Sizing is the crucial preparation for weaving and a high yarn quality. Therefore, sizing agents are applied with a squeezing unit to the warps. To be on the safe side, in practice, often 10-25% more sizing is applied than required. This implies several economical and ecological disadvantages:
• Higher use of expensive sizing agents
• More wastewater and pollution
• Higher expenses in desizing and drying
• Unstable yarn quality and thus, lower weaving-efficiency
PLEVA size add-on measurement
To eliminate those disadvantages, PLEVA as a long-term expert for process optimization in the textile production came up with a solution: The size-add on should be measured and controlled. By this, the weaving efficiency and the quality of the yarn can be increased. In addition, it also saves valuable resources and thus, helps to make textile production more sustainable.
This is how it works: The microwave measurement system AS120 measures the size add-on after size box constantly. It includes a special construction with integrated protection against steam vapours and high temperatures. This enables a reliable, robust, continuous monitoring and control of the size add-on.
“Sizing is the heart of weaving”
PLEVA Area Sales Manager and Application Specialist Fabian Buckenmayer emphasizes the importance of the AS120 for the optimization and a sustainable warp production: “Sizing is the heart of weaving. If you measure and control it, you get a lot of benefits that you can directly see.” In detail, these benefits are a seamless recording of the sizing order, the optimization of high-speed and creep pressure control, and also, an increasement as well as stabilization of weaving effiency through uniform sizing. “From practical experience, 1.5% up to 4% higher weaving efficiency is easily possible with our technology”, states Fabian Buckenmayer.
Less waste water, more cost savings
The Area Sales Manager for Pakistan explains further: “We have seen the great success of our AS120 also reflected in raw data: At an annual production of 10 million meter woven fabric, we can reduce on average 20% of sizing. This equals 80 tons less COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) load and in consequence, less waste water. And most importantly, customers can save by this around 32,000 € per year on waste water costs.”
Additionally from a cost perspective, the optimized sizing lowers the production costs due to 10-25% less sizing agents which have to be used and savings from the weaving department. Based on practical evidence, around 100,000 € savings per year are realistically possible through the increased weaving efficiency.
Moreover, other sustainable benefits are the simplified washing out of the size, a higher quality of the raw material for subsequent finishing processes and less fabric waste. This makes the AS120 a true hero for sustainability.
