Salvadè Will Exhibit Its Revolutionary Steam Saving System at ITM 2024
Onur Tekstil Makineleri, founded in 1990, represents companies offering production lines for textile, printing and finishing processes, and provides sales and after-sales technical services. Onur Tekstil Makineleri will introduce Salvadè Steam Saving System, a revolutionary system in post-print steaming management, at ITM 2024.
The urgent, strong, unpostponable need is what drives man to research, experiment and finally find solutions. The marked increase in energy costs and the need to reduce the environmental impact of the process, linked to the different energies required for the operation of the machines, although not necessarily, lead to a careful review of all possibilities. Salvadè, this process of deep revision/optimization of the VPM model goes back to the early 1920s. The aim is to reduce the amount of steam required for the same quality results in the steaming process of printed fabrics. This reduction also leads to lower thermal energy consumption and lower vapor emissions into the atmosphere.
The fixed point, which is the success of being Salvadè, ensures that color yields are maintained in all dye groups and on all fabric types. Yields, unity of result, repeatability, robustness, are achieved with Salvadè using much less energy. The brilliant and daring results of this new technology have confirmed the success of the studies and made it possible to patent two solutions that until recently seemed like science fiction, starting in the first months of 2023.
A very simple numerical example reveals a clear economic advantage. A medium-high steamer, statistically the most common in the industry, consumes about 1,000 kg/h of steam. To produce this amount of steam, kilocalories developed by about 76 m3 of natural gas are needed. Taking into account the use of the machine for 22 hours, 300 days a year, this amounts to about 500,000 m3 of natural gas per year.
Now Salvadè guarantees at least a 40% reduction in consumption. With Salvadè it is possible for customers to calculate the very significant reduction in ROI times for a plant equipped with exceptional technology. Inside the steam saving machine, the correct relationship between the steam inlet and its exhaustion to the atmosphere ensures that the evaporation chamber reaches full and constant saturation and therefore an outstanding fixing result. To achieve this goal, the philosophy behind steam management has been radically changed. The machine now operates in a fully patented closed loop. This process is the combined operation of the ISS sensor package on the steam entering the machine, the electronic control of the flow of steam exiting, the brand new CSFS nebulization system in the chamber and the HyperWet®, supervised by the historical and ever-relevant SuperWet®.
Booth Temperature and Humidity Control
The contribution of the automation in the vapor system, introduced in 2019, is significant to guarantee continuous performance over time. Despite the variable steam pressures in the line, the system guarantees a constant steam input to the machine. As the amount of steam, you decide to feed into the machine changes, the machine automatically adjusts the correct amount of steam to be received to avoid leaks from the inlet and outlet of the machine and therefore dripping. The system is fully automatic and no adjustment by the operator was required.
As a result, the drastic reduction in steam consumption requires an even more performant temperature and humidity control system in the booth.
Hyperwet®: Superwet® System Evolution
The SuperWet® system, i.e., the controlled air intake into the booth, patented in 2006, has had a decisive and highly successful effect. In fact, this system guarantees excellent color brightness and constant performance. HyperWet® retains the operating philosophy of its ancestor but, thanks to a potential increase of up to 50%, provides even more precise temperature control in the chamber, with great advantages, especially for fabrics and dyes that require more humidity.
Nebulization of Water in the Booth
The solution to effectively controlling the temperature of the booth is not in the amount of water entering the booth, but in the way the nebulization is done. A smaller but correctly delivered amount is certainly more effective in controlling the temperature than a larger amount that cannot be completely absorbed by the steam in the room. What we create with the CSFS system can be described as “cold” vapor, which immediately cools the vapor recirculating in the booth. This special state of water, which we can describe as a “pseudo-gas”, allows it not only to circulate immediately, but above all to be absorbed and therefore fully utilized, reducing overall consumption.
Automatically Switches to Standby Mode
The machine automatically switches to standby mode while waiting to receive the fabrics to be steamed from the press section. The amount of steam in the booth is reduced to 100/200 kg (regardless of the size of the booth) and the exhausts are automatically adjusted to maintain the operating temperature, always ready to continue working in optimum conditions.
Complete Automation
Today, the VPM type steaming control is completely done by its touch screen and PLC. There is no need for manual adjustments both during firing and during processing. All parameters are memorized, which allows later to view the correct progress of each process.
