Process modification in the scouring process of textile industry

Atichart Tanapongpipat, Citapar Khamman, Kejvalee Pruksathorm, Mali Hunsom*

Department of Chemical Technology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Phaya Thai Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Abstract

The effects of scouring parameters on the scouring efficiency, including the weight ratio of de-sizing agent and fabric (5e80 g/g fabric),
temperature of de-sizing agent tank (60e90  C) and dipping time (2e8 s), were investigated. The results demonstrated that weight loss of sizing
agent was significantly observed only in the de-sizing agent tank particularly in the first de-sizing tank and was found to a small extent in water
tank. The optimum condition in the scouring machine was found at a de-sizing agent to fabric ratio of 20 g/g fabric, with a temperature of the
first de-sizing agent tank of 80  C, a temperature of the second de-sizing agent tank of 90  C, and dipping time of fabric of 7 s. According to
these conditions, more than 89% of the sizing agent was eliminated and only 3.52 mg/g fabric of sizing agent remained in the scoured fabric
which was in an acceptable range for feeding to the down stream process known as dyeing process. Application of our results to actual textile
plant has shown that there is a cost reduction due to improved utilization of rinse water, chemicals and energy in the process and consequent
decreases in the generation of wastewater. Furthermore, the production capacity was increased from 30 m/min to 34.4 m/min.

Keywords: Cleaner production; Scouring process; Nylon; Sizing agent; Textile industry

1. Introduction a large amount of dark color wastewater containing dyestuff,

The concept of cleaner production (CP) has been practiced
for many years in many countries [1]. Such CP activities in-
clude measures such as pollution prevention, source reduction,
waste minimization and eco-efficiency. At its heart, the
concept is about the prevention rather than the control of pol-
lution [2].
In this work, the concept of CP including the waste min-
imization and process modification was carried out in the tex-
tile industry because, in our country, the textile was the
second largest export commodity registering over US$ 5.2
billion in 1999 and more than US$ 5.7 billion in 2003.
One principal problem that textile industries have been facing
is the re-dyeing process. When such process is carried out, it
leads to a loss of many resources such as water, energy, de-
sizing agent and dyestuff, time, man-hour, etc. Moreover,
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ66 2 2187523 5; fax: þ66 2 2555831.
E-mail address: mali.h@chula.ac.th (M. Hunsom).
salts, high de-sizing agent oxygen demand (COD) derived
from additives, total dissolved solid (TDS), total suspended
solid (TSS) and fluctuating pH is generated leading to the
problem of wastewater management. One factor that can re-
duce the efficiency in dyeing process is the contamination of
sizing agent in the fabric at high quantity. Namely, during the
yarn preparation, various kinds of sizing agent are added into
the fabric to increase the strength and to reduce the ripping
of the yarn during the fabric process. These sizing agents
have to be eliminated from the fabric surface before feeding
such fabric to the down stream process. The process used to
eliminate the sizing agent is known as the scouring process
and its efficiency depends upon many parameters such as op-
erating condition, type of de-sizing agent, etc. The bioscour-
ing process was used to eliminate the sizing agent from wool
and cotton [3]. The results indicated that, for cotton, the pec-
tinase enzyme showed excellent activity even in organic me-
dia, and the effectiveness of scouring was equivalent or better
than that achieved by the conventional alkaline process or bi-
oscouring in the aqueous media. On the other hand, for wool,
it was found that felting property and tensile strength of wool
fabrics treated by protease in reverse micellar system were
superior to those in aqueous media. The commercial enzyme
pectinase from Aspergillus niger (Pontypridd, Wales, UK)
was used to scour raw knitted fabric cotton/polyester (50/
50), 146 g/m2 [4]. It was found that the bioscouring process
was very sensitive to the surfactant and the pH regulation
whereas temperature seems to be less important. Aly et al.
[5] attempted to scour cotton fabrics made of Giza 70 and
Giza 75 by using various enzymes including bioprip, cellu-
soft L and denilite enzymes. They demonstrated that the
scouring was affected by using either bioprip enzyme at
60  C and pH 9 or cellusoft L enzyme at 50  C and pH 5
for 60 min. Ossola and Galante [6] demonstrated that the
efficiency of the scouring process of the flax rove in the
decreasing order of effectiveness was pectinase > xylanase ¼
galactomannanase ¼ protease > lipase  laccase. The effect
of low temperature plasma treatment on the scouring of nat-
ural fabrics was also investigated [7]. The results demonstrated
that low temperature plasma treatment could increase the
scouring rate of cotton and wool fabrics. Although the previous
results demonstrated that using various kinds of enzymes seems
to be effective to eliminate sizing agent in the fabric, applica-
tion of such may not be practical in actual textile industry
due to their high production cost. Therefore, the processes
optimization and modification are the alternative procedures
to get the better scouring efficiency and environmentally
friendly as the CP concept. In this work, the effects of various
parameters in the scouring machine were investigated.
2. Experimental
The effects of various parameters including effect of de-siz-
ing agent and water, weight ratio of de-sizing agent and fabric
in the range of 5e80 g/g fabric, temperature of de-sizing agent
tanks (60e90  C), and dipping time (2e8 s) on the scouring
efficiency were first determined in the laboratory scale by us-
ing the equipment emulated from the conventional scouring
equipment of textile industry. Fig. 1 displays the conventional
configuration of the scouring equipments employed in the tex-
tile industry. It generally consisted of two de-sizing agent
tanks and three water tanks. The first tank, containing water,
was used to wet and clean some impurities such as dust
Tank # 1 Tank # 2
Water De-sizing
agent
Fig. 1. Scheme of conventional scouring process.
from the fabric surface. The second and third tanks, containing
chemical agent, were used to eliminate the sizing agent from
the fabric structure. The weight ratio of de-sizing agent and
fabric is maintained constant at 40 g/g fabric. The operating
temperatures of both de-sizing agent tanks were maintained
approximately at 80  C and 90  C, respectively. The last two
tanks were the rinsing water tanks, which were utilized to
wash the de-sizing agents on the fabric surface. The tempera-
tures of both tanks were controlled at around 80  C and 60  C.
The de-sizing agent used in the process was the liquid mixture
of NaOH, detergent, and chelating agent. The investigated fab-
ric was nylon with initial sizing agent content of 33.02 mg/g
nylon. In each experiment, the amount of aqueous solution
in each tank was fixed at 1.8 l. The efficiency of the scouring
process was determined by using the weight loss of sizing
agent per unit weight of fabric. High loss of sizing agent refers
to the high efficiency of the scouring process.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Effect of de-sizing agent and water on the
scouring efficiency
The experiments in laboratory scale were preliminarily per-
formed to determine the effect of de-sizing agent and water on
the scouring efficiency by using the dipping time of 8 s, tem-
perature of all tanks of 80  C, and weight ratio of de-sizing
agent and fabric of 40 g/g fabric. The results as exhibited in
Fig. 2(a) showed that the significant weight loss of sizing
agent of approximately 18.49 mg/g fabric was obviously ob-
served in a de-sizing agent tank whereas only 0.5e2.3 mg/g
fabric of sizing agent was lost in water tanks. To confirm
the effect of de-sizing agent on the weight loss of sizing agent,
similar experiment was carried out by changing the sequence
of de-sizing agent and water tanks. The results plotted in
Fig. 2(b) demonstrated that when the fabric was submerged
in water from tank 1 to tank 3, only 0.5e1.2 mg/g fabric
was lost in the process. When the fabric was consequently sub-
merged in the de-sizing agent tank, approximately 16.72 mg/g
fabric was lost from the fabric. These results confirm that only
de-sizing agent has strong influence on the weight loss of
sizing agent whereas the water has not. From such results, it
demonstrates that only one rinsing water tank was adequate
Tank # 3 Tank # 4 Tank # 5
De-sizing Water Water
agent
 (a) (b)
25 25

Weigh loss of sizing agent (mg/g fabric)

18.49
20 20
Weight loss (mg/g fabric)
16.72

15 15

10 10

5 5
2.29
0.51 1.19 0.88
0.50 0.51 0.47 0.02 0.05
0 0
1 2 3 nk 4 5
k

4
# # # # #
an

a
#

#
k k k t k k
nt
tt

tan tan tan tan tan

nk

nk

nk

nk
e
en

ta

ta

ta

ta
r r r ag r r
ate ate ate ate ate
ag

er

er

er

er
g
at

at

at

at zin
g

W W W W W
in

W
-si
siz

De
e-
D

Fig. 2. Weight loss of sizing agent in de-sizing agent and water tanks.

in the process because it has no influence on the elimination of process in the actual textile plant as shown in Fig. 4, which
the sizing agent in the fabric as the chemical did. Many water demonstrates the relationship between the weight loss of de-
tanks lead to high amount of water consumption and high sizing agent as a function of parameters of the aqueous
quantity of wastewater generation. solution (temperature, pH, TSS, TDS and alkalinity) in both
The significance of both de-sizing agent tanks on the the chemical tanks. It can be seen that the parameters in the
weight loss of sizing agent was further investigated at a tem- first chemical tank was more fluctuant than that of the second
perature of 80  C, dipping time of 8 s and weight ratio of chemical tank. This fluctuation was due to the contamination
de-sizing agent and fabric of 20 g/g fabric. The results as dis- of the sizing agent in the aqueous solution. So, this behavior
played in Fig. 3 indicated that the weight loss of sizing agent can confirm the previous results (Fig. 3) in that the more siz-
was more significantly observed in the first de-sizing agent ing agent can be removed in the first de-sizing agent tank than
tank than that in the second de-sizing agent tank, namely, in the second tank. Although, the relationship between the
greater than 18 mg/g fabric of sizing agent was eliminated weight loss of sizing agent and temperature (Fig. 4(a)) and
in the first tank whereas approximately 0.91 mg/g fabric pH (Fig. 4 (b)) of the first de-sizing agent tank was not cer-
was dislodged in the second de-sizing agent tank. These re- tainly observed, the TSS, TDS, M-alkalinity and P-alkalinity
sults can be confirmed by the data collected from scouring showed the relationship with the weight loss of sizing agent.
Namely, high values of TSS, TDS, M-alkalinity and P-alkalinity
led to high weight loss of sizing agent such as sample num-
25 bers 2, 19, and 20. Likewise low values of them conducted
small weight loss of sizing agent such as sample 18. This
tendency, however, was not clear for all samples because it
Weight loss of sizing agent (mg/g fabric)

20 18.49 relates to various parameters in scouring process such as con-

centration of de-sizing agent at interval, operating tempera-
ture, etc.
15

3.2. Effect of weight ratio of de-sizing agent and fabric

10
According to the above results, the de-sizing agent has sig-
nificant effect on the efficiency of scouring process. The actual
ratio of de-sizing agent to fabric used in the textile industry
5
was about 40 g/g fabric. In this part, the author attempted to
0.91 reduce the de-sizing agent cost in the actual process by reduc-
ing the de-sizing agent to fabric ratio. The experiment was
0
1 2 conducted in a laboratory scale with the weight ratio of de-
n k# n k# sizing agent and fabric in the range of 5e80 g/g fabric at a tem-
Ta Ta
perature of 80  C and a dipping time of 8 s. The results plotted
Fig. 3. Weight loss of sizing agent in both de-sizing agent tanks. in Fig. 5 demonstrated that weight loss of sizing agent was
 (a) (b)
140 80 20 80
Tank 1 18 Tank 1
70 70
120 Tank 2 Tank 2
16

Weight loss (mg/g fabric)

60

Weight loss (mg/g fabric)

Weight loss 60 Weight loss
100 14
Temperature (°C)

50 50
12
80

pH
40 10 40
60 8 30
30
6
40 20
20 4
20 10
10 2

0 0
0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Sample number
Sample number

(c) (d)
350 80 20,000 80
Tank 1 Tank 1
300 70 70
Tank 2 Tank 2

Weight loss (mg/g fabric)

Weight loss (mg/g fabric)

Weight loss 60 15,000 Weight loss 60

250
TDS (mg/g fabric)
TSS (mg/g fabric)

50 50
200
40 10,000 40
150
30 30
100
20 5,000 20

50 10 10

0 0 0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Sample number Sample number

(e) (f) 8 80
8 80
Tank 1 Tank 1
70 70
Tank 2 Tank 2
Weight loss (mg/g fabric)

Weight loss (mg/g fabric)

6 Weight loss 60 6 Weight loss 60
M-alkalinity (mg/l)

P-alkalinity (mg/l)

50 50

4 40 4 40

30 30

2 20 2 20

10 10

0 0 0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Sample number Sample number

Fig. 4. Physical properties of aqueous solution in the chemical tanks of the scouring process of textile industry and weight loss of sizing agent.

observed when the ratio of de-sizing agent and fabric increased agent to fabric ratio from 14 to 20 g/g fabric. It increased
from 5 to 14 g/g fabric, namely, it slightly increased from from 18.2 mg/g fabric to 24.3 mg/g fabric or approximately
16.7 mg/g fabric to 18.2 mg/g fabric or approximately 7e to 33.5%. Further increasing ratio of de-sizing agent to fabric
9%. However, the significant increase in the weight loss of to 80 g/g fabric cannot promote the increase of weight loss of
sizing agent was then found when increasing the de-sizing sizing agent in fabric. According to this study, it can be said
 30

Weight loss (mg sizing agent/g fabric)

24.3 24.4 24.2 24.0
25
22.3

20 18.0 18.2
16.7

15

10

0
5 10 14 17 20 40 60 80
Chemical : Fabric (g/g fabric)

Fig. 5. Weight loss of sizing agent as a function of de-sizing agent to fabric ratio.

that the optimum de-sizing agent to fabric ratio was found at loss of sizing agent obtained from this condition increased
a ratio of 20 g/g fabric which is approximately 50% less than slightly from 18.5 mg/g fabric at 60  C to approximately
that used in actual textile process. 24.4 mg/g fabric at 80  C and afterwards it was rather
constant. On the other hand, the effect of temperature in the
3.3. Effect of temperature in de-sizing agent tanks second de-sizing agent tank was also studied in the range of
60e80  C by using the fixed temperature of the first chemical
In this part, the experimental set up was imitated from the tank. The results demonstrated in Fig. 6(b) referred that the
actual process consisting of three water tanks and two de- weight loss of sizing agent was constant in the range of
sizing agent tanks. The first water tank was used for wetting operating temperatures of 60e80  C, but it would increase
and cleaning the fabric from impurity such as dust. The next to approximately 29.5 mg/g fabric at 90  C. From this inves-
two tanks were de-sizing agent tanks containing de-sizing tigation, it can be said that optimum temperatures in the first
agent with weight ratio of 20 g/g fabric and the last two tanks and second de-sizing agent tanks were 80  C and 90  C,
containing water was used to eliminate the de-sizing agent on respectively.
fabric surface. The temperature in all water tanks was con-
trolled at 80  C and the temperature of both de-sizing agent 3.4. Effect of dipping time
tanks was varied in the range of 60e90  C. Fig. 6(a) demon-
strates the effect of temperature in the first chemical tank in The dipping time indicates the time that the fabric is sub-
the range of 60e90  C by using constant temperature of the merged in the solution. The shorter dipping time means the
second chemical tank (80  C). It showed that the weight rapid velocity of fabric fed into the scouring machine.

(a) (b)
35 35
Weight loss (mg sizing agent/g fabric)
Weight loss (mg sizing agent/g fabric)

29.5
30 30
24.4 25.1
23.9 24.0 24.6
25 25
21.3
18.5 20
20

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
60 70 80 90 60 70 80 90
Temperature in the 1st chemical tank (ºC) Temperature in the 2nd chemical tank (ºC)

Fig. 6. Weight loss of sizing agent as a function of temperature at (a) constant temperature of the second chemical tank of 80  C and (b) constant temperature of the
first chemical tank of 80  C.
 35 Table 1
Comparison of conditions and characteristics of scoured fabric between this
29.07 29.50 work and actual textile plant
30 27.44
Weigh loss of sizing agent (mg/g fabric)

Characteristics and conditions This work Actual textile

25.85
24.35 plant
25
Weight ratio of de-sizing agent 20 40
and fabric (g/g fabric)
20 Temperature of the first de-sizing 80 80
agent tank ( C)
Temperature of the second de-sizing 90 90
15
agent tank ( C)
Dipping time (s) 7 (34.4 m/min) 8 (30.0 m/min)
10 Weigh loss of sizing agent 29.50 24.92e26.73
(mg/g fabric)
Residual sizing agent in scoured 3.52 6.29e8.10
5 fabric (mg/g fabric)
Operation cost
Chemical reagent (USDa/m2 fabricb) 0.361 0.722
0
2 4 6 7 8 Water (USD/m2 fabric) 0.116 0.232
Wastewater management 0.071 0.141
Dipping time (s)
(USD/m2 fabric)
Fig. 7. Weight loss of sizing agent as a function of dipping time. Energy cost (USD/m2 fabric) 0.004 0.007
a
1 USD ¼ 35.8 Baht.
b
Fabric with 1.524 m width.
Similarly, it indicates the large production capacity per unit
time. Fig. 7 shows the weight loss of sizing agent on fabric
as a function of dipping time in the range of 2e8 s at de-siz-
optimum condition leads to the decrease of operation cost of
ing agent to fabric ratio of 20 g/g fabric, temperature of the
approximately 50%.
first de-sizing agent tank of 80  C and temperature of the
second de-sizing agent tank of 90  C. The results indicated
that when the dipping time increased from 2 s to 7 s, the 4. Conclusion
weight loss of sizing agent increased slightly from 24.35
mg/g fabric to approximately 29.07 mg/g fabric and then The concept of CP concerned with waste minimization and
became quite constant. Therefore, it can be said that the op- process modification was performed in the scouring process of
timum dipping time was around 7 s, which was correspond- textile industry. The results indicated that only the de-sizing
ing to the velocity of fabric in scouring machine of around agent had significant effect on weight loss of sizing agent
34.4 m/min. At this condition, greater than 89% of sizing whereas water did not. Therefore, one rinsing water tank
agent was eliminated from the fabric surface and the amount was enough to clean the de-sizing agent from the fabric.
of the sizing agent remaining in the fabric was lower than This decreased the quantity of wastewater discharged from
3.52 mg/g fabric which is acceptable to feed into the down the process by approximately 20%. For the chemical tanks,
stream process. the first de-sizing agent tank in the scouring machine had
Table 1 exhibits the comparison of operating conditions more influence on the weight loss of sizing agent than that
and properties of the scoured fabric between laboratory of the second de-sizing agent tank. Namely, the weight losses
and the actual textile processes. It showed that the ratio of of sizing agent were approximately 24 mg/g fabric and
de-sizing agent to fabric used in this work was lower than 0.91 mg/g fabric for the first and the second de-sizing agent
that of the actual process of approximately 50%. The dip- tanks, respectively. The optimum condition in the scouring
ping time which was corresponding to the velocity of fabric process was found at the de-sizing agent to fabric ratio of
in the scouring machine was faster than that in actual pro- 20 g/g fabric, temperature in the first and second de-sizing
cess of around 15%. It means that the production capacity agent tanks of 80  C and 90  C, respectively, and the dipping
can be increased by operating the system at our find out con- time of 7 s. Application of our results reduces the amount of
dition. By employing this condition, more than 89% of siz- chemicals, rinse water and energy used in the process. In ad-
ing agent was eliminated from the fabric and the remaining dition, the production capacity was increased from 30 m/min
sizing agent in fabric was approximately 3.52 mg/g fabric to 34.4 m/min. The barrier that may be faced when this im-
which is lower than that obtained by using the actual textile provement is carried out is the variation of the amount of
plant. the sizing agent in the fabric surface in the actual textile plant.
The operation costs used in the new optimum condition When this situation occurs, the producers have to use the ratio
including the costs of rinsing water, chemicals, wastewater of the de-sizing agent to fabric greater than 20 g/g fabric or
management and energy were also calculated and compared with safety factor of approximately 20e50%. This will lead
with that used in the conventional process as demonstrated to a decrease in savings from the new process. The other bar-
in Table 1. It can be seen that the application of the new rier is that this condition can only be used with nylon.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank the Thailand Research
Fund under the IRPUS projects for the financial support of
our project and the Cleaner Technology Consortium at Chula-
longkorn University.
References
[1] Kjaerheim G. CP and sustainability. J Clean Prod 2005;13:329e39.
[2] International institute for sustainable development. Available from:
<http://www.bsdglobal.com/tools/bt_cp.asp>; 2005.
[3] Sawada K, Ueda M. Enzyme process of textiles in reserve micellar solu-
tion. J Biotechnol 2001;9:263e9.
[4] Calafell M, Garriga P. Effect of some process parameters in the enzymatic scour-
ing of cotton using an acid pectinase. Enzyme Microb Technol 2004;34:326e31.
[5] Aly AS, Moustafa AB, Hebeish A. Bio-technological treatment of cellu-
losic textiles. J Clean Prod 2004;12:697e705.
[6] Ossola M, Galante YM. Scouring of flax rove with the aid of enzymes.
Enzyme Microb Technol 2004;34:177e86.
[7] Sun D, Stylios GK. Effect of low temperature plasma treatment on
the scouring and dyeing of natural fabrics. Text Res J 2004;74:751e6.