Tencel in Courtaulds Annual Reports (1981-90)

The Courtaulds Annual Reports contain concise statements of the progress of the Tencel development year-by-year.  These statements have been pasted into a series of 10 posts which can be read in sequence by scrolling down from here:

1981-82 - under "Research"

Technology is being developed in the use of novel solvents for the conversion of woodpulp to regenerated cellulose products, leading to lower effluent levels and reduced energy consumption in the manufacturing process.

1982-83 - under "Courtaulds Research"

 A pilot plant incorporating a process which directly dissolves cellulose ran successfully towards the end of the year.  First indications are that the process may provide a low cost route to novel types of fibres and films.

1983-84  - under "Courtaulds Research"

Development of the new process for directly dissolving and regenerating cellulose continued.  Samples of fibres, of fabrics made from them and of transparent films have been produced, all with interesting properties.

1984-85 - Under "Research"

The research progamme into the production of new fibres and films by direct dissolution and regeneration of woodpulp continued successfully.

1985-86 - under "Research"

The development of a direct solvent spinning system for cellulosic fibres and films continued successfully.  An expanded pilot plant will be available by the end of 1986.
1986-87 -  under "Fibres"
Research expenditure was again at a high level for all fibres, but especially in the development of the new solvent-spun cellulose fibre.  Its pilot-plant came on stream and good progress has been made on the next stage of production which will make commercial quantities available.
               - under "Research"
The programme to develop a new range of cellulosic fibres using a new direct solvent spinning system continued with the successful commissioning of an expanded pilot-plant and with engineering developments for further expansion.  The process gives significant improvements over existing fibre properties and environmentally.
1988-89 - under "Fibres"
The first commercial scale Tencel plant was commissioned during the year. Its capacity is modest and design work on larger units is now well underway.
                - under "Research"
Substantial work was undertaken to transfer expertise learned on the pilot plant...to the scaled up plant commissioned...at Grimsby.
1989-90 - under "Fibres and Films"
The new solvent spun fibre Tencel continued to progress well.

N.B.  (1) Tencel is not mentioned in the "Research and Technology" section in 89-90.
        (2) The Textiles business had been demerged and was no longer part of the Courtaulds Group.
        (3) Saiccor Pulp (the best pulp for making Tencel) had been sold in 1988 to fund acquisitions of US sealants and adhesives.
        (4) Bonded Fibre Fabric, the nonwoven business which had been modernised at the end of the eighties, was sold at the end of March.  (Tencel was showing great promise in nonwovens)
        (5) Prior to 1989-90, "Fibres" came immediately after the "Chairman's Statement" at the front of the Annual Report.   Here "Fibres" comes last after Coatings, Performance Materials, Packaging and Chemicals.  Furthermore it has been merged with the "Films" used in packaging - cellophane, polypropylene and polyethylene.  Maybe the continued development of Tencel clashed with the emerging strategy of getting out of Fibres and Textiles and was therefore downplayed.

Thanks to Ted Richards who provided the full set of Courtaulds Annual Reports from 1970 to 98

Tencel in Courtaulds Annual Reports (1990-91)

More Tencel extracts from the Courtaulds Annual Reports.  From this point on, Tencel project news becomes an increasing factor in Courtaulds share price:

under "Chairman's Statement" 
...Significant examples (of investing for organic growth) during the year have been further investment commitments to the new Tencel fibre... (Christopher Hogg will be replaced as CEO by Sipko Huismans on Aug 1st 1991)
under "Fibres and Films"
Market development of Tencel, the new solvent spun cellulose fibre, continued in the US, Europe and Japan, and work started on the first commercial scale Tencel plant, adjacent to the existing viscose rayon factory in Mobile.  

Tencel is not mentioned under "Research and Technology" but some Tencel pipework appears in a full page photo (above) which also features Anne Ronchetti in a hard-hat.  The caption reads The product of sustained and successful work by Courtaulds Research, the first full-scale Tencel solvent spun cellulosic fibre plant is now under construction in Mobile, Alabama. Offering a huge advance environmentally, the project involves close collaboration between Courtaulds Fibres, Courtaulds Research and Courtaulds Engineering, both in North America and, as here, at the pilot plant in Grimsby England.  N.B. the flow sheet in the photo is labelled Tencel Mobile - SL1.

Innovation: Product Development with Tencel (1985-94)

Work with potential customers started in secret in October 1985 based on Coventry pilot plant Tencel.  All the developments to 1994 were organised by Courtaulds Research in conjunction with sales offices outside the UK and Tencel sales. 
There's a bias to nonwovens and technical textiles here because I have little information on the development of apparel textiles. Comments and additional information from those involved is welcome as always!

1985:

Products:  Hydroentangled dry-laid nonwovens, woven Tencel gauze

Markets:  Surgical Swabs (cotton gauze replacement)

Partners:  Chicopee USA,  Johnson and Johnson

Key Players:  Alton Bassett, Eric Attle (CNA)
Products:  Hydroentangled Coverstock (Topsheet)

Markets:  Diapers, Femcare

Partners:  Unicharm (Japan)

Key Players:  Migaku Suzuki,
1986:

Products: Hydroentangled Nonwovens

Markets:  Disposable Wipes

Partners:  Chicopee NV, Johnson and Johnson

Key Players:  Derek Rochford, John Elves

Products: Thermal bonded nonwovens

Markets:  Interlinings

Partner:  BFF Nonwovens

Key Players:  Taki Tyropolis, Bill Kennard
Products: Thermal bonded nonwovens

Markets:  Wipes

Partners:  J W Suominen

Key Players: Jorma Suominen, Esa Paltaala

Products:  Wet-laid nonwovens/Special Papers

Markets: Abaca replacement, tea-bags, food casings
Partners: JR Crompton (UK)
Key Players: Brian Tomkinson, Ivan Gbur
Products: Wet-laid nonwovens
Markets: Drapes/Gowns/Central Sterilising Room Wrap
Partners:  Dexter USA
Key Players: Alan Meierhofer
Products: Latex bonded nonwovens
Markets:  Disposable Wipes
Partners:  International Paper,
Key Players:  Zoltan Mate, Eric Attle (CNA)
Products: Thermal bonded (Powder Bonding)

Markets:  High Loft absorbents

Partners:  Bonar Carelle

Key Players:  ?
1987:

Products: Wet-Laid Nonwovens

Markets:  Wet-Wipes (Viscose replacement - low odour)

Partners:  Stora Kopparberg

Key Players:  Stefan Fors, Peter Fredericks
Products:  Modified Apertured Fabrics

Markets:  "J-Cloths" (polyester replacement), Swabs

Partners:  Johnson and Johnson (Canada)

Key Players:  Errol Tan
Products:  Hydroentangled Nonwovens

Markets:  Surgical drapes and gowns (polyester replacement)

Partners:  Chicopee USA,  Johnson and Johnson

Key Players:  Alton Bassett, Eric Attle (CNA)
Products: Tampons

Markets:  Femcare

Partner:  Johnson and Johnson (Germany)

Key Players:  Fritz Weinstrauch, Rolf Altdorf
Products: Tampons

Markets:  Femcare
Partner:  Tambrands (USA)

Key Players:  Ken Merrill, Eric Attle (CNA)

Products: Dry-Laid Nonwovens - various bonding

Markets:  Interlinings

Partner:  Freudenberg (Germany)

Key Players:  Gerhard Schaut, Johannes Knocke
Products:  Hydroentangled Nonwovens

Markets:  Surgical Dressings (cotton and polynosic replacement)

Partners:  Unicharm (Japan)

Key Players:  Migaku Suzuki, Kunihiko Tozaki (CJL)
1988:

Products:  Flame Retardant Tencel
Markets:  Workwear

Partners:  Albright and Wilson(UK)

Key Player:  David Cole, Les Pearson

Products: Dry Laid Thermal Bonded

Markets:  Floppy Disc Liners

Partners:  Freudenberg

Key Players:  Holger Buchwald

Products: Dry-Laid Latex Bonded

Markets:  Battery Separators

Partners:  BFF

Key Players:  Andrew Kelly

Products: Hydroentangled Coverstock

Markets:  Diapers/Femcare

Partner:  Kendall/International Paper

Key Players:  Drew Horn
Partner: J&J Personal Products
Key Player:  Beth Stern
1989:
Products:  Paper

Markets:  Security Papers

Partners:  Portals (UK), Tumba Bruk (Sweden)

Key Player:  Paul Howland,

Products: Wet-Laid Hydroentangled

Markets:  Industrial Wipes

Partners:  Molnlycke (Holland)

Key Player: Bernt Johannsen

(1990's developments follow)

Geoffrey Owen's Tencel lyocell history extracts (part 3)

Geoffrey Owen of the Department of Management, London School of Economics presented a paper at SPRU in October this year entitled "Innovation in the man-made fibres industry: corporate strategy and national institutions." It is based on unpublished material made available to the author by Akzo Nobel, Lenzing and Courtaulds (amongst others) and is available in full here on the web as a PDF file. It contains excellent sections on Tencel lyocell development history, the third extract of which is reproduced below:

The first Tencel plant

Meanwhile, Courtaulds had been pushing ahead fast. The pilot plant in Grimsby had worked well, and there was no doubt in the minds of Tencel’s supporters that the next step was to build a full-scale plant, either at Grimsby, next to the existing acrylic fibre plant, or at Mobile, Alabama, which was the site of a Courtaulds rayon factory. The case for going ahead was that Courtaulds had a technical lead in a product that not only had distinctive properties as a fibre but was also the only man-made fibre that could be produced from renewable resources by an environmentally friendly process.

When members of the Group Executive considered the proposal in April, 1990, they had before them a study from McKinsey, the management consultants, which supported the project. According to McKinsey, there would be sufficient demand, initially in industrial rather than textile markets, to absorb the output of the first plant at an acceptable price. Tencel’s high wet strength and absorbency would make it very suitable for wipes and other disposable products. One member of the Executive was doubtful, on the grounds that Tencel was a high-risk project with an uncertain payback. He acknowledged that Tencel was a potentially attractive fibre with some advantages over viscose, but it was not as novel or distinctive as polyester and nylon had been when they were introduced and sales projections were bound to be speculative. Spending on Tencel would absorb cash at a time when Courtaulds was trying to expand in non-fibre industries. In his view alternative strategies for Tencel should be considered, including partnership or licensing.

Despite these objections the majority of the committee took the view that Tencel was too good an opportunity to forgo. Apart from the merits of the new fibre, the project had the attraction of being based on in-house research and linked to Courtaulds’ long-established expertise in cellulosic fibres; it should be less risky, and less difficult to manage, than an acquisition. The initial plan was for the plant to be built at Grimsby, and the company hoped to get a government grant to support this investment. When the application was turned down, attention switched to Mobile. The state of Alabama was keen to attract the project and willing to offer financial support. The proposal was approved by the Board and the ground breaking ceremony at Mobile took place in September 1990. Production was scheduled to start in the summer of 1992, with an initial capacity from two production lines of 18,000 tonnes a year.

(More to come)

Courtaulds starts large scale Tencel production (1990)

Rare publicity in "The Chemical Engineer" apparently based on an interview with Barrie March and Donald Anderson.  Also a rare outing for the "environmentally secure" euphemism used when "environmentally friendly" was out of favour.  Other notable aspects bearing in mind the June 1990 date:

• "[exotherms] not discovered until the project was well advanced."
• The  criticism of the viscose process for its pollution did not go down well in the Viscose operations.

(Apologies if it is hard to read - zooming in should help)

Lenzing position 1.3dtex Modal against Tencel (1990)

Lenzing's first reaction to the early favourable reviews of Tencel in hydroentangled nonwovens was to suggest Modal as an alternative.  Here they seem to claim Modal fibrillates.

Anon., Medical Textiles, Feb 1990, p2

COURTAULDS KEEPS TENCEL PLANT IN-HOUSE (1990)

Note the stated intention to supply pre-blends of viscose and Tencel from Mobile.  Was this related to worries over fibrillation or a desire to offer less expensive bales of unique product to the market?

Courtaulds Engineering Ltd, Coventry, UK, will be the main engineering contractor for the new £47m Courtaulds Fibers Inc., solvent-spun cellulosic fibre plant in Alabama, USA. The facility will be the first full-scale production unit for Tencel fibre; it is being built adjacent to a rayon manufacturing plant. CEL will also provide project management services. By summer 1992 the new plant will have 18,000tpy production capacity, and will supply unblended and pre-blended with rayon Tencel products to the US textiles and nonwoven markets.

Anon., Eur. Chem. News, vol. 55, no. 1449, 26 Nov. 1990, p. 29

COURTAULD'S 'FOCUS' EXPANDING TO NONWOVENS CONSULTANCY (1990)

Courtaulds Research, the research division of Courtaulds plc, UK, unveiled a programme called Focus Nonwovens at the Textile and Technology Exhibition in Manchester in February 1990. This offers the services of Courtauld's personnel to companies involved in nonwovens. The team has already been involved in extensive consultancy work with the Courtaulds family of businesses such as: Courtaulds Viscose, Tencel, Courtelle, Performance Products and Acetate. 

A range of pilot scale nonwovens development equipment is available for use by clients, to manufacture dry and wet-laid webs, followed by bonding using either heat, latex, hydroentanglement or needling. A Neue Bruderhaus wet lay machine, a Honeycomb hydroentangler and a latex bonding unit are arranged in-line.

Haddad C, Nonwovens Ind. vol. 21, no. 4, Apr. 1990, p. 50

COURTAULDS TO BUILD $70 MILLION TENCEL PLANT IN ALABAMA (1990)

Courtaulds plc plans to build the first production plant for Tencel solvent spun cellulosic staple fibre at its rayon manufacturing facilities near Mobile, Alabama, USA. Startup is scheduled for summer 1992. Initial capacity will be 40m lb per year. The process uses amine oxide as a dissolving agent and has been demonstrated for two years at a pilot plant in Grimsby, UK. It is said to offer an environmentally secure process. Tencel has been evaluated on nonwoven hydroentanglement systems.

Anon, Nonwovens Mark.vol. 5, no. 12, 8 June 1990, pp 1-2

PROFILE OF COURTAULDS INDUSTRIAL TEXTILES (1990)

After the textile interests of the original Courtaulds became a separate company, production of viscose, acrylic and acetate fibres remained with the new Courtaulds plc within which is the Courtaulds Fibres Group. This consists of five businesses of which Courtelle (acrylic) and acetate are not widely used in the industrial textiles field, the remaining three are viscose, Tencel and Performance Products. The company is Western Europe's second largest producer of viscose with more than half its production going into the nonwovens and waddings market. A new US plant is to be built to produce Courtaulds solvent spun viscose fibre, Tencel. The Performance Products business produces speciality fibres mostly for industrial uses. The main product groups are the modacrylic, Teklan; the polyacrylate, Inidex; a high modulus acrylic fibre, Sekril and an anti-microbial fibre, Courtek M.

Anon, Tech. Text Mark., no. 2, July 1990, pp 7-22

INNOVATION FROM CELLULOSE FIBRES SECTOR (1990)

The Courtaulds Viscose operations are still using Tencel as an example of forward-looking R&D and Lenzing is setting up a solvent-spun cellulose pilot line.  This also contains the first reference to the US Tencel plant.  At this point Lenzing appear to be 4-5 years behind Courtaulds in solvent spun development, but benefit from the knowledge that the NMMO process really can be made to work on a large scale.

European viscose producers are now reaping the benefits of major investment in research and development, process refinements, product development and environmental protection measures. In this article three leading European viscose producers - Courtaulds Fibres Viscose, Kemira Oy Sateri (Finland) and the Austrian company Lenzing AG consider recent developments in the viscose market and future company strategy. Amongst developments Courtaulds Fibres Viscose is researching into fibre finishes as well as new fibres such as the multi-limbed fibre developed under the Galaxy project. The US company Courtaulds Fibres Inc. recently announced the building of the first production plant for Tencel solvent-spun cellulosic fibre at Mobile, USA. Kemira Oy Sateri is now able to produce a chlorine-free viscose fibre in conjunction with Nordic pulp manufacturers. Lenzing AG is setting up a pilot-plant for a solvent spun viscose fibre marked by tenacity ratings on the same levels as synthetic fibres.

Anon, Nonwovens Rep. Int., no. 231, June 1990, pp 20, 23, 25

SOLVENT SPUN FIBRE - A NEW MEMBER OF THE CELLULOSE FIBRE FAMILY (1990)

A new generation of man-made cellulosic fibres have been launched onto the market by Courtaulds. The fibres are produced by a solvent spinning process and the method is chemically simpler than the production of viscose rayon. The new production method is described along with a comparison with other man-made and cellulosic fibres. Applications for the fibres are discussed. Emphasis is also placed on the benefits of these fibres to the spinning, weaving and dye finishing industries. A review is presented on the key market opportunities available to Tencel with special reference to textile and nonwoven applications.

 Cole D; Jones A., Lenzinger Ber., no. 69, Jun. 1990, pp 73-77

This is a paper from the 1989 Dornbirn Conference, reprinted in the Lenzing house journal.  It is available on-line - click the reference above. 
Interestingly they publish the Q and A session from the conference which reveals some of the key issues at the time.