Fespa Digital 2009

FESPA 2009 Amsterdam, accent on conserving resources

Based in the Netherlands SETeMa B.V., which was founded in 2002, develops and manufactures machinery for the dyestuff fixation and for pre-coating/padding, washing, finishing and drying of textiles. SETeMa is focussing towards all textile finishing processes around the printing process with textile machinery based on the scientific knowledge of the underlying processes.

From the start of the company it was clear that an initial low energy and water consumption has to be one of the highest priorities in the development of all SETeMa products. Steam and water recycling and the re-use of heat energy from the used steam, the waste water and the used air and a good isolation reduce the energy and heat loss. Thus recirculation and heat exchangers are always a standard part of its designs enabling users to get the lowest energy costs, water usage and waste water amounts in their class.

This has led to a range of modular finishing equipment with the highest possible performance and a low energy and water consumption as typical features. The modularity of the equipment enables customers, also afterwards, to combine various configurations, to their production needs at that moment and what will fit in their budget.

Shown at FESPA 2009 in Amsterdam (Stand M18) is the new developed Porta-Wash line for the washing-off of digital printed textile. In the Porta-Wash line the vacuum slit system pre-dries the fabric evenly to a wet-pickup as low as 30% relative to fabric-weight. This ensures a cost-effective drying without the need of a heavy and expensive squeezing roller system which can reach 60% wet-pickup (best case).

When used in combination with the Portafix Universal steam-dryer, additionally up to 80% of the drying energy will be reused for pre-heating of the cold fresh water in the Porta-Wash. To obtain the highest energy efficiency each Porta-Wash module is additionally equipped with a counter-flow heat exchanger between the fresh water and hot waste water, air recirculation at the vacuum system and thermally isolated walls.

Further as an important part of the washing process the newly developed vacuum system also removes polluted water from the cloth containing the excess of dyestuff and coatings. This largely prevents polluted water being dragged by the cloth into the next bath thus maintaining the required concentration differences between the cloth and the water in each bath. Due to the nature of the vacuum system the evenness over the width is excellent. The extracted water from the fabric is recycled to reduce the water and chemical consumption.

The Porta-Wash line use recycled and a calculated fresh soft water amount with a minimum of only 2.5 l/min (at 2.5 m width), based on the (dye) pollution in the washer for an optimal washing result with a minimum of water usage.

The Porta-Wash follows on a range of textile machinery which began with the introduction of the Portafix Universal, in 2003, a steam/air fixation unit with an integrated steam generator for the fixation of textile dyestuffs. Specially developed to offer the lowest energy consumption in its class without compromising the quality, the Portafix Universal uses, compared with other steamers only a tenth of the energy due to the huge forced steam circulation and the capability of regeneration during the circulation. Compared to alternative fixation units, the steamer needs no paper and has only 1.5 kWh of heat loss to the environment due to the isolated closed steam chamber. The build-in exhaust removes hazardous solvents, which evaporate easily at high fixation temperatures from the ink, thereby keeping the working environment clean.

As one of the first producers of finishing equipment for the digital market, SETeMa produces all of its products in 3 cloth widths: 1.85 m, 2.50 m and 3.40 m.