Baldwin Technology Company Inc. launched at ITMA 2019 the TexCoat G4 which is the next generation of the revolutionizing Baldwin developed non-contact precision application system for fabric finishing. The system enables a continuously high quality and productive textile finishing process with zero chemistry waste and drastically reduced water and energy consumption.
“We are immensely proud to launch the TexCoat G4 at ITMA 2019. This is an opportunity to experience an innovation that drastically improves both the process and product quality, while saving time and valuable resources and contributes to a sustainable future,” said Eric Norling, Vice President – Precision Application Segment, Baldwin Technology.
The non-contact spray technology brings numerous advantages compared to conventional methods of applying finishing chemistry. The chemistry is uniformly distributed across the textile surface and is applied only where it is required – on one or both sides of the fabric. This is highly beneficial, when applying water repellants on laminated fabrics, as it eliminates the problem of chemistry affecting the quality of the adhesion layer. Furthermore, the non-contact technology eliminates chemistry dilution in wet-on-wet processes, allowing full control of maintaining consistent chemistry coverage rates. Additionally, with no bath contamination during the finishing process, there is zero downtime during color or fabric changeovers.
The TexCoat G4 significantly improves sustainability, leading to increased profitability. Almost 100% of the over sprayed chemistry is recycled and 0% chemistry is wasted during changeovers of chemistry, color or fabric. As only the necessary amount of chemistry is applied to the fabric, a reduced wet pick-up level of 50% can be achieved, further leading to a 50% reduction of water and energy consumption.
The low wet pick-up levels, together with a single side spray application, enable combined processes and can completely eliminate drying steps, e.g., for laminated fabrics and in finishing of upholstery textiles.
“One of the biggest challenges facing the textile finishing industry is the environmental impact in terms of energy, chemical and water consumption, with continuously increasing environmental legislations and consumer demands to meet. Since the TexCoat G4 reduces both water and energy consumption and has zero chemistry waste in changeovers, a significantly more sustainable finishing process is achieved,” Eric Norling said.
The TexCoat G4 can process a wide range of low-viscosity water-based chemicals such as water-repellants, softeners, anti-microbials and more, in wet-on-wet applications and lamination processes. Additionally, the system is completely sealed encapsulating all aerosols and thereby securing a healthy working environment for the operator.
Eric Norling further said: “We had very strong response and the interest level significantly exceeded our expectations. We had set a high target for customer leads prior to the show, but the result was 3x more leads than our target with interest from customers from 48 countries across the world. The customers understand and see the benefit for non-contact spray application and are very interested in what the TexCoat system could do for them. There was particularly large interest from India and Pakistan. Customers see the value and benefit of non-contact finishing and we are now following up on all leads. The leads from India and Pakistan together were almost 20% of all leads generated for Baldwin at ITMA.”