NEW DEVELOPMENTS ACHIEVED BY AGROMATTER

One of the technologies applied to the development of AGROMATTER solutions by AITEX is the wet-laid nonwovens manufacturing process. This is a low-cost technique that allows obtaining highly homogeneous nonwovens as long as the fibres used for their manufacture have the capacity to disperse in fluids. In this case, the textile fibres are suspended in an aqueous medium, and then deposited on a conveyor belt that takes the sheet to the nonwoven fabric temperature consolidation station. 

Some of the technical specifications of the wet-laid pilot plant owned by AITEX are as follows: 

• Fibre lengths up to 18 mm.  
• Fixed width: 500 mm 
• Forming speed of 1 - 10 m/s 

The raw materials that can be used in wet-laid processes can have a very varied chemical nature, hence their suitability for giving a second life to agri-food/agro-forestry waste. Some of the wastes being worked with in the AGROMATTER project for the development of nonwovens come from the olive industry, from pruning waste to the by-products of the olive oil industry.