application of non crimp fabrics. Mr. G. Szebenyi, from Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary presented mechanical properties of MWCNT/fiber reinforced hybrid composites. Mr. Naveen Padaki from Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi explained influence of preform interlacement on the low velocity impact behaviour of multilayer textile composites.
Technical Sessions - Day Three
On third day, the session was started with a presentation of Dr. Ramkumar from The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) of Texas Tech University (TTU), Lubock, USA, on nonwovens for valued-added and defense applications. Mr. Daniele Benini, GDM spa, Italy presented a paper on topic “Pick & Place Application Concept - Don't loose control in your discrete material application”. Mrs. Ritika Gupta, Executive Director, Business Co-ordination House (BCH), New Delhi explained about Emerging India – The next investment and business destination". Mr. Ingo Doring, Area Sales Director, Andritz Kusters, Germany discussed wetlaid technology from fibers to advanced nonwovens.
There were two parallel sessions on third day. One side of first parallel session was started by Dr. Mangala Joshi of Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi with presentation on use of nanotechnology in high performance coatings and finishing of technical textiles. Mr. Thomas Wiedrer, Breuckner, Germany described thermal treatment of nonwovens. Dr. Milind Khandwe, Technical Director, Entremonde Polycoaters, Nasik, presented a paper on “TPO coated PP fabrics and their applications”. Mr. D. Campedelli, Vagotex Windtex Spa, Italy illustrated a survey of lamination technologies for the production of fabrics for functional garments and footwear. Dr. Faheem Uddin, Associate Professor, Textile Department, School of Science and Technology, Pakistan described clays, nanoclays and montmorillonite minerals.
In a parallel session Mr. Debabrata Haldar, Hutchinson Worldwide discussed the requirements of advanced textile materials for rubber products for the automotive and aerospace industries. Mr. Avinash Mayekar, Associate Vice President, Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd. illustrated disposable textile and their future for India. Mrs. Rupali Chitnis, ATE, Mumbai presented on machinery from Trützschler nonwovens group for the production of cotton nonwoven materials. Mr. Maurizio Braga, Canal Air, Italy explained energy savings and high performance in new generation air treatment systems for nonwoven production lines.
Last parallel session was started by Ms. Manisha A. Hira, SASMIRA, Mumbai with presentation on engineering of textiles with thermoregulatory properties. Prof. S.C. Anand from The University of Bolton, Bolton, UK illustrated empirical modelling of elastic properties of pressure garments for healthcare. Mr. Arindam Sarkar from Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic explained electrohydrodynamics of free liquid surface in a circular cleft, an application to electrospinning and electrospraying. Mr. Kartick Kumar Samanta ofDepartment of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi explained hydrophobic finishing of cellulosic substrates by tetrafluoro ethane (C2F4H2) plasma at atmospheric pressure.
Parallel session was started by Mr. B. P. Pal, Kusumgar Corporates, with presentation on design and development of geotextiles for flexible geo-dams. Prof. P K Banerjee, Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi explained development of technical textiles from jute and coir fibres. Mr. Sudripta Roy, International Jute Study Group (IJSG) illustrated prospects of technical textiles with emphasis on jute geotextiles and nonwovens and efforts of IJSG. Mr. P. C. Patel, Sr. Reader at M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara described application of nonwoven geotextiles in ground water recharge. P. K. Chaudhury, Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association, Kolkata presented ‘Need for development of natural technical textile”. Mr. Mallyah Marimuthu, INDA India presented “Baby diapers and wipes market in India”
At end of day three, there was a panel discussion. Panelists included Shri Bhupendra Singh, Joint Textile Secretary, GOI, Prof. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, N.C. State University, USA, Mr. Rahul Dharmadhikary, Alhstrom Nonwovens, USA, Prof. S. C. Anand, The University of Bolton, U.K. and Prof. V K. Kothari, IIT Delhi The panelist discussed market trends and requirements of future growth of technical textiles and nonwoven industries in India.
Apart from oral papers, there was a separate session for poster presentation of students was held. Over 21 poster presentations, in various areas of technical textiles showed the innovativeness and creativity of students. A panel of expertise judged the posters and the poster “Silk fibroin-based composite scaffold preparation for tissue engineering of inter vertebral disc” by Sourav Mondal, Reshu Gupta and Sourav Ghosh, IIT Delhi was awarded first prize. The posters “Investigation of antibacterial and antifungal action of silver nanoparticles-loaded copolymer grafted cotton fabric” by Pamila Gupta Govt. Model Science College, Jabalpur (M.P.) and “Photoinduced self cleaning activity of TiO2 on cotton” by Nidhi Goyal and Deepali Rastogi, Lady Irwin College, Delhi were awarded second prize. The posters “Durable silver based finish for textile” by Sangita Paul, IIT Delhi & Tata Narasinga Rao of (ARCI), Balapur, Hyderabad and “Woven fabric reinforced all-polypropylene composites” by A. Izer were awarded third prize.
Prof. V. K. Kothari distributed certificates to all award winners of posters and volunteers at the end of conference. In closing, Prof. V. K. Kothari thanked the presenters and sponsors for supporting the conference. Attendees left the conference with better understanding of technical textiles and nonwovens as well as the growth potential in technical textiles.
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