UK-based company recognised for solvent-free gel spinning technology at Frankfurt event

Techtextil 2026 will recognise Fibre Extrusion Technology (FET) with the New Production Technology Innovation Award during the upcoming exhibition in Frankfurt from April 21–24. The Leeds-based company has developed a new system aimed at addressing environmental challenges in UHMWPE fibre production.

UHMWPE is widely used in technical textiles due to its high strength properties, being up to 15 times stronger than steel. It is applied in products such as surgical sutures, cut-resistant gloves, body armour, and offshore ropes.

Traditional production methods have environmental concerns. In the gel spinning process, UHMWPE is combined with oil to form a gel, which is later processed into fine strands. The oil is removed using solvents such as hexane or dichloromethane, with consumption levels of around 100 kilograms of these solvents per kilogram of yarn.

The FET-500 system replaces these solvents with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), a non-toxic medium that is also used in waterless dyeing processes within the textile sector.

“The current systems for manufacturing UHMWPE filament yarns are on a huge scale, with very complex processing routes,” says FET Research and Development Manager Jonny Hunter. “This means the supply chain is currently very inflexible with minimal opportunity for new product development. These disadvantages have been fully addressed in the development of our new FET-500 series lab and small scale gel spinning system.”

“The FET-500 is in its first commercial phase and Techtextil 2026 is the first textile trade fair worldwide we are presenting it at,” adds FET Managing Director Richard Slack. “We have supplied many extrusion systems to the biomedical market, most notably for the production of both resorbable and non-absorbable sutures and in exploring what else we could do to assist these customers, it became clear that there was a need for smaller quantities of UHMWPE fibres in bespoke sizes. We are proud that the Techtextil Innovation Award has recognised our intensive work ahead of the exhibition. This shows that we are at the forefront of technological developments supporting the textiles of tomorrow.”

“This award illusttrates the current vibrancy of the UK’s textile technology sector,” says BTMA CEO Jason Kent. “From the careful handling of ultra-high value yarns to the forensic inspection of finished fabrics, the BTMA members at Techtextil and Texprocess this year collectively represent a complete chain of innovation spanning processing, monitoring and quality assurance. Each company is contributing to a more resilient and resource-efficient technical textiles sector.”

BTMA members participating at Techtextil and Texprocess include:

• Airbond – Hall 12.0, stand E31
• Ascotex – Hall 12.0, stand C75
• Dent Instrumentation – Hall 12, stand E61A
• FET – Hall 12.0, stand A78
• James Heal – Hall 12.0, stand B66
• Roaches International (Elmatex Pavilion) – Hall 12.0, stand D05
• SDC Enterprises – Hall 12.0, stand B65
• Shelton Vision – Hall 12.0, stand E86
• VeriVide – Hall 8, stand B79