The Nonwoven Institute (NWI), Raleigh, N.C., recently celebrated the grand opening of a new Advanced Spunmelt and Hydroentangling Pilot Facility on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University (NC State). The state-of-the-art facility —designed as a testbed for education and industry — was made possible through the support of NC State, as well as industry partners Reicofil, Andritz, Hills, A. Celli among other supporters.
The center houses a Reicofil 1-meter-wide bicomponent RF®4 spunbond line as well as Hills bicomponent and monofilament die packs, a thermo-bonding calendar from Andritz, two Perfojet hydroentanglement units and a high-speed A. Celli winder.
NWI reports its research and development efforts have generated 80 U.S. and international patents. “We create not only jobs, but new industries,” said Behnam Pourdeyhimi, executive director, NWI. “We make things that haven’t existed — new applications.”
July/August 2017
