PURPOSE: To provide an improved flash spinning process for the production of a reticulate polyethylene fiber having excellent strength and openability by using a solvent having extremely low ozonosphere-destruction property.
CONSTITUTION: A high-temperature and high-pressure solution consisting of a liquid containing a polyethylene and a halogenated hydrocarbon is adjusted to a temperature higher than the temperature Tα corresponding to the downwardly convex minimum point on a clouding point curve drawn by taking the temperature and the pressure as abscissa and ordinate, respectively, and to a pressure above the clouding point pressure. The pressure in a decompression chamber is maintained below the clouding point pressure. The above solution is passed through a pressure-reducing orifice, the decompression chamber and a spinneret and discharged into an ordinary temperature and pressure zone to obtain a fibrillated reticulate polyethylene fiber. A reticulate fiber useful for socially valuable nonwoven sheet can easily be produced by this process without causing the destruction of ozonosphere surrounding the globe.
NAKAYAMA YOSHIAKI
KANEKIYO KENJI
