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TextilesMillsWaste

Cottontextilemillwaste
WoolenTextileMillswaste
SyntheticTextileMillWaste

TheFibresusedintheTextileIndustrymaybebroadlyclassifiedintofourgroups:cotton,wool,regeneratedandsynthetics.
Cottontextilemillwaste:
An integrated cotton textile mill produces its own yarn from the raw cotton. Production of yarn from raw
cotton includes steps like opening and cleaning, picking, carding, drawing, spinning, winding and warping.
Allthesesequencesaredryoperationsandassuchdonotcontributetotheliquidwasteofthemill.
Carding:Itisaprocessinthemanufactureofspunyarnswherebythestapleisopened,cleaned,alignedand
formedintoacontinuousuntwistedstrandcalledsliver.
Drawing:Itistheprocessofincreasingthelengthperunitweightofsliver.
Combing:Amethodtoremoveshortfibers,foreignmatterfromcottonstockbypressingitthroughaseries
ofneedlesorcombs.
Spinning:Itisaprocessbywhichalongstrandoffibresisdrawnouttoashortstrandandconvertedintoa
yarn.Afterdrawingout,itissubjectedtotwistingandtheresultingyarniswoundintoabobbin.
Winding:Itistheprocessoftransferofayarnorthreadfromonetypeofpackagetoanother.
Weaving:It is the process of interlocking two yarns of similar materials so that they cross each other at
rightanglestoproduceawovenfabric.
The entire liquid waste from the textile mills comes from the following operation of slashing (or sizing),
scouringanddesizing,bleaching,mercerizing,dyeingandfinishing.
In slashing,(to give it the tensile strength and smoothness necessary fot subsequent weaving) the yarn is
strengthened by loading it with starch or other sizing substances. waste originates from this section due to
spills,andthefloorwashingsattheweakend.
After slashing the yarn goes for weaving.the prepared cloth now requires scouring and desizing to remove
naturalimpuritiesandtheslashingcompounds.
EnzymesareusuallyusedinIndiatohydrolyzethestarchacidsmayalsobeusedforthispurpose.caustic
soda,sodaash,detergentsetc.areusedInscouringinkierboilers.Toremovethenaturalimpuritiessuchas
greaseswaxes,fatsandotherimpurities,thedesizedclothissubjectedtokierboilingi.etheyareboiledwith
theaidofsteaminanalkalinesolutioncontainingcausticsoda.Afterboilingthespentliquorisdischargedas
waste.Thisisastrongwaste,darkbrownincolour,andhighlyalkaline.Temperatureoftheeffulientishigh.
BODoftheliquorisalsohigh,contributing35%ofthetotalwaste.Replacementofsoapusedinscouringby
low B.O.D detergents may reduce B.O.D load by 35% about 50%of the total pollution load of the mill is
contributedbythissection.
Bleaching operations use oxidizing chemicals like peroxides and hypochlorites to remove natural colouring
materialsandtorendertheclotheswhite.Thebleachingprocessisnecessarywherefabricsaretobegivena
fullwhiteorwheretheyaretobedyedinspecificshades.Inthisprocessthenaturalcolouringmatterinthe
textilematerialisremovedbytheuseofoxidisingchemicalslikeperoxidesandhypochlorites.
Mercerizing consists of passing the cloth through 20% caustic soda solution. The process improves the
strength, elasticity , lustre and dye affinity. Waste from this section is recycled after sodium hydroxide
recovery.
Dyeingmaybedoneinvariousways,usingdifferenttypesofdyesandauxiliarychemicals.Classesofdyes
usedincludevatdyes,developingdyes,naptholdyes,sulfurdyes,basicdyes,directdyesetc.
DirectDyes(NeutralDyes)areusedastheyareeasytoapplyandnoauxillarychemicalsareneeded.
BasicDyes:Thisclassofdyesgivebrightcolours.Theyareappliedalongwithweekorganicacids.
Sulphur Dyes : For dark colours, these dyes employed. These are sulphur compounds applied usually with
sodiumsulphidefollowedoxidationwithchromate.
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Vatdyesrequirecausticsodaandsodiumhydrosulfitetoreducethedyeintoasolubleform.
Sulfurdyesarereducedbysodiumsulfideandoxidizedbychromate.
Indigodyesarealsosimilartovatdyes,butrequireonlyairoxidation.
Colourfromthedyesvarywidelyandalthoughthosearenotusuallytoxic,theyareesthetically objectional
whentheyimpartcolourinthedrinkingwatersupplies.
Thickened dyes, along with printing gums and necessary auxiliaries , are used for printing and subsequent
fixation.Afterfixationoftheprints,thefabricisgivenathoroughwashtoremoveunfixeddyes.
Thefinishingsectionofthemillimpartsvariousfinishestothefabrics.Varioustypesofchemicalsareused
forvariousobjectives.

Compositionofcompositecottontextilemillwaste
pH

9.811.8

Totalalkalinity

17.35mg/lasCaCO3

BOD

760mg/l

COD

1418mg/l

Totalsolids

6170mg/l

TotalChromium

12.5mg/l

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WoolenTextileMillswaste:

Woolwastesoriginatefromscouring,carbonizing,bleaching,dyeing,oiling,fullingandfinishingoperations.
Impuritiesofrawwool,consistingmainlyofwoolgreaseandotherforeignmatterareremovedbyscouringthe
woolinhotdetergentalkalisolution.Somewoolarescouredbyorganicsolvents.
Wool grease may be recovered from the scouring waste by centrifuging , coagulation or floating and may be
processedfurtherfortheproductionoflanolineandpotash.
Carbonizingisaprocessinwhichhotconcentratedacidsareusedtoconvertvegetablematterinthewoolinto
loosecharredparticles,followedbymechanicaldustingofthesame.
Woolmaybedyedatanystage,eitherasrawstock,orafterspinningandweaving.Normallyhotdyesolutions
arecirculatedthroughthewool,packedinametalcontainer.
Inoiling, usually olive oil or a bargoilmineraloil mixture is sprayed over the wool to aid in the spinning.
Fullingisanoperationwherethelooselywovenwoolfromtheloomisshrunkintoatightcloselywovencloth.
Toaidthisprocess,chemicalslikesodaash,soapetcareused.Excessfullingchemicals,alloftheoiletcare
washedoutofthefabricinafinishingprocess.
Waste from a dyeing and finishing process are contributed by the spent liquors and by subsequent washing of
woolafterbleaching,dyeingandfinishing.

Characteristicsofatypicalwoolwaste:
pH

910.5

Totalalkalinity

600mg/l

BOD

900mg/l

Colour

Brown

Totalsolids

3000mg/l

Suspendedsolids

100mg/l

TotalChromium

4mg/l

Effectsofthecottontextileandwoolentextilemillwastesonreceivingstreams/sewers:
Thecrudewaste,ifdischargedintothestreams,causesrapiddepletionofthedissolvedoxygenofthestreams.

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Thecrudewaste,ifdischargedintothestreams,causesrapiddepletionofthedissolvedoxygenofthestreams.
Theconditionaggravatesduetothesettlementofthesuspendedsubstancesandsubsequentdecompositionofthe
depositedsludgesinanaerobiccondition.Thealkalinityandthetoxicsubstanceslikesulphidesandchromium
affecttheaquaticlifeandalsointerferewiththebiologicaltreatmentprocesssomeofthedyesarealsofound
toxic.
TreatmentofCottonandWoolenTextileMillWaste:
The pollution load of the waste is dealt with in the operations like segregation , equalization , neutralization,
chemicalprecipitation,chemicaloxidationandbiologicaloxidation. Several chemicals are used to reduce the
BOD by chemical coagulation. These are alum, ferrous sulfate , ferric sulfate, ferric chloride etc., lime or
sulfuricacidisusedtoadjustthepHinthisprocess.Calciumchlorideisfoundtobeeffectiveintreatingwool
scouringwaste.
Thedyewastesmaybetreatedeconomicallybybiologicalmethods,withpriorequalization,neutralizationand
chemicaloxidationforcertainwastes.
Acompositewaste,whenfreefromtoxicsubstancesmaybetreatedasefficientlyasdomesticsewage,asmost
of the textile mill wastes contain sufficient nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. Trickling filters, Activated
Sludge Process , Waste Stabilization ponds, all these types of biological treatment have been tried for the
treatment of textile mill wastes and all of them are found to be very effective. Excellent results were also
obtained with Extended Aeration in treating a strong waste , even without any equalization and pretreatment
thismethodeliminatesthenecessityofsludgedigestionaswell.

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SyntheticTextileMillWaste:
ThemostprominantmanmadesyntheticfibersareRayon,nylonandpolyster.Thesefabricsrequirenoprocessing
fortheremovalofnaturalimpuritiesastheyaremanmade.
Manufactureofsyntheticfabricsinvolvetwosteps:
(i)manufactureofthesyntheticfibreand
(ii)preparationofthecloth.
Thesetwostepsmaybecarriedouteitherinoneintegratedplant,ormaybeseparatedintwodifferentplants.
Wastes from the manufacture of the synthetic fibre resembles chemical manufacturing wastes, and depends
entirelyontherawmaterialsusedandtheprocessadopted.AtypicalsyntheticfibreNylon6isobtainedthrough
polymerization of caprolactum and subsequent pelletization , drying , remelting in extruders , spinning and
twisting.
Thewastesfromthismanufactureareusuallycharacterizedbyacolloidaltypeturbidity,atypicalcolour,alow
alkalinity(pHaround7.5),highamountoftotalsolidsintheorderof2500mg/landcomparativelysmallamount
ofsuspendedsolids.Thewasteusuallycontainsalargeamountofnitrogen,entirelyoforganicorigin.Thewaste
is also characterized by a high COD value (in the order of 500 mg/l) though the BOD is found to be very low
(around50mg/l)
TreatmentofWastesfromSyntheticTextileMills:

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