Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research

Vol. 21, March 1996, pp. 57-63

Recent advances in wet chemical processing machinery

Sanjay Gupta
Textile Design & Development Department. National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hauz Khas,
New Delhi 110 016, .lndia

Advances in textile processing machinery in past few years have been influenced by globalization of textile
industry. environment and socio-economic factors. diverse finishing requirements and quality demands.
Advances have taken place in process control and automated systems that provide flexibility , versatility and
reproducibility. Innovations have been few. Against this backdrop, the various advances in machine design,
processes and automation for pretreatment, dyeing, printing and finishing of fabrics have been discussed . It is
observed that the advances in process machinery sector meet the requirements of our times, i.e. need for
shorter/fa ster processing and maximl:lm flexibility (quick change and rapid response) as also the demand of
reduced water, energy and chemical consumption.
Keywords: Automated systems, Dyeing, Finishing, Pretreatment, Printing, Textile processing machinery

1 Introduction 1 - 6 f;ormity. Top priorities today are economy, ecology,

The paper is in the unenviable position of being
written just before ITMA '95 and being read imme-
diately afterwards. The machine suppliers are, how-
ever, unlikely to have held back any major innovation
for the show from the competitive market conditions
existing today.
Since the last ITMA held four years back, many
new challenges and changes have emerged that have
influenced the direction of development in textile ma-
chinery. The major influences have been of globaliza-
tion of the textile industry, environment factors, ene-
rgy constraints, diversity and multiplicity of colouni-
tion and finishing requirements, quality demands
and requirements emanating from a more discerning
and selective consumer market.
In the global market, the need to produce world
class product quality virtually eliminates any diffe-
rentiation with regard to the degree of sophistication
desired in machinery. For India, to opt for maximum
automation may not be justified against low labour
costs but, nevertheless, cannot be ignored in terms of
the more important 'automation for quality' target-
ted at export markets. Yesterdays' " we cannot afford
to" has to change to present days' reality of "we can-
not afford not to" (refs 3 & 4).
Against this background , global operators at the
leading edge of technology must remain adept at sele-
cting and investing in machinery, equipment, process
control and automation systems that provide flexibi-
lity and versatility in terms of range of fabrics that can
be wet processed, and reproducibility to provide uni-
fast response , quality and flexibility.
With these priorities in mind, specific technologi-
cal advances in machine design, processes and auto-
mation are discussed in this paper.
2 Machinery for Chemical Pretreatment
Chemical pretreatment sector is of vital importa-
nce to the processing industry because of the increa-
sed necessity for greater uniformity and fault-free,
right-first-time production in subsequent dyeing,
printing and finishing4 ·6 . The general trend toward s
the increasing use of light-weight fabrics , particu-
larly polyester/cotton blends, which crease more , re-
quires open-width pretreatment using integrated pad-
batch or pad-steam process. Use of hydrogen per-
oxide as a predominant bleaching agent from enviro-
nment point of view also supports this process route .
Refined versions of high wet pick-up systems (ini-
tially displayed at ITMA '9 1) for single-stage bleach-
ing consume less water, caustic, energy and time, and
cause minimum pollution of waste water. A number
of such systems, all operating on the basic principle of
maximizing the liquor pick-up while impregnating
the goods before steaming, are available 6 - 8
(Table I).
Continuous, high-inten sity, high-temperature
and counter-current flow washing is an essential part
of any pretreatment sequence. New open-width wa-
shers based on continuous interchange of water aro-
und the fibres in the fabric with wash liquors oflower
contamination have been developed. These washers
58 INDIAN J. FffiRE TEXT. RES., MARCH 1996

bascd on spray, multi-nips, vacuum extraction and Flexnip application system by Kuster (Fig. 2),
ultrasonics, e.g. Jat-Vac by Farmer-Norton, Extra- mentioned above, can be effectively used in place of a
cta and Impecta by Benninger, and Effecta by Goller, saturator in a mercerizer, thus bringing down alkali
decrease water and ste.am consumption, give a highly content from 1000-2000 L to just 10 L. It also offers an
concentrated effluent for recycling and have extre- unmatched flexibility of interchanging mercerizing
mely small space requirement, investment and opera- with causticizing quickly, without any change in set-
ting costs 9 - 11 . up. Modern open-width washers used here will give
Machine developments in mercerization include highly concentrated washings for easy recuperation
hot impregnation Lones, improved designs of clips to of caustic l3 .
minimize clip marks, enhanced fabric stretching syst-
ems for chainless mercerizing machines and improve-
ment in recuperation of caustic soda. A development
important to India, however, is that of small-size
batch mercerisers (Fig. I). Occupying minimum of
space, these ranges are universally applied for the
processes of partial mercerizing/caustic treatment,
stabilizing and rinsing to smallest of lots 9 • 12 .

Table I- Maximum pick-up systems for single-stage bleaching

System Manufacturer
Super-Sat Babcock
VAS 200 Farmer-Norton
Flexnip E. Kusters Maschinenfabrik
Optimax Menzel Vertriebs
Ben Bleach. Impecta Benninger AG

t
Reco Vac. Raco-Yet Ramisch Kleinwefers
Dip-Sat Maschinenfabric Max Goller
Brubo-Sat Brugman
Fig. 2-Schematic diagram 01 Flexnip applicator

Expander Spray 50 kN SQueezer Spray Expander

Elargisseur Gicleur Exprimeur de 50 KN Gicleur Elargisseur
Ensanchadora Rociadora Exprimidor de 50 kN Rociadora Ensanchadora

Floor l.eYe1
Niveau it Terre
Nivel del Suelo

i
Refrigeration Unit Refrigerated Caustic Circulating Pump Hoi Water Tank
Unite de Storage Tank Pompa de Circulation Reservoir it Eau
Relrig(lration a
Reservoir Soude Bomba de Circulaci6n Chaude
Unidadde Caushque Refrigeree Tanque de Agua
Relrigeracion Tanque de Sosa Caliente
Relrigerado
Fig. I- Schematic diagram of a batch-mercerizer by Farmer-Norton
 GUPTA: ADVANCES IN WET CHEMICAL PROCESSING MACHINERY
Significant developments have taken place in mer-
cerization machinery for knit goods. Major manufac-
turers are Dornier, Sperotto Rimer and Brazzoli .
Machine offered by Dornier has a patented system of
stepless adjustable circular expanders, giving a selv-
edge-mark and crease-free, dimentionally-stable fa-
bric of extremely soft fee !I 4.
3 Machinery for Dyeing
Developments here have been on several fronts,
Vi;l. vacuum application systems for dyeing; high-effi~
cl.ency padders and other application systems for con-
tinuous dyeing; soft flow and air flow machines for
dyeing of knits and light-weight fabrics ; automatic
dye dispensing and colour kitchens; and flexible, au-
tomatic yarn dyeing systems.
Dyeing industry today lacks a cost-effective, eco-
logically sound system for dyeing small lots. Lot size
has come down to 200-600 m which is economically
unviable on a continuous dye range and for which
batch dyeing machi nes like jigger, winch and jets are
to be used. These exhaust machines are prone to batch
to batch variations and waste generation. Vacuum
dyeing systems like LVLM (low-volume low-moist-
ure) systems by EVAC Corp.15 (Fig. 3) and VAS 200
by Farmer-Norton effectively surmount this prob-
lem by giving an even and thorough penetration of
dye on a,continual basis from a high concentration
low-volume dye trough. As against a typical dye/pad
bath of about 140-150 L, the capacity of these systems
is less than 15 L. Vacuum also removes surplus water,
giving a large saving in energy during drying 9 . 16 .
Though small lots are required for sampling, bulk
orders require large yardages to be dyed in a single
shade. Continuous dyeing by pad-store or pad-
steammethod is making a comeback . Primary requi-
rement of such a range is a padding mangle giving a
level, even application throughout the length and
Fabric
OVE'rflow
ChE'micol
tank
Fig. 3- Schematic diagram of low-volume , low-moisture
(L VLM) system for c()l1tinuous d yeing of small loIS
59
width of the fabric . Ordinary mangles cannot do this
job. Severai speciali7,ed "Intelligent pad-rolls" aJ:e
available today like Kusters swimming rolls and Bico-
flex padders by Ramisch Kleinwefers l 6 . The flexnip
applicator described earlier is also eminently suitable
for pad-steam dyeing l 6 . All these systems have built-
in cleaning down facility , minimum waste at the end
of production run , and minimum downtime between
production runs.
Dyeing of knitted fabrics, microfibre fabrics and
fabrics·made out of blended and easily creasable mat-
erial require more gentle handling. Injet dyeing mac-
hine, fabric is displaced by the force exerted by a large
volume ofliquor moving through a venturi, resulting
in relatively high fabric speeds and causing certain
degree of fabric surface abrasion . In overflow system,
fabric is propelled by the overflow liquor only with-
o~t dynamic pressure, providing more gentle treat-
ment. In the latest generation of soft-flow machines. a
part ofliquor has been replaced by air, giving a loftier
fabric and a highly ecofriendly dyeing. Several Asian,
British, Italian, German and American machine ma-
kers have come up with different versions based on
this aerodynamic principle. Variably adjustable and
programmable nozzles are available now (Fig. 4). Po-
Iytetrafluoroethylene coating of inner sUiface is carr-
ied out to reduce frictional drag4 • Liquor ratios used
are in the region of 1:4 to 1:6, irrespective of the
load .
. Technology of dyeing polyester in supercritical ca-
rbon dioxide under pressure, first demonstrated in
ITMA '91 , is quite well developed now. Larger mach-
ines will no doubt be shown during ITMA '95
(ref. 4).
With the current interest in quick response and
right-fIrst-time dyeing, practice of blind dyeing us-
ing standardized dyeing cycles and automated dye
dispensing and colour kitchen equipment is on the
increase. Lower-cost systems with greater flexibility ,
versatility and ability to network with laboratory dy-
eing machines are now available 17. These are comple-
mented by on-line colour measurement and control
systems, hand-held spectrophotometers fur quality
control and colour matching softwares. Data colour,
IIunterlab and Macbeth are the. pioneers in this
field.
Yarn package dyeing machines have undergone a
total technology upgradation in last few years. Em-
phasis now is on flexible load capacity, versatility and
automation/ robotics options l8 . Many machine ma-
kers like Gaston County, Longclose, Fong, Bellini
and OBEM will be coming up with innovations cover-
ing the above-mentioned aspects. OBEM's horizon-
tal multiple-tube API/Odyeing systems, for example, .
 60 INDIA N J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., MARC H 1996
Liquor
Fig. 4-Vario nozzle of the new Thies soft-flow machine
has ability to handle lot sizes rangiIJ.g from 20 kg to
3000 kg per batch with almost constant liquor ratios,
independent of batch size. Cubotex of Italy has come
up with a multi-purpose cabinet machine with a spec-
ial pump that gives a range of capacity and head requi-
red to dye yam in hank, bobbin or cake form. Most
machines have PLC (programmable logic controll-
ers) to monitor and control process variables and ro-
botic options to load and unload the machines 7 • 18 •
4 Machinery for Printing
The technological advancements 19 - 22 in the field
of printing have been dramatic, particularly where
I ndia is concerned. The process of printing, consist-
ing of design development, colour separation, tracing
production, screen engraving, sampling, paste prep-
aration and finally printing, may take anywhere bet-
ween 6-18 weeks and large investments are made even
Liquor
before the customer makes a decision regarding his
selection. With modem technology, this time frame
has been reduced to less than a week. At this point, I
would like to stress that the modem technology does
not replace the original designer who would continue
to give the initial creative input.
CAD application starts with at least one overall
coloured design which is scanned into the computer
and can then be mo.dified and coloured. Various col-
our combinations are tried, stored and a hard copy
taken out on paper or fabric. Inkjet printers available
now-a-days can print directly on fabric using react-
ive dyes. In fact, there are special steamers for fixation
of such prints23. Selection of design by customer can
hence be made at this stage by simply looking at the
printed sample or at the hard copy. Major saving in
time is, however, made in the pre-print stage where
the colour separation of selected design is carried out
 GUPTA: ADVANCES IN WET CH EMICAL PROCESSING MACHINERY
by the computer and the screens directly engra ved .
Laser engraving systems by Stork and Zed fo r lacquer
rotary screens and flat screens by companies such as
Macchine e Sistemi are commonly available 24 . These
systems can prepare screens for several design s in one
day. Chaper systems where, instead of engravers, plo-
tters are used to prepare tracing are commonly availa-
ble even in India.
Among the printing machines, the share of flat
screen has remained more or less static, with rotary
screen printing replacing roller printing in most cases.
61 % of the total meterage is printed using rotary prin-
ting, 19% by flat screen printing and only 14% by
roller printing machines. In the last two years, rotary
printing machines have been modified to make them
more versatile (coping with sma11 lots), economical
and ecofriendly. Modifications include providing a
ring motor for individual coritrol on every single
screen and synchronization between printing blanket
and screen in terms of speed and repeat adjustment.
Machine downtime is reduced from 60 to 12 min. Des-
ign setting is now a matter of few minutes and the
repeat errors, even at high printing speeds, are negli-
gible. In fact, a new design can be set on the machine
even when it is busy printing another. The paste cont-
ent in screen, squeezee, pump and printing is recover-
able, reducing system waste from 4.5 kg to 700 g per
screen. Even the clearing of squeezee, etc can be carried
out on-line. Using this machine, it is possible toprint
non-stop any number of designs on any length of the
fabric. For such an operation, however, it must be dye
dispensing and paste preparing system.
Considerable improvements in adjustment and
changeover functions of flat-bed screen printing un-
its have also been made to get faster production spe-
eds. These machines are now capable of giving over 20
m/min production rate of high definition , level and
deeper colour prints. There is a provision of heating
the blanket up to 50°C, continuous gluing and clean-
ing of conveyor belt and tension-free transport of
fa bric.
Print washers have also been modified to give high
energy a nd washing efficiency and reduced water con-
sumpti on in open width . Most o f these was hers use a
co mbin ation of spra y and vacuum attachments.
Not much ad va ncement has ta ken place in the a rea
of stea mer designs, th o ugh a fl ash stea m age r by Ari-
a li promises fixati o n of reactive prints on cotton with-
o ut urea. Fa bric is transported through the steamer in
small loo ps. The system a ll o ws a trea tm ent ti me of
60- 120 s a t a speed of 30-50 m/min a nd tempe ra tu re
of 120T (refs 7 & 25). In add ition, the machine may be
used as a conventi onal steam ager for flxation in satu-
rated a nd su perheated steam and fo r po lyme rization
of pigment prin ts with ho t air.
61
Mechan ical mo isture applicato rs, such as W EKO
ro lo r da mp ing system and Farmer-Norton spinning
disk system, have also been available for sometime fo r
co nditio ning the fabric and for partial replacement of
urea in reactive printed fabrics by spra ying water on
them just before steaming 6 .
5 Machinery for Finishing
Mechanica l finishing, owing to being environmen-
tally most preferred , is coming back in a big way. 01d
concepts are being modified and modernized using
PLCs, microprocessors, servo motors, individua l
drivers and the like.
Control and monitoring of running fabric , weft
straightening, uncurling, opening, detwisting or even
simple guidingoffabric are now carried out by some
very innovative equipment developed by Bianco,
Mahlo, Erhardt, Leimer and Tandematic, etc.
(ref. 7).
Process control and automation are at an advanced
level on the new range of stenters by Babcock , Bruec-
kner and Monforts 26 - 2B . Maintenance-free chains,
automatic control offabric width, overfeed tempera-
ture, moisture and dwell time with high energy efficie-
ncy and reduced exhaust pollution are some of the
features. Many other new drying machines, like
shrink dryers and tumble dryers, are designed to be
~ulti-functional machines. Shrink dryer by Krantz
not only dries, but also controls shrinkage, develops
volume and improves feel in its tumbling zone. Fabric
is fed at low tension onto a screen belt with an adjusta-
ble high overfeed of up to 200%. Drying is carried out
continuously by hot air in either of two modes- rebo-
undjet or permeation drying (Fig. 5). This semi-dry,
pre-heated fabric is then dynamically moved by a
special circulating-air control system. The speed of
thi s tumbler process is adjustable according to the
fini sh desired 29 .
Softset tumbler by Henrikson, on the other hand,
uses the same principle as the jet dyeing machine, onl y
with hot air instead of water to transport the fabric 30 .
Air velocity, adjustable from 0 to 2000 m/min, allows
processing of small amount of delicate fabrics to even
large amo unt of heavy fabrics. The machine not only
dri es the fabric and reduces the residual shrinkage to
less th an 5% but a lso gives a very soft handle, breaks
pigment prints, imparts fini sh to ve lvet, artifici al lea-
th er and fur. The softset dryer is avail a ble in bot h
co ntinu o us a nd batch models. Another mech a nical
machin e re-deve lo ped fo r softenin g uses brea kin g
ro lls 7 • O ther surface effects like sueding (Fig. 6), pe-
ac h skin , sa nd was h, fa din g, ra ising, cutting, press-
ing, co mpress ive shrinka ge (sa nfo ri zin g), compact-
ing of weft knit fa brics and calenderin g are all popu lar
today. New machin es for all th ese fi ni shes are being
62 INDIAN 1. FIBRE TEXT. RES., MARCH 1996

offered by many machine makers 3 ) . Farmer-Nort-
on, for example, is offering a two-bowl calender to
produce a wide variation of finish es (from glazed to
dull) with different degrees of softness and stiffness.
One of the bowl is high-temperature steel and the
other a polyamide sleeved roll. Individual drives al-
low finishes which were earlier possible only on frict-
ion calender 7 .
Dry treatment of wool using corona discharge or
plasma pretreatment machinery for producing mac-
hine-washable or superwash finishes is fast replacing
wet chlorination techniq ues because of environmen-
tal advantage 32 .
For the few chemical finishes which need to be app-
lied, there are low add-on applicators like Recovac
by Ramisch and high add-on applicators like Flexnip

Air circulation system

Operating mode: permeation drying
Operating mode: rebound jet drying

Fig. 5- Cross-sectio n ofa compartment in Kra ntz shrink-orye r showlIl g the two op.:ration modes of permeation orying and rebound
jet dryi ng

ca. 4300

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Fig. 6- Diagram of m-tec (Menschner) sueding machine model WIS I" [I - steame r. 2- hea ting pl ate. 3- pnellmat ic roller with
spreading device.4-6-guide rollers. 7- slledin g ro lle r. 8- sllction. 9- ta ke-otf ro ller. and IO- brushin g dev ice]
 GUPTA ADVANCES IN W E T CHEM IC AL PROCESS ING MAC HINERY 63

by K lister. Drying, particularly at ya rn stagc, is elTect- l) P rU c\lIcl hrl1chlln:. Si r J~lI11CS Farmer-N o rt o n Int erna tional.
ive ly carri ed out using radio frequency (RF) drye r as I(J I' rnd uct hroc hure . Be nnin ge rs In dia.
II Prndu ct hrochure. Max Go ll e r.
it ensllrcs dryinga t lowest possible temperature. For
12 Prlllluc t h roch ure . M e nze l Vert ri eb bs.
fabr ic, UV and I R superh ea ters are ava ilable for fl ash 13 Product hrochure. Ed va rd Ku ste rs.
dryirig a nd subsequ ent curin g? 14 Fi ni shers wan t more versa tilit y from eq uipme nt . 1111 Dyer , (S)
( 19lJ) 12.
6 Conclusion 15 M ic kler P W. 1111 IJr('/'. (6 ) ( 199S) 2 1.
16 1111 Or('/' . (6) ( llJ95) 21 .
The ad vances ill the wet proccssing machinery sec-
17 Hilden J . fI" TeXI 8111/ (Dn'illg , Prilllill,!!, & Fillishillg), 40(4 )
tor mce t th e requirements o f our times, i.e. need fo r (19lJ4) 14 .
the shorter fa ster processes and treatment cycles and IX Progress in pac ka ge d yei n g. 111 1 Drer. (5) ( 199 5 ) 21 .
ma ximum tl ex ibilit y (quick cha nge, rapid respo nse) 19 Kothe W . Vogi G & Winkler J. Me l/illlld Texlilb('/' , 10 ( 1993)
as al so the dema nd for a substa nti al reducti o n in the E)S7.
20 Press relea se. F rit z Buse r A G. Jun e 1995.
co nsumpti on of wa ter , energy and chemicals.
21 Recent inn ovat io ns in tex til e print technology. 1111 Dra. (3)
The mac hinery industry is read y. Qu e~tion is- Are (1994) 11 .
we '? 22 New and improved print tec hn o logy. Inl D l'a, (3) ( 199S) 22.
2J New verti ca l studi o stea mer. 1111 Drer, (9) ( 1994) 2 1.
24 F lat f creen la s;r e ngrave r. 1111 Dre'r , (9) (1994) 27 .
References 25 Ario li . 1111 Dr('/', (9) ( 1994) 55.
I Demsey E. ITS 7".1'1 Lei/tier . 16 ( 1995) I. 26 Kaphahn W. 1111 Dr('/' , (2) ( 199:5) 10.
1 C hec k K . j SIIC Dr('/" Cillollr . III ( 1995) 1)5 . 17 Bo lli g W . Hampel R & So ure n I. ATt1 j Ollrnal,4(4)( 1993) 46 .
) Zamin A & De mscy E. IIII Tex l 8111/ ( Dreillg. Prilllillg & Filli- 2X Stenter makers ai m for ma xi mum machine efficiency. In! Drer,
shillg) , 4 1( 1) ( 1995) 8. (2) (1994) 15.
4 H o lm e I. A T A j Ollrlllll. 6(3) ( 1995) 3 1. 2') New generation of shrink-drye r. 1111 Dl'er, (2) (1995) 14.
:'i (;ulrajani M I.. Pri va te comll1uni ca tion . 3() Versatile dryi ng an d tumblin g. 1111 Dyer, (2) ( 1995) 16.
6 Gupta S. C/ulheslille. (12) (199 5) 8S. 3I Fas hion . Il ex ibilit y and the dry fini shing machine. lnl Dyer, (7)
7 ITMA Prev iew. 1111 Dl'er , (9) ( 199S) 22. ( 1995) 12
g Fo rn a lli S . Mel/ii/lltl Te."ilh('/" , 4 (1993) E 14S. 32 H o lme I. 1111 Dyer, (7) (1995) 17.