Smart Solutions for Sustainable Yarn Production from Saurer
News: Dilek Hayırlı
Saurer, one of the world’s leading manufacturers with spinning and twisting technologies, will attend the ITMA 2023 Exhibition with a wide product portfolio. Saurer was one of the participants of the ITMA Press Conference organized by Swissmem in Bern, Switzerland. Saurer Managing Director, Dr. Marcus Rennekamp talked about the technologies they developed for sustainable yarn production.
“We must be part of efforts to stop climate change”
Stating that the textile industry has an important role in supporting efforts to stop climate change, Rennekamp said, “We must be part of the solution.” Sharing figures on textile waste, Rennekamp; “The share of global greenhouse gas emissions from the textile and fashion industry is 3-10%. In 2015, only 1% of textile waste was used to produce new textiles. In Europe alone, 5.8 million tons of textile waste is generated every year. 11 kg of textile waste per person. The European Union aims to end or minimize ‘fast fashion’. For this, textiles are expected in the future to offer longer life and reusability, be easier to repair and recycle, and contain recycled materials.
Saying that “Yarn producers need to rethink their business models as yarns are required to include recycled fibres in the future.” Rennekamp continued his words as follow: “Today, only 30-35% of textiles are collected separately. By 2030, up to 80% of textile waste will be recycled or at least reused. The share of fiber-to-fiber recycling will increase to 18-26% in the next 7 years.”
Autocoro with New, Patented Rotor Cleaning
Stating that Saurer is an important facilitator of transformation, Saurer Managing Director Dr. Marcus Rennekamp said that the company offers a complete machine portfolio for sustainable yarn production. Rennekamp also shared information about the renewed Autocoro 10, which Saurer will bring to the visitors at ITMA 2023.
The new doffing cleaning units (DCUs) on the Autocoro 10 help our customers achieve higher yarn quality and personnel efficiency.
To prepare spinning mills for the circular economy of the future, Saurer thinks one step ahead in all its developments and upgrades. A high degree of contamination reduced production speeds and a lot of personnel intervention are all common consequences of using recycled short-staple fibres in a rotor spinning mill. With their new optimised, patented cleaning and operator guidance with LED light signals, the new doffing cleaning units (DCUs) on the Autocoro 10 help our customers achieve higher yarn quality and personnel efficiency.
Fully automatic rotor spinning essentially consists of four key processes: spinning and winding, automatic piecing and automatic doffing of yarn packages. When it comes to the Autocoro, the first three processes have been integrated into each individual spinning position for more than 10 years through individual drive technology, resulting in high productivity.
When doffing a package, rotor cleaning is carried out simultaneously by the doffing cleaning units (DCUs), which travel from spinning position to spinning position. With the Autocoro, you can install up to eight DCUs. The machine can be configured differently depending on the machine length, package size, yarn count and raw material.
New patented rotor cleaning improves yarns
The several DCUs work like a well-coordinated team on the Autocoro 10. At the same time, each DCU can be precisely adjusted to the quality requirements of its lots and work areas on the Autocoro 10.
The most important task of the DCUs in the context of yarn quality assurance is to clean the rotors, both pneumatically and mechanically. In the new Autocoro 10, this is now even more efficient as a result of an innovative, patented technology. The cleaning processes are digitally controlled using state-of-the-art linear motor technology. A new movement mode for the cleaning scraper has been integrated, and the positioning of the scraper in the rotor groove is more precise and significantly more efficient thanks to an additional circuit.
This new cleaning technology loosens and removes even the most stubborn dirt and sticky residue in the rotor. The cleaning time of the rotors can now be individually adjusted on the new DCUs. All this paves the way for impeccably clean rotors, leading to a more reproducible yarn quality regardless of the fibre type. During our market launch tests, the cleaning technology proved effective for all fibres that are difficult to spin, such as recycled fibres and regenerated fibres. Our customers can now rest assured that they’ll be ready to meet the requirements of the future thanks to the new rotor cleaning system.
Optimised automation for higher efficiency
The new DCUs on the Autocoro 10 are not just automatic devices focused on doffing packages and cleaning the rotor – they are the right hand of the spinning mill personnel, and a new type of operator guidance in two steps makes communication with the personnel quicker and easier. The LED signals, visible from afar, indicate to the personnel when manual intervention is needed. The DCU itself has digitally controlled touch menus with plain text information. This way, the operator knows immediately what needs to be done: whether the auxiliary yarn required for doffing the package is coming to an end or some other manual intervention is necessary. This optimised operator guidance improves the timing of the auxiliary yarn supply and increases the efficiency of both the DCUs and the Autocoro 10.
The patent has been granted and the new rotor cleaning system will be integrated into all newly delivered Autocoro systems as of summer 2023. It will also be available as a retrofit kit for Autocoro 8 and Autocoro 9.
