Adapting to changing needs

1 March 2005



Stricter hygiene and environmental rules, changes in textiles, and a strongly competitive market where costs are rising have been behind developments in tunnel washers, Barbara Gledhill reports


A combination of rapidly changing international linen care markets, modern textiles and stricter European hygiene standards has put pressure on laundry performance.

Managers not only have to cope with these changes but with stringent environmental regulations and with rising energy and labour costs. At the same time they have to increase productivity and still operate profitably.

This has influenced both the demand for tunnel washers and the way customers use them.

The water savings offered by a tunnel washer over a washer-extractor (reducing use from between 20 and 30litres/kg to 8litres/kg) have proved attractive to cost-conscious laundries. Where tunnels were once used mainly for high volumes of hotel and hospital linen, they are now used in smaller laundries as well as large and for a wide range of classifications, including many that used to be handled by washer-extractors.

The manufacturers have responded both to the changing market and the customer’s changing needs. The long overdue switch to stainless steel tubing, for example, has helped to make machines more robust,

Kannegiesser cites the introduction of its patented PowerTrans as an example of a design that meets the requirements of a modern laundry. It is available with two wash and transfer actions, the classic oscillating design and the Rotaflex with 360o rotating action.

The PowerTrans has straight division walls and transfer scoops, to exclude migration and mixing of baths during the cylinder wash movements, so allowing mixed batches to be processed.

Most importantly, before the batch transfers from the last wash compartment into the first rinse section, the bath is totally drained, so no free wash liquor carries over into the rinse. Chemicals are diluted more quickly, and water consumption is reduced.

In most cases fewer rinse compartments are needed.

The PowerTrans control system automatically adjusts quantities of water and chemicals to suit the weight of each batch, ensuring the correct ratio of goods-to-wash liquors, and the G-force will be adjusted according to the type of load. This, an advance on early tunnel washer design, has a significant impact on the mechanical wash action.

The effect on quality of such features is confirmed by a German laundry, which claims its rewash with incontinence work and sheets from old peoples homes was reduced by 30% after the installation of a PowerTrans RotaFlex 50/13 with programmable G-force.

The Jensen Group puts high performance and cost efficiency as the main objectives.

It says that the Jensen-Senking Universal tunnel washer meets both requirements. As it is suitable for nearly all kinds of laundry, some customers may replace washer-extractors with this tunnel washer to increase water savings and reduce labour costs.

Its features include total separation of linen and water from compartment to compartment in pre-wash and main wash; no dilution of the wash liquid; keeping main wash temperature high and constant; low use of detergent, water and steam; automatic removal of sand and other deposits from double drum sections; and perfect wash result, including those for polycotton workwear.

The latest version of this machine, the Universal SL, is claimed to provide high hygiene levels and to reduce maintenance requirements. This has been designed without a storage tank for recovered water – always a critical point for bacterial growth, and so requiring comprehensive cleaning.

Instead, recovered water is provided through the internal systems at the right temperature and right stage in the cycle. All internal water pipes are made of stainless steel and are cleaned and flushed as needed, for example after a colour wash. Electronic sensors and flow meters guarantee safe processes.

Broadbent Laundry Systems is the UK distributor for the Lavatec tunnel washers. In the past 15 years it has installed over 120 machines in the UK. Like others, it has noticed that tunnels are now used for more classifications. Lavatec and Broadbent report that there has been a shift over recent years to a standardised dual-skin design which suits most applications; even difficult work such as polyester garments or textiles that are heavily mineral-soiled.

Broadbent’s technical sales manager Steve Childs says healthcare processing is one of the more conventional areas of work for this type of machinery. Even here these companies report a demand for 90kg-100kg capacity machines from several sites where there is a “post sorting” process in place.

There has also been a drive towards more accountability and auditing with regard to the disinfection of the work inside the machine. Machinery manufacturers and chemical suppliers have both been developing the reporting and traceability in their software packages for healthcare applications.

Controls are another important aspect. Customers are now asking for and expecting Windows-based systems offering more information, compatibility with in-house systems, remote monitoring and consumption data, as a minimum. This has prompted the Provit 5000 from Lavatec, a comprehensive but easy to use system.

At Texcare last year, Girbau sought to reinforce its position as a manufacturer of heavy-duty equipment and its TBS50 tunnel washer is central to this strategy. The company reports that the main customer requirement is for high production with minimum consumption.

It says that while the TBS50 meets this general requirement it also works to adjust each bath to the customer’s needs allowing maximum dilution and optimum use of water, energy and chemicals.

A feature of the TBS50’s design is that all modules are alike and so the washer’s configuration can be adjusted as and when required, providing a tailored solution for each customer.

Recently some of its customers have requested the addition of heat to the rinse phase. This opens up the fabric pores and improves rinsing and allows more water to be removed during the pressing process.

With more than 30 years of production, Milnor has developed its CBW tunnel washer systems to suit a variety of applications. Its washers are designed to handle different soil types in the same machine. All machines offer the benefit of total top transfer, lifting each batch out of the water with a perforated scoop to transfer it to the next chamber.

It manufactures tunnels in a range of batch sizes from 50kg to 115kg making the benefits of tunnel washing competitive for both large and small operations.

Milnor has added a 115kg machine recently, as a response to the increasing need for handling high volumes.

Other features include the ability to change internal water flow patterns by computer, allowing a short tunnel to act as if it has more modules and some modules to carry out multiple jobs.

The future for tunnel washer development will require a closer integration with chemical suppliers, manufacturers and fabric suppliers to open up even more opportunities.


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