At this year’s CINTE Techtextil fair in Shanghai, Dilo received the innovation award for its intensive needling technology “MicroPunch.” Recent developments in energy costs, particularly for electricity and gas, and given the increasing shortage of water resources, have led to a shift in thinking over the past few years. Together with economic efficiency, the evaluation of the environmental impact of production has become increasingly important.

For Dilo, this meant focusing once again on needling technology for the fine and lightweight nonwoven sector over recent years. The individual elements of the intensive needling technology were re-examined and underwent a complete revision. It became clear that the high production rates could only be achieved using the two-dimensional kinematics of the needle beam of “HyperPunch” or “CycloPunch.” The necessary high feed rates of around 50 mm per stroke, coupled with the highest stitching densities to achieve good abrasion resistance, led to a need for a significant increase in the number of needles and needle density—almost doubling from approximately 20,000 needles/meter/board to around 45,000 needles/meter/board. It also became obvious that ensuring a high efficiency rate in production also required careful attention to a quick assembly of the needle boards with needle modules. A completely new approach was needed in the design and construction of the needle boards to enable rapid module exchange and achieve a very high mechanical precision.

Previously, needling technology was primarily used for a surface weight range starting at 100 g/m² up to several kilograms per m². The expansion into the range below 100 g/m², and potentially down to 30 g/m², now completes the applicability of needling technology. The intensive needling technology “MicroPunch” opens up an economical field for a wide variety of lightweight nonwoven fabrics that can be produced by a pure mechanical processes. The product characteristics achieved, such as abrasion resistance, are comparable to those of hydroentangeld nonwovens. Needled fabrics tend to have more volume and more stretch while offering similar tensile strength values. These special quality characteristics are particularly interesting for applications in hygiene, medicine, cosmetics, and for technical products.

With this new development, the energy required to produce lightweight nonwoven fabrics has been reduced up to approximately 75% compared to other bonding technologies of this segment.