Meltblown

This is how meltblown nonwovens are made

The meltblown process is similar to the spunlaid process. A high velocity hot gas stream impinges on a molten polymer stream as the polymer extrudes from a small capillary in the die. The force of the gas in a turbulent flow rapidly attenuates the filament from a diameter of about 500 micron at the capillary down to filament diameters as small as 1 micron.

Compared to the spunlaid process the melt flow index of the polymer is very high, whereas the throughput of the capillary is very low. This low throughput due to very small capillary holes and the high melt flow index are the precondition for manufacturing very thin fibers.

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