Remscheid, August 29, 2024 –Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division’s sustainability program, e-save, has saved over 15 million tons of CO2 in 20 years, according to its financial sheet. Since 2004, the company, which is among the top providers of artificial fiber plant technologies globally, has been creating, manufacturing, and introducing its goods and services with sustainability as a top priority. The four e-save topics—”energy savings,” “efficiency” of systems, machines, and components, “environment relief,” and improved “ergonomics” for optimal machine operation—have given fiber and yarn manufacturers a tremendous boost in terms of economy, safety, and process handling from the beginning. In terms of sustainability, the founders of the brands Oerlikon Barmag, Oerlikon Neumag, and Oerlikon Nonwoven were already true pioneers.
The e-save objective of Oerlikon is validated by factors such as escalating energy costs, limited resources, aging populations, insufficient skilled labor, and reduced profit margins across several sectors. The industry leader in artificial fiber production technology has been winning awards for the past 20 years by using a lot less energy than its competitors, the market norm, or even its own previous models. Global producers of fiber and yarn are grateful for this, since new systems created with e-save standards pay for themselves considerably more quickly. “In recent years, issues like energy efficiency and resource conservation have gained importance for all of our clients, in part because of more stringent legal framework requirements,”
Over 15 million tons of CO2 saved since the introduction of e-save
For several decades, the Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division and its business units have been certified by DIN ISO. They have also obtained the CE marking and continuously adhere to stringent guidelines for machine safety, particularly with regard to safeguarding customer staff. But this was insufficient at the start of the new millennium. With an eye on the future, the company and its managers wished to willingly undertake even more. Consequently, the e-save initiative was introduced in 2004.
Since its launch, Oerlikon Barmag, Oerlikon Neumag, and Oerlikon Nonwoven technology solutions have been installed in hundreds of spinning mills for man-made fibers throughout the world. Oer-likon technology underpin around half of the presently installed production capacity for nylon, polyester, and polypropylene. This amounts to around 40 million tons of fibers and yarn yearly, according to an estimate made by the publication “TheFiberYear 2024.” Impressive is the equivalent CO2 balance: almost the course of the last 20 years, the installations of e-save certified customers have prevented almost 15 million tons of CO2 emissions. This is roughly similar to the amount of carbon stored in a forest the size of Munich, Germany, with a surface area of 300 km², or the emissions produced by almost 15 million international passenger trips per capita.
Efficient heating and cooling create energy-saving potential
What were the engineers first concentrating on? A key component of polymer spinning systems is heat. Between 280 and 290 degrees Celsius, polyester melt is transported from the polycondensation facility to the spinning system. Depending on the procedure, the hot filament emerging from the spinnerets is then cooled in the quenching unit before being dragged on hot godets.
The opportunity for optimizing energy usage lies in all of this: during ITMA 2007, WINGS POY (Winding Integrated Godet Solution) transformed the man-made fiber sector. The entirely new winding concept has already demonstrated the ability to radically upend the sector. The Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions Division’s CTO, Jochen Adler, notes that “all market participants were enthusiastic from day one.” Particularly Chinese businesses were already aware of the technology that would position them as world leaders in the synthetic fiber sector. Five years later, with even greater e-save benefits, particularly in the area of energy savings, WINGS FDY took the market by storm. When compared to the industry norm at the time, the Oerlikon Barmag invention achieved an energy consumption reduction of almost 40%.
Benchmark market in the industry
With significantly better insulation and a lower heat-radiating surface than its predecessor models, the SP8x spinning head series reduces heat loss by over 40%. In actual terms, this translates to an annual energy savings of almost 200,000 kWh for a system with 36 roles. As a result, the component continues to be the industry standard.
“The EvoQuench radial quenching system’s up to 80% lower air conditioning requirement makes it a true money maker. Depending on the process, using the WINGS take-up system can save up to 50% of waste and up to 46% of energy when compared to conventional technology. The latter is mostly attributable to the take-up unit’s novel ergonomic concept.
