Successful Problem Solving 2

"NK GUARD S-series" which improved long-term workability in Water Repellent processing

Long way to come across the solution

STEP 01 Back ground

Decline in production efficiency due to stains on mangle

Water repellent processing on the fabric is generally processed with a padding machine consisting of an impregnation bath in which the water repellent is adjusted to prescribed concentration and a squeezing machine for controlling the pick-up rate of solution such as a mangle. In padding, scum of the processing bath and stain on fabric due to mangle gummed up are common phenomena. In particular, it is difficult to repair stain spots in water repellent processing, so it is required agents and recipe that will not cause such phenomena as much as possible.
In addition, these stains are caused by mechanical shock when you squeeze fabric after impregnating the agent, and emulsion destruction caused by dye stuff or surfactants brought in from the fabric. The fluororesin adhere on mangle is dried by air and become stains. The stains adhered to the fabric, causing processing troubles.
Mills stopped processing every time mangle stains occurred, washed the processing machine, and reworked the padding solution, which led to a decrease in productivity.

STEP 02 Discovery of the factors

Process conditions at laboratory and mill

Mill had following issues in fact:

1. Conventional C6 Fluorine based water and oil repellent causes mangle to gum up when continuously processed at 3,000m or below.
2. It takes long time whenever stains occur, because of stop processing and washing the machine and reworking the padding solution.

It has been our mission to reproduce the process condition for lab developed products as the same as the mills.
The biggest difference between lab and mills is that mills have continuous processing. The amount of dye and active agent that are brought from fabrics to treatment bath, and temperature of mill are also different.
To produce the condition at the lab that is comparable to the mill is the most imoprtant key to our development.

STEP 03 Product Development

Choice of product development and treatment method

R&D staff went to the mill that actually use the product, established the lab evaluation method that is comparable to the actual site, examine product composition, and worked on selecting optimal processing condition. Moreover, they repeated the evaluation at the mill succeeded in developing C6 Fluorine based water and oil repellent "NK GUARD S-series" which is excellent in processing stability.

At NICCA we understand scouring, dyeing, and finishing thoroughly and that is why we could develop water repellent agent and processing method that can achive both excellent water repellency and processing stability.

STEP 04 Reaching to the Solution

Achieved continuous processing more than 10,000m without mangle gum up!

Improved processing stability of the water repellent itself by selecting the composition that is difficult to cause mangle gum up while maintaining water repellency.
We proposed water repellent agent and processing method, which offered stable water repellency without processing unevenness and workability for long-term running.
In addition, we greatly improved production efficiency since gum-up did not cause even over 10,000m while it caused less than 3,000 m previously by also proposing conditions before finishing due to the fabric pre-condition highly affects on continuous workability.

"NK GUARD S-series" are C6 type water and oil repellent characterized by washing durable water and oil repellency, processing stability, and soft handfeel.
You can use it for a wide range of applications as ECO friendly PFOA free * water and oil repellent (*detection limit of 5 ppb or less).

R&D Person in Charge