Commissioning Record: One Rongteng Energy-Saving Texturing Machine

        A small-to-medium polyester filament texturing mill in East China reviewed its workshop equipment early this year. The mill had eight texturing machines in service for more than ten years, with power consumption per unit of output rising year by year and unscheduled downtime increasing. After several rounds of comparison, the company decided to replace one machine first for comparison and verification, and ultimately brought in a Rongteng energy-saving texturing machine.

        During installation and commissioning, technicians sent by the manufacturer worked on site for a week to complete machine positioning, piping connections and process parameter setting. Over that period, the technicians ran trial production on the two polyester yarn specifications the mill uses most, recorded parameter combinations including draw ratio, D/Y ratio and heater-box temperature, and compiled the data into process cards handed over to the mill.

        In the first month after start-up, the mill's finance and equipment departments carried out a joint energy comparison. Using power consumption per unit of output as the basis, and comparing old and new machines under similar product varieties and similar speeds, the new machine's reduction in power consumption met the company's earlier expectations. Converted at local electricity rates and the mill's monthly output, the annual difference in electricity costs covers a considerable portion of the equipment investment.

        Beyond power consumption, several other changes were recorded. First, the ends-down rate fell, reducing the operator's yarn-joining workload and allowing the same team to oversee more spindle positions. Second, package formation improved, cutting the number of unwinding complaints from downstream weaving. Third, the machine runs with steady sound, improving the noise environment in the workshop.

        Summing up this upgrade, the mill's equipment manager raised two points. First, do your homework before replacing equipment: organize your product specifications, annual output and existing energy data clearly, so that discussions with the manufacturer rest on solid ground. Second, the first two months after start-up are the critical period for data accumulation — records of temperature, speed and ends-down rate should be kept complete, as they form the basis for later process optimization and investment accounting.

        The mill's plan is to complete the replacement of its remaining old machines in batches over the next two to three years, based on how the first machine performs. For peers facing the same problem of aging equipment, this path — pilot first, then roll out — may prove more prudent than a single large-scale investment.