Document J3MXJwxooVbNG7jvkrbqrabZK

Scapa Dryers, Inc. R 0. Box 1949 Waycross, Georgia 31501 1800) 841*5132 In Ga. (Si2) 283-4313 TWX 810-788-5928 PAPER MACHINE CiOTHING December 22, 1977 United Merchants and Manufacturing, Inc. 1407 Broadway New York, New York 10018 Dear Sirs: It was with considerable interest that we read the article by Razmic S. Gregorian and Chettoor G. Namboodri in the October 1977 issue of Tactile Industries on the subject of foam aoplication. We manufacture dryer felts and fabrics for paper machines. To many of these fabrics we apply a resin coating of the epoxy-polyamide family. At this time the resin is applied from an aqueous emulsion and it would obviously be advantageous to us, according to the article to apply this as a foam finishing process, Not only might this prove to be beneficial from an energy saving point of view, but a more rapid drying 1 operation would assist in keeping the resin where it is most necessary. For example on certain styles of fabric the resin, tends to run to the cross over points of the warp and weft, rather than stay on the yarn itself. This letter, therefore, is intended as an initial enquiry for further information on the foaming agents currently available and any thoughts you may have on their possible application to our process briefly outlined above. Should you consider that you have a foaming agent which may be of use to us in our process, we would be grateful for a sample in order to carry out our own laboratory evaluations. We would mention that any information given regarding our resin for mulation and method of application is confidential and we trust you will respect this confidentially both now and in future discussions. We look forward to hearing further from you, but if in the meantime you wish to discuss any particular item in more detail before considering sam pling, please call tbe writer. EXHIBIT WTW/iy CC: Mr. K J, Merfc, Jr. *comm** scna 29359 Air In, H20 Out in Wet Processing UM & M has developed techniques using air instead of water as the primary medium in bleaching, dyeing, printing, and finishing. Foams are gening priority attention, although sprays also show promise In an article on energy conserva tion in TEXTILE IKSUSTRIES.. Senior Editor Stanley M. Suchecki noted that, "Water consumption ana energy consumption are often in separable: if you reduce water usage, you will invariably cut down steam consumption and simultaneously re duce the volume of effluent for treatment." He further reported, "The wet processing industry, induc ing bleaching, dyeing, printing, and finishing, consumes about $5% to 60% of the total energy consumed by (he industry.'' United Merchants & Manufac turers, Inc., for the last several years has been concentrating on developing wet-processing techniques which use air instead of water as the primary diluent. Foam Technology Comes First Initially, two methods were cvalu- ated-llquid sprays and foams. While both methods showed considerable promise, the decision was made to concentrate on developing the tech nology based or. foams, in certain applications, a coupling of the two orocessei yields benefits not realizable by either individually. In foam finishing, the process consists of mechanically foaming a suitably formulated finish mixture or dye formulation, applying the foamed composition to the fabric on conventional equipment such as s knife over roll coatei or a horizontal pad. and risen causing the foam to collapse before subjecting the fabric to drying and fixing operations. The main advantage of the process lies in the fact chat the wet pickup by the foam finishing and dyeing process is usually less than half of that ob tained by a ts*ad:tional padding operation. Foam wet processing methods are currently being used by United Mer* BY RAZMfCS. GREGORIAN and CHSTTOOR G. NAM800DR1 United Merchants & Manufacturers chants planes for the application of various finishing agents such ss resin finishes and softeners to a variety of fabrics The Valchem chemical divi sion of United Merchants has inlioduced to the textile industry, under the erade name of V&lfoam, a group of finishing resents which has been evaluated successfully at several plants. In ail cases, reduction in energy consumption on the oidcr of 30% to $0% has been reported. In cases where the ability to drive off water was the iate*determ!fling step, two- to three-fold inci eases in production raws have been achieved when a foem finishing system, was substituted for the traditional paddry-cure finish system. The higher pioduction rates naturally result m a significant reduction in the pro cessing cost of the fabric. In addition to the already com mercialized finishes, pilot-plant trials have been run in which waterrepellent and soil-rclesse finishes have been applied to a variety of fabrics including acrylic sliver knits and nylon upholstery fabrics, Phosphonlvitn-based flame-retzidam finishes have been applied to cellu* losic substrates and smmonsated without an intervening drying operalion. Initial results show considerable promise. A method for fixing phos* phonium-bssed systems with foamed concentrated aqua ammonia Instesd. of gaseous ammonia Is unde; investi gation. Initial results look quite interesting. Foams in Dyeing The use of foams m other con tinuous wet-procsssi ng operations such as bleaching, dyeing, and print ing has also been evaluated The continuous dyeing of nylon caipets with acid dyes shows constdetable piomise. Pilot plain runs demon strate that good dyeings can be ob tained at wet pickups as lew as 30% to 50%. Fixation it obtained after a steaming time of 2 ?o 4- minutes m an atmospheric swamei. The carpet picks up little os no water in the steaming operation. Since :n the majority of cases good to adequate ciock fastness is cbt&ined without an afterwash, a very significant saving in water and energy consumption is realized. Poly ester carpets have been dyed with TEXTILE INDUSTRIESfor OCTOBER 1977 I'-i-Jr^ K*rcU.*v<-4 2 {U 7 SkO ftTi hlg-J ISC,!^ "scna 29360 "Gaston County makes as good a dyeing machine as you'll find on the market. And their service is great." Everybody in Ihe industry knows we make a superior jl. product But not everyone knows we offer superior service. Wk Tom.Page knows. Tom. who is Superintendent of Dyeing and Finishing ar Greenwood Mills' Edisio plant in Orangeburg, SC., has used our jet equipment for over seven years "i don't have a lot of trouble like my friends who use other machines". Tom says. "My Gaston County equipment runs and runs " "But when I do have trouble, their service people are always efficient, a!wavs readv with a good solution " "And l like their attitude. Triere's a Gaston man here now. working on a conversion. Ever since he came, he's jumped in to help me solve other problems." No matter what kind of service our customers need, what they need most is simply this: to keep running. Profitably. That's why we presvide a group of highly dependable mechanics, plus a team of technicians which includes processing specialists Experienced And'sskkilled instnrument men. Like Tom Page, some of the most successful names in the industry depend on Gaston County So car, you Tom Page depends on Gaston County. Ciotis n 31 or irouiiv Cfd scna 29361