FibeRio Technology Corporation announced today that it will launch its new 1.1 meter wide continuous nanofibre production system at the INDA Filtration 2011 show in Chicago on November 16th.

The company says its Cyclone Fiber Engine 1.1 is the first full scale production model utilizing Forcespinning technology, which offers both melt and solution spinning capabilities, increased productivity and a significant reduction in production costs.  

 FibeRio first introduced Forcespinning to the nonwovens and filtration industries only one year ago at the Filtration 2010 show where it launched its first laboratory equipment designed for research and development.

"These models recently received the R&D 100 award. Throughout 2011 FibeRio has focused on delivering this equipment to the global nonwovens market while scaling the technology to industrial volumes. The Cyclone FE 1.1 is the culmination of this effort," the company said in a statement today.

The system has been designed to be integrated into a nonwoven production line further enhancing its productivity gains, or it can be delivered as a discreet roll-to-roll system for specialty products or limited runs (Fiber System configurations). 

"Over the past year we have received an outstanding response to our technology and equipment, with the largest nonwovens and filtration companies in the world asking us to provide them with equipment that will expand the market for nanofibre functionalized media through new materials and lowered cost," said FibeRio CEO Ellery Buchanan.

 "The Cyclone FE 1.1 has unparalleled output capacity and eliminates the requirement for toxic solvents making it the perfect manufacturing platform to spread across multiple business units. Nonwovens and filtration companies can now proceed rapidly to establish a secure, competitive position. It is a very exciting time for FibeRio and the nonwovens industry at large," Mr Buchanan went on to say.

According to FibeRio, the Cyclone FE 1.1is the only equipment in the world that can both melt spin and solution spin nanofibres continuously at industrial volumes, which dramatically increases the range of materials that can be processed and the products that can be manufactured. 

The system can make fibres with average diameters of 500nm and below with a very tight standard distribution that is said to ensure uniformity of desirable properties such as slip flow, barrier or absorption. It also exploits a unique proprietary design to uniformly deposit the nanofibres across the 1.1 meter width.

FibeRio says the Cyclone FE 1.1 is fed raw material with the most advanced extrusion and solution pump systems that can be controlled discretely, or by software specifically designed to interface with the customer's factory floor controls, enabling in-line positioning of the system in higher volume environments. 

"The nonwovens and filtration industries have been waiting a long time for a breakthrough technology that could spin nanofibres economically and at high outputs that can keep up with in-line integration," says Sr. VP Sales of Sales & Marketing Roger Lipton.

"FibeRio's equipment with Forcespinning technology will spark a new age of innovation similar to what meltblown technology did thirty years ago."