Albarrie – a major player in North America’s industrial nonwovens industry – is now benefiting from one of the first Monforts Montex tenter installations equipped with the full range of MonforClean heat recovery and exhaust air purification technologies.
TW特别报告
With the new three-chamber Montex tenter at its plant in Barrie, Ontario-based Albarrie Canada Ltd. is treating specialized needlepunched nonwovens up to 4 millimeters thick. These nonwovens have applications in a wide range of filter media and performance fabrics.
The new Montex enables Albarrie to heat set and dry its materials to produce denser, higher quality fabrics which can also be finished and delivered to customers more rapidly.
Across Time Zones
It took a crew of skilled millwrights, electricians and product specialists to build the line which was delivered in 11 shipping containers to Albarrie’s production facility. The line was originally scheduled to be fully operational in the Spring of 2020, but the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic inevitably led to several delays during the start-up and commissioning process.
“通过大流行的挑战，Albarrie的工作人员在与Monforts技术人员和产品专家之间进行了远程工作，以访问和配置机器，并在启动之前通过严格的测试时间表进行操作，” Albarrie运营总监Kevin Horner说。
Assistance closer to home also came from PSP Marketing, which represents Monforts in North America from its base in Charlotte, N.C.
PSP reports that there currently is a push for the replacement of tenter frames in the United States. “There’s a move by a number of our customers to bring more manufacturing back to North America, which is definitely a benefit to us,” said PSP Vice President Alex Franco. “And the trend to smaller lot sizes and speed-to-market is something at which the latest Monforts’ technologies excel.”
节能
The Albarrie Montex line’s MonforClean capabilities include an air-to-air cross flow heat exchanger and an electrostatic precipitator providing the ability to purify the exhaust air and to recover energy to a maximum of 22,500 cubic meters of air per hour, resulting in a radical reduction in the conventional heat supply required. The MonforClean was developed in cooperation with Germany-based partner KMA Umwelttechnik.
全自动系统由SIEMENS SPS S7控制器和KP 700触摸面板提供动力，可以从中连续监控再生能量并计算节省。
“The further integration of a washing system that automatically cleans the heat recovery and the exhaust air filter is a serious benefit to U.S. manufacturers because the labor costs for the normally manual cleaning work is so high,” Franco said.
“This is an exciting time here at Albarrie and this new Montex tenter will ultimately open new doors for our business,” Horner noted. “We have noticed significant improvements in many areas compared to our old unit, such as the cleaning access and the ability to easily clean, which reduces down-time, while the efficient burners and exhaust system allow quicker start up and cool down periods. In addition, more controllable features allow for increased quality control and the air filtration system reduces smoke and pollutants, keeping pollutant-free air in our neighborhood.”
The three-chamber Montex tenter is fitted with the latest Monforts Qualitex 800 PLC control system with WebUI, providing ease of operation, a full operating cost overview and maintenance monitoring.
霍纳说：“对于操作员来说，新的帐篷很容易学习。”“它易于监视，并且控件易于理解。在审查新机器的要求时，节省能源是我们OEM得分卡的一部分。能源成本正在上升，并且随着碳税的实施，我们的帐篷使用天然气将节省能源。与较旧单元相比，我们仍在审查新单元的消耗数据的早期，但目前，早期数据表明我们平均消耗了相同的能量，但达到了BTU的1.5倍相同消费的小时。最重要的是，我们所有的产品都没有问题。”
“This was a big investment for Albarrie, but it was an investment for the future, one that will ensure we have the capability to remain competitive in the fabricated textile market for years to come,” added Albarrie’s Executive Director Margaret Driscoll.
January/February 2022
