Lecture 2 4/1/2019

Flow sheets for textile wet processes

Pre-treatment Dyeing/Printing Post-treatment

1) Pre-treatment: All the treatments given to the textile material in order to make
it free of all kind of impurities so, it is ready for dyeing, printing or to be sold as
white.

 Pre-treatment varies from fibre to fibre origin (cotton, wool, polyester)

 It varies with the form of the material ( fibre, yarn, fabric)

1.1) Pre-treatment of cellulosic materials

Fibre form

scouring bleaching mercerization

Yarn form
scourin
ssingeing desizing bleaching mercerizing
g

Fabric form (woven)

inspection & merceriz
ssinge desize scour bleach
sewing e

Pre-treatment of woolen materials

crabbing
sscouring in yarn fabric
carding spinning weaveing and
loose dyeing dyeing
decatising
Pre-treatment of synthetic materials

desizing
scouring/washing heat setting
(optional)

2) Dyeing/ Printing Of Textile Materials lecture 2

Dyeing is defined as a process of uniform coloration of a material with a single

shade throughout its length.

Printing is defined as localized dyeing of a material with a number of shades

throughout its length.

 Different dyes have to be used for dyeing/printing of different fibres.

Figure – 1: Fibre Specific Dyes

3) Post Treatment Of A Textile Material:

Textile Finishing is the operation where the final fabric properties are developed.
Finishing is not restricted to wet processing alone since any operation for
improving the appearance or usefulness of a fabric after it leaves the loom or
knitting machine can be considered a finishing step.

 Depends upon nature of a fibre

 It could be dry or wet

Typical Textile finishing processes for a cotton fabric include:

Calendering Sanforizing Emerizing Softening Easy care finish

(Physical process) (Physical process) (Physical process) (chemical process) (chemical process)

Objects Of Pre-Treatment:

 High and uniform absorptivity

 Completely free from husks
 High degree of polymerization
 Adequate degree of whiteness to permit flawless dyeing of pale shades
 Absence of creases
 Excellent handle

Conditions Of Pre-Treatment:

 Adequate long reaction time

 Minimum tension on running goods to enable them to shrink freely
 Minimum loss in tensile strength of a material

Pre- Treatment Machineries for cotton materials:

Machines can be classified as:

  Machines for loose fibre form treatments
 Machines for yarn form treatments
 Machines for fabric form treatments

 Rope processing machines

 Open-width processing machines

Whether it is rope processing or open width, basic techniques of processing

involved are:

 Exhaust / Batch wise machineries

 Semi-continuous machineries
 continuous machineries

Pre-Treatment Processes For Cotton:

inspection
& sewing ssingeing desizing scouring bleaching mercerizing

1) Inspection And Sewing

 Grey fabric inspection is the process of identifying weaving faults in the fabric just after
the grey fabric production in the loom.
 In the inspection table the operator finds out faults in the fabric and analyses their
intensity by visual inspection.
 Fabric passing through the frame must be between 45-60 degree angles to inspector
and must be done on appropriate Cool White light 2 F96 fluorescent bulbs above
viewing area.
 Fabric speed on inspection machine must not be more than 15 yards per minute.
Fabric should be inspected in terms of :

 Fabric width
 Roll length
 Fabric odor
 Holes
 Weaving faults

Some of the common weaving faults are:

 Abrasion marks
 Pick faults, e.g.-miss pick and double pick.
 Wrong density /drawing
 Pattern or design break
 Selvedge faults, e.g.-lashing in, cut selvedge.
 Oil stain.
 Crack, hole
 Missing ends
 Slubs.
 Skew and bow
 Crease

abrasion mark, n—an area damaged by friction. (Syn. Chafe

mark)
barré, n—an unintentional, repetitive visual pattern of continuous
bars and stripes usually parallel to the filling of woven fabric or to
the courses of circular knit fabric.
bow, n—a fabric condition resulting when filling yarns or knitting
courses are displaced from a line perpendicular to the selvages and
form one or more arcs across the width of fabric.
crease, n—a fabric defect evidenced by a break, line, or mark
generally caused by a sharp fold.
dead cotton, n—a small nep of cotton fibers which is gathered on
the surface of the fabric and which is different in color from the
surrounding fabric.
float, n—in woven fabrics, that portion of a warp or filling yarn
that extends unbound over two or more warp or filling yarns; in
knitted fabrics, that portion of a yarn that is not knitted into loops.
fuzzy, adj—characterized by a hairy appearance due to protruding
broken fibers or filaments.
nep, n—a tightly tangled knot-like mass of unorganized fibers.
pills, n—bunches or balls of tangled fibers which are held to the
surface of a fabric by one or more fibers
pin hole, n—in fabrics, a very small hole, approximately the size
of the cross section of a pin.
pin mark, n—a series of holes near the edge parallel with the
lengthwise direction of a fabric caused by the holding device on a
pin tenter frame
AMERICAN 4 POINT SYSTEM.
 The ASTM D5430 standard explains how to assign points to each defect–mostly based
on its size.

Size of Defect Penalty

LENGTH POINT

3 inches or less 1

Over 3, but not over 6 inches 2

Over 6, but not over 9 inches 3

Over 9 inches 4

 A maximum of four points is charged to one linear yard. No more than four penalty
points may be given for any single defect.

Defects Rules:
 A continuous of defect shall be assigned four points for each linear meter or
yard in which it occurs.
 Any piece having a running defect through more than three continuous linear
 meters or yards shall be rejected. Regardless of point count.
 Any piece with a full width defect over six inches in length shall be rejected.
 Any piece that contains more than three full width defects per one hundred
linear meters or yards shall rejected.
 No piece shall be accepted that contains a full width defect in the first and last
three meters or yards.
 A hole or torn is considered to be a major defect and shall be penalized four
points.
 Fabric construction and weight, No tolerance will be allowed.
 The distance between major defects should be more than 20 meters .
.
 The defects found and the points given against them are recorded in the grey fabric
inspection sheet

Calculation
 The average number of points (on a 100 meters basis) of all inspected rolls,
 The proportion of rolls above acceptance limit.

Maximum acceptable limit = 22/100 sq. meter basis

Points/ 100 sq. yard = 3600× Total points assigned / Fabric Length in yards × Fabric Width in inches

Points/100 sq. mtrs. = 100.000 × Total points assigned / Fabric Length in mtrs× Fabric Width in mm

Example: A fabric roll 200yds long and 60” wide contains following defects
 8 defects up to 3" length 8x1 8 points
5 defects from 3" to 6" length 5X2 10 points
2 defects from 6" to 9" length 2X3 6 points
1 defect over 9" length 1X4 4 points
1 hole over 1" 1X4 4 points
Total defect points 32 Points
Therefore, = (32 X 3600) / (60 X 200)
Points / sq. yards = 9.6 points

.
Lecture 3 8/1/2016

SINGEING OF A COTTON FABRIC

The aim of singeing is to bum-off the protruding fibres and hairs from the fabric surface.

OBJECTIVES
 Singeing improves the end use and wearing properties of textiles.
 The burning-off of protruding fibres results in a clean surface which allows the structure
of the fabric more clear.
 Singeing reduces the fogginess caused by differing reflection of light by the projecting
fibre and the dyed fabrics appear brighter.
 Singeing is an effective means of reducing pilling in blended fabrics containing synthetic
fibres.
 A closely singed fabric is essential for printing fine intricate patterns.
 Singeing process facilitates and speeds up desizing, if the fabric is impregnated with
desizing liquor immediately after singeing.
SINGEING FAULTS:
 Uneven singeing effect can cause streaks when the fabric is dyed, or bubbles when the
fabric is finished.
 In the cotton system singeing is done on the grey cloth, but for blended fabrics containing
synthetic fibres grey state singeing is not advisable because small globules of melted
synthetic fibres absorb dye preferentially, giving cloth a speckled appearance.
 There is a possibility of thermal damage to temperature sensitive fibres, for instance
polyester.
 Stop-offs can cause heat bars on fabrics. Creasing produces streaks which are magnified
when dyed.
 Protruding fibres are firmly bound by singeing on the surface by the sizing agent by
hardening of the size and can lead to difficulties in desizing.
 When singeing is done after dyeing, heat can cause colour loss from polyester portion of
the blend because of sublimation of dye.
 There may be reduction of tear strength due to over singeing of the fabric.
WAYS OF SINGEING

Plate
Contact
Cylinder/Roller
Singeing
Direct
Open flame
Indirect

Contact Singeing Machines

 Plate singeing machine

 Cylinder singeing machine

Drawbacks of plate and roller singeing machines

 Sooty process
 Localized cooling
 Temperature variation
 Both sides are evenly singed
 Versatile process

Open flame singeing machine

 Gas singeing machine

Gas singeing is more convenient, more economical and more effective than other methods
and is well accepted commercially.
 In this type of singeing machine, the fabric passes over a burning gas flame at such a speed
that only the protruding fibres burn and the main body of the fabric is not damaged by the
flame. This is the most common type of machine used for singeing fabrics as well yarns.

Main Components Of A Gas Singeing Machine

 Main entry zone

 Pre-brushing zone
 Singeing zone
 Post – brushing zone
 Impregnation zone
 Winding zone
Main entry zone:

Main entry zone includes:

 Tension roller
 Web guiding system
 Guide Rollers
 J.Scray
 Pre-Drying Cylinders (Optional)
PRE-CLEANING ZONE
SINGEING ZONE

INTENSIVE SINGEING SINGEING ONTO WATER COOLED ROLLER TANGENTIAL SINGEING

Important singeing parameters

 Fabric speed
 Singeing position
 Distance between flame burner and fabric
 Flame intensity and width of the flame

Post Cleaning and Impregnation Zone

 Beating roller
 Saturator
 Guide roller

PROBLEMS IN GAS SINGEING MACHINE

 Incomplete singeing
 Uneven singeing
 Horizontal singeing stripes
 Vertical singeing stripes
 Over singeing

DESIZING

 Rot steeping

In this method grey cotton fabric is steeped in water in suitable box at a

temperature of about 30-40C During the storage micro-organisms develop
excreting enzymes which attack the starch. The swollen and hydrolysed starch is
thus partially converted into soluble state which are then removed from the
fabric by normal washing with water

 Acid desizing

In this method cotton fabric is treated with dilute sulphuric acid with a
concentration of 5-10 g/1 at a temperature of about 40C for 3-4 h. Dilute acid
attacks the polymer chain of starch and due to chain cleavage of starch
molecule short water soluble or dispersible chain segments are formed. With
sulphuric acid higher than 10 g/1 and above 50C there is always the possibility
of weakening the cloth or causing holes

 Enzymatic desizing
Enzymes are organic biocatalysts highly specific both in the reaction catalysed and
their choice of reactants (substrate). Physically enzymes are colloidal nature and
chemically they are of the nature of protein. Enzymes are complex and have high
molecular weights

The enzyme process of desizing is very easy to use and is adaptable to any type

of equipment. In actual practice the grey cloth is first passed through hot water to
approximately 100% pick-up and then padded with the desizing mixture containing
0.5-2% malt extract and non-ionic wetting agent at 60-70C Wetting agent helps the
enzyme to penetrate the size film. The optimum conditions required for different
enzyme desizing processes are compared with rot and acid-steeping in Table 3.1.
The length of time for digestion will vary with the concentration of

TABLE 3.1.

Comparison of Process Conditions for Desizing

Process Concentration(g/l) Time(hr) Temperature©

Rot-steeping - - 10-16 h 30-40

H2SO4-steeping 5-10 3-4 h 40

Malt 3-20 4.5-5.5 50-60

Pancreative 1-3 6.8-7.5 50-60

Bacterial 0.5-1 6.5-7.5 60-70

PH
enzyme used, the temperature of the desizing bath, the types of goods being desized
and by the methods depending on the batch or continuous process. Compared to
pancreative enzyme, the malt enzyme has a lower action even with the addition of
more amount of enzyme. The use of greater amount of enzyme than the optimum
will not itself convert the starch. When the goods are padded with desizing mixture,
digestion of the starch is a matter of time and temperature. At lower temperature the
desizing efficiency is also lower. Malt enzyme is more strongly dependent upon
temperature than other enzymes.

The pH of the desizing bath is maintained by adding acid or alkali. In general,

changes in pH, temperature and duration of storing alter both the activity and
stability of enzymes very greatly.

Desizing Recipe and Calculations

Recipe

Chemicals Quantity

Desizer 0.5-1g/l

Wetting agent 1g/l

Sequestering 1g/l

Time Depend on process (pad batch,

exhaust or fully continuous)

Temperature 60-70C

pH 6.5-7.5
Desizing with oxidising agents

Though the use of oxidants for desizing of cotton fabric is widely accepted but their
large scale industrial application is yet to be exploited. The most important aspects
of oxidizing agents are that they can be applicable to wide range of fabrics, the size
content of which is often not known. Table 2 summarizes the necessary conditions
for desizing starch in presence of some important oxidizing agents.

Oxidising agent Process Process Additives pH Time Temp.

H2O2 exhaust H2O2 8-9 1-5 90

NaOH

SOD. PAD SODIUM BROMITE 7.5-8.5 15 20-40

BROMITE BATCH
NaOH

WETTING AGENT

PERSULPHATE PAD Na2S2O8 10- 1-3 95-100

STEAM 10.5
NaOH
 WETTING AGENT

H2O2 + PAD H2O2 10- 6-20 20-40

PERSULPHATE BATCH 10.5
Na2S2O8

NaOH

WETTING AGENT

STABLIZER

The main limitations of oxidative desizing agents are increased pollution load, fibre
damage and inability to recover and re-use water soluble sizes. Oxidative desizing
agents require precise control on process.
SCOURING

The objective of scouring is to reduce the amount of impurities sufficiently to

obtain level and reproducible results in dyeing and finishing operations. Raw cotton
contains 8-12% impurities.

Table 1: composition of a raw Cotton

Cellulose 80-90%

Water 6-8%

Waxes and fats 0.5-1%

Pectin 4-6%

Motes

Proteins 0-1.5%

Mineral matter 1-1.8%

SCOURING AGENTS:

 Alkali
 Surfactants
 Emulsion Scouring
 Organic Solvents
MECHANISM OF REMOVAL OF IMPURITIES

Table 2: Techniques for Removing Natural Impurities of Cotton during Scouring

Impurities Method of removal

Fats and waxes Levels are reduced to acceptable limits by the action of
alkali and surface active products, in extreme cases the
use of solvent and surfactant mixtures may be
necessary.

Pectins and Solubilized by the action of alkali, usually caustic soda,

related which also acts as a swelling agent to facilitate removal
substances

Minerals and (a) By producing more soluble salts e.g. acid

heavy metals demineralization (b) By use of sequestering agents.

Amino acids or Solubilized by producing corresponding sodium salt.

proteins

Lubricants/Knitting Modem mineral oil formulation usually contain

oils
their own self-emulsification system.
Wax

Pectin

Proteins
SCOURING AND BLEACHING MACHINERIES

open width
form
batch process
rope form
scouring and
bleaching single stage
machineries for process
cotton fabric rope form
double stage
process
continous
process
single stage
open width
form
double stage
process
Loose fibre dyeing machine

Yarn dyeing machine

COTTON FABRIC ROPE FORM BATCH MACHINERIES

KIER
WINCH

Winch dyeing machine

 The winch or beck dyeing machine is quite simple and serves for all scouring,
bleaching, dyeing, washing-off and softening processes.
 The machine contains a length of fabric with the ends sewn together, which is
compressed to form a continuous rope. This rope passes from the dyebath
over two elevated reels and then falls back into the bath (Figure 1).
 The first roller is free-running (jockey or fly roller). The second (winch reel)
is driven and controls the rate of rope
 transport and the extent of pleating where the rope accumulates below and
behind the winch. Both reels extend the full length of the machine and
accommodate several fabric ropes running side by side.
 The fabric rope is held on the winch by friction and its own weight. Covering
the winch with polypropylene or polyester tape increases the friction.
 Deep-draught winches have circular or only slightly elliptical winch reels and
the fabric falls into the back of the dyebath with little pleating. This type of
winch is preferred when fabric stretching may occur
 Shallower machines have more elliptical winches and plait the fabric into the
back of the machine. The bottom of the machine slopes from back to front so
that the fabric accumulating behind the winch easily moves forward.
 An elevated driven roller at the front of the machine is used to load and
unload the goods.
 A perforated baffle separates the liquor in the front of the machine from the
remainder. This part of the machine is called the salting box. Both dyes and
chemicals are added to it during dyeing and gradually mix into the remainder
of the solution.
 Heating is by steam injection from a perforated pipe running along the length
of the salting box. The machine is preferably closed to avoid steam and heat
losses, particularly when dyeing at or near the boiling point.
 The liquor ratio is typically about 20:1. During dyeing, the bulk of the fabric
is moving slowly in the dyebath
 The winch is usually run quite fast but not at such a speed as to damage to
fabric, or promote its elongation or felting.

 A wide variety of materials that do not readily crease can be dyed using the
winch machine. The good mechanical action promotes crimp in the yarns and
improves the loop length of knitted materials. It gives thicker fabrics with a
fuller handle.
 Several ropes of equal length (50–100 m) are usually dyed side by side, being
kept apart by pegs in a long rail below the fly roller.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiC8mmjzBc0

SOFT FLOW MACHINE

OPEN WIDTH BATCH MACHINERIES

JIGGER MACHINE

The jig or jigger dyeing machine is one of the oldest types of machine for
dyeing a variety of materials in full width. It is particularly useful for
fabrics such as satins and taffetas that crease readily.

Working principle

• The open-width fabric passes from one roller through the dyebath at
the bottom of the machine and then onto a driven take-up roller on
the other side. When all the fabric has passed through the bath, the
direction is reversed (Figure 12.4). Each passage is called an end.
Dyeing always involves an even number of ends.
• The bath can be rapidly heated by live steam from an open perforated
pipe, the perforations pointing down and away from the fabric.
Closed-coil steam heating is slower but gives better temperature
control during dyeing and avoids dilution of the liquor.

• As in winch dyeing, the fabric moves through a stationary bath,

which is stirred only by the movement of the fabric through it. The
bulk of the dyeing is usually carried out with a constant bath
temperature. In the widest machines, stirring the bath ensures
uniformity of its temperature.

• During dyeing, the machine lid should be closed. This helps to

maintain a high and uniform roll temperature and reduces heat loss
and steam consumption. Any condensation on the lid must run into
the dyebath without drops falling onto the fabric rolls. The lid limits
air access and avoids rapid oxidation of reduced leuco dyes.

• The jig has a small bath containing the dye liquor (200 to 750 l) and
gives a very low liquor-to-goods ratio of around 1:1. It is therefore
useful for those dyes used on cellulosic fibres that normally give only
low to medium exhaustion.

• Only a few metres of the total length of fabric are in the bath solution
at any moment and dyeing occurs almost entirely in the roll of fabric
outside the bath. The rate of dyeing depends on the amount of liquor
retained by the fabric, the degree of exhaustion in the dwell period,
 and the extent of liquor exchange during the next dip. The latter is
usually around 60–70%, but may be less for heavy fabrics.

• The roll of fabric may vary in length from 1000 to 5000 m. The
fabric must have constant width and be wound up so the selvages
align exactly one on top of the other. The roll therefore has uniform,
vertical sides, perpendicular to its axis.

• Expander bars ensure that the fabric winds up free from creases. Each
end of the fabric has an attached end cloth. If several pieces of fabric
are in the roll, the ends are cut straight and sown end-to-end without
overlap or spaces.

• The modern jig often has both the take-off and take-up rollers driven
to minimise lengthways tension. This is quite pronounced if only the
take-up roller is driven. Regulating the relative roller speeds, or
braking the free take-off roller, adjusts the tension. Lengthways
tension elongates the fabric and reduces its width.

• In subsequent processes, relaxation of the strain introduced may also

result in lengthways shrinkage. To promote uniform dyeing, and
maintain a constant dip time in the bath, the linear velocity of the
fabric is maintained fairly constant by gradually changing the angular
speeds of the rollers.
• There is little mechanical action in a jig machine and it is less
suitable where vigorous scouring is required before dyeing.

• The major problems are side-to-centre colour variations, called

listing, and lengthways colour variations, called ending. Ending is
more pronounced with slow dyeing or temperature-sensitive dyes.

• It is usual to add only half the dye solution at the beginning of the
first end, the rest being added before the second.

• Before dyeing begins, an end cloth may be passed back and forth
through the heated bath to heat up the draw roller. Listing can arise
from non-uniform temperature across the width of the fabric, or from
non-uniform pressure that squeezes the retained dye liquor across the
fabric width between the layers.

• After dyeing, the roll of fabric slowly turns to avoid drainage of dye
liquor into the lower layers of fabric
 SEMI CONTINUOUS PROCESS

• Semi-continuous routes entail batching fabric on to A-frames, but an

element of continuity is created by refilling the A-frames. Once the
process has been started there is continuous flow of fabric through
applicators, washers and dryers.

• PAD–ROLL

• Pad–roll processing involves application of chemicals to open-width

woven fabric and rolling the fabric onto an A-frame contained in a
movable container, often referred to as a caravan.

• Before batching, the fabric is warmed by passage through a pre-

heater.

• Problems with pad–roll processing are twofold:

(1) Variable treatment from first to last end.

(2) Variability from edge to middle.

• The first, variation from one end of the batch to the other (ending), is
simply caused by the time difference between batching the first and
last end, which can be up to 2 h. The second is caused by swelling of
the fibres in hot liquors. This swelling ‘squeezes’ the roll on the A-
frame and transfers impurities and/or chemicals from the centre to the
edge (listing) leading to unlevel results.
 SEMI CONTINOUS PROCESS
PAD BATCH PROCESS

PAD ROLL PROCESS

PAD BATCH PROCESS

• Pad–batch processing is similar to pad roll except that the batch is at

room temperature.

• This reduces the ending and listing problems but increases the
treatment time by a factor of 5–10. The long dwell times allow stages
(desizing, scouring, bleaching) to be combined, resulting in
substantial savings

• The result is never as good as that obtained from hot processes but it
offers adequate quality with minimal capital expenditure.

• It is necessary to keep the batch wrapped in a plastic sheet to prevent

it drying out.
 • In both pad–roll and pad–batch procedures the roll must be kept
turning to stop drainage occurring which would lead to irregular
treatment and make the roll almost impossible to unwind.

• The technique was traditionally used on woven fabric but is being

increasingly used for knit goods, particularly in slit form.

PADDER OR PAD MANGLE

 Mangles are machines which consist of two or more rollers, or bowls’

which run in contact to form a nip(s), the purpose of which is to
remove treatment liquor from the textile passing through them by
squeezing
 The term mangle traditionally implies ‘water mangle’
 Mangles which are used for the application of preparation chemicals,
dyes, finishes and chemicals for dye and print development are often
called pad mangles or padders.
 Padding operation consist of two parts: immersion of the fabric in the
dye liquor to achieve maximum impregnation and second by passing
the fabric between two rollers to squeeze out air from the fabric and
forces dye liquor in and to squeeze surplus liquor back along the
fabric to take its position and squeezing
 It consist of padding trough, guide rollers, nip rollers
Two Bowl Padding Mangles with Varying Troughs and Bowl Arrangements

Three-Bowl Padding Mangles with Varying Bowl Arrangements

Padding trough is a vessel that contains the treatment liquor.
 In rear cases the liquor may be held in the nip of horizontal mangles
by fitting side plates to the bowls
 If the vessel holds only a small volume of treatment liquor (20-500 lit
) the machine is a pad mangle, whereas if the vessel holds a much
larger volume of treatment liquor liquor (> 500 1) the machine is a
saturator.
 saturators have long dwell time and multiple nips and dips which
gives high pick-up and exchange, whereas all other options have
short dwell times, little exchange and low pick-up and it is where the
volumes are low that are favourable to add-on application.
 It is situated below and at the front of the squeeze rollers
 Pad mangle can be of different shapes normally v or u shape is
common. The U-trough provides an excellent compromise between
low volume and increased dwell time.
 It has free running roller at the bottom round which fabric passes
 The liquor is supplied to the trough from a spray pipe which runs the
full width of the mangle and which is connected to the liquor supply
tank by a single pipe at its mid-point
 All modern troughs have a displacement element which reduces the
amount of liquor in the trough, to minimise waste, to 'turn over' the
liquor quickly and to minimise ending. This liquor turn over time
should be less than 3 min.
turnover time = V * 100,000 / S * %PU * Y

 Trough is supplied with level switch Some vessels, particularly for

preparation saturators, are fitted with circulation pumps
 Saturators for scouring or bleaching apply the treatment liquor to
washed fabric and so are fitted with side-tanks to enable concentrated
chemicals to be added to compensate for the water brought in by the
fabric. The side-tank is fitted with a water feed, controlled by a level
switch, to maintain the treatment liquor at constant
volume/concentration.

Nip rollers
 Padder roll has a steel mandrel and a shell.
 Shell is covered with hard rubber, topped by 15mm of soft rubber.
 Lower roller is fixed while upper can be adjusted according to the
pressure.
 Kuster padders are usually use.
 Fixed roller and pressurized rollers has a hardness of 55-70 degree
shore.
 Maximum speed of the machine is 25-120m/min
 To effectively squeeze the excess solution, mandrel of the top roller
is pneumatically pressed at the ends. A pair of cylinders (described as
linear actuators) can be used to generate pressure (P) at the nip
 The high pressure ( 4 bar) causes a deflection in the rollers.
 The pressure at the ends and the consequent squeezing is more at the
ends than at the center.
 In padder it is minimized by providing a camber to the surface thus
increasing the rollers diameters in the center.
 The surface profile nullifies the deflection produced by applying
pressure at the ends of the mandrels.
 With the continuous use the camber is reduced and so the rollers need
frequent grinding to produce the desired cambers.
 Now kuster padders (swimming rolls) are used.
CONTINUOUS SCOURING AND BLEACHING MACHINARIES:

All continuous application systems require:

(1) an accumulator;

(2) application of chemicals;

3) storage of the impregnated substrate;

(4) washing-off of the treated substrate.

An Accumulator

 Selvedge guiders
 J scray
 Tension compensator
 Bow roller & star roller
 Guide rollers
Application of chemicals:
  Padder

Storage Of The Impregnated Substrate

J-Box:
 After application of liquor by padding, the required time for
chemicals to act on impurities is provided in a J-box or batching tray
or steamer.
 J-Box is one of the popular machines generally used in scouring of
cotton fabrics. J-box is essentially a J-letter shaped stainless steel
chute with large fabrics holding capacity.
 The fabric is fed from one end & taken out of the other (First in first
out) in contrast to a keir where it is first in last out. The J-box has a
polished inner side and it is insulated to minimise heat losses.

 The fabric after saturation with liquor (from a saturator located just in
front of J-box) is fed from the top and taken out from the lower end.

 Two distinct types of rope J-box were developed for bleaching woven
fabrics which differ mainly in the method of fabric heating. In the
Becco, or open, J-box, heating is by direct application of steam,
through manifolds at various heights, to the pack of plaited fabric.
With the DuPont, or enclosed, J-box, the fabric is heated by passing
through a steam atmosphere in a heater tube adjacent to the entrance
of the J-box.
 Depending on fabric speed (150-300 m/min) and the capacity (10,000
m) a residence time of 60-90 min may be provided.
 Fabric may be heated at the entry to the J-box and may retain the
temperature due to insulation inside the chamber. M:L ratio 1:1.

 After coming out from the J-box, the fabric is sent to a washer.
 Surface-sensitive fabrics, such as satins and sateens, and cotton/
polyester blends are prone to creasing under such conditions. Heat setting
of polyester/cotton prior to rope preparation reduces the problem, but such
blends are best processed in open-width form.
In continuous processing, it makes sense to combine various processes to
save time, water, energy manpower etc. Similarly, scouring and bleaching
can be carried out in two continuous stages in one operation.
Advantages :
i) J-Box offers economy in space, time, water, steam, and chemicals.
ii) Material to liquor ratio is 1:1. Minimum electrical power is required
with advantage of variable speed.
iii) Uniform and reproducible absorbency with good whiteness of the
goods is obtained.
iv) Minimum handling damage with less loss of tensile strength is
observed.
v) Fabrics of different width, weight and densities can be run through the
plant without alteration or adjustment, except for speed and dwell time at
each stage of the process.
Disadvantages :
i) J-Box system is economical only if the production target is big enough
to Bleaching and Washing Equipment feed the J-plant by about 2 lacs
linear meter per day. However, smaller units have also been developed for
handling 2 to 3 tons of cloth per day.
ii) Pin holes-catalytic action of iron coming from steam pipes is observed
sometimes on the bleached fabric.
iii) Some silicates from the wet cloth containing bleaching solution may be
deposited on the heated walls of the J-Box. The cloth sliding down the J-
Box rubs against these silicate scales that lead to abrasion marks which
shows up in subsequent dyeing.
iv) Due to great weight of the cloth, the lower portion of the fabric is
subjected to great pressure, which may be up to 2 tons in larger J-Boxes.
This may lead to severe rope marks in certain compact and heavier
varieties of cloth.
Open Width Steamer:
 Alternately, after saturating the fabric with the liquor, it may be sent
to a steamer. The speed is about 60 m/min, temperature 100-110°C
and residence time 30 sec to 5 min.

 The J-boxes have large capacity as the fabric is stored in rope form
and moves down due to gravity. In steamers the capacity is much
lower as fabric is processed in open width form.

 The first open-width steamers to be used in preparation were the

atmospheric tight-strand roller steamers used for continuous
dyeing

 As the fabric is tightly in contact with the rollers, an increased dwell

can only be achieved by reducing line speed. At the lowest line
speed, the dwell time is only 1–2 min; often too short to remove seed
from woven cotton fabrics.
 The roller-bed steamer, which consists of a flat bed of rollers driven
much slower than the line, emerged as the most popular. Fabric is
plaited down on to the slowly moving roller bed, which transports the
fabric in a relaxed state to the exit point.
 It is possible to maintain a required production speed while varying
the retention time in the steamer by adjusting the amount of fabric
plaited on to the bed and consequently the amount of fabric in the
steamer. This leads to a risk of trapping the fabric on the bed.

 Early machines provided dwell times of 3–5 min, but even under
these conditions on the roller bed, some creases were formed on
polyester/cotton fabrics. These creases are prevented by using a short
tight-strand section, to allow swelling and dimensional changes to
occur before plaiting down on to the bed. This combination is used in
the second generation of roller-bed steamers, which are thus called
Combi-steamers.
 Dwell times have also been extended to 10–15 min, which aids seed
removal in a combined scour/bleach process

 The conveyor steamer was introduced to the USA in 1938 by

Mathieson Alkali for chlorite bleaching. The impregnated fabric
enters a steam-heated chamber and is plaited on to the first of three
conveyor belts moving along the length of the machine (Figure 2.7).
At the end of the first traverse the fabric is dropped onto a second
conveyor and after another traverse onto a third conveyor. A
temperature of 95C and dwell times of 15–60 min are typical.

 In all types of combi-steamers the fabric enters through an air-lock

which is followed by heating-up zone at 100oC for about 15-20 min.
From the extreme end of the steamer the fabric is carefully led out of
the machine through the delivery airlock
 The tight-strand steamer section of the combi-steamer is assembled
on a modular principle. Each module generally has a fabric content of
50 meters. The problem of crease marking is also eliminated in all
types of fabrics.
CONTINUOUS OPEN WIDTH BLEACHING MACHINE

 The main purpose of the continuous bleaching system, whether in the rope form or in
open-width form, is to reduce the time of bleaching and the cost of labour involved.

 Some fabrics such as heavy drill, corded fabrics, satins and other sensitive weaves, are
liable to be damaged if they are bleached in rope form. Creaseless running and low cloth
tension are also important factors for blends with synthetics.

MECHANISM OF MACHINE
 Overall mechanism of this machine is to feed the washed desized fabric in open width
form to the saturator/ padder in order to saturate the fabric with the bleaching liquor and
then dwell the fabric to complete the reaction. Dwelling of the fabric is normally done in
a steamer.
 Fabric is then washed in open width washers and finally dried on can/ cylinder dryer.

desized fabric washing saturation dwelling washing & drying

MAIN SECTIONS
 Entry section
 Washers
 Saturator
 Nip rolls
 Dosing pump
 Steamer
 Steam conditioner
  Washers
 Dryer
 Batching

Entry Section Pre- Washing Padding section Steamer Post washing

section 1) Padding trough (dwelling and drying
1) Selvedge 1) Top rollers 2) Nip rollers section)
guiders 2) Bottom rollers 3) Metering pumps
2) J scray 3) Jockey rollers 4) Circulation pump
3) Tension 4) nip rollers 5) Tension control
compensator 5) Evac system devices(load cells)
4) Bow roller 6) Temp. sensors 6) Moisture sensors
5) Star roller before and after
6) Guide rollers padding

Entry Section
 Selvedge guiders
 J scray
 Tension compensator
 Bow roller & star roller
Selvedge Guider
 Function of a selvedge guider is to keep the web straight.
 This is achieved by running each edge through a pair of light nip rollers. Cloth Guiders
always comes left & Right and it should mounted on Adjusting frame
 It has detecting element (photoelectric device, ultrasonic sensors etc)
 When the detecting element show fabric movement in the inward direction then nip
operates in such a way as to pull the cloth outward
 Either the nip or inclination may be permanent
 Rollers may be rotated by the movement of the fabric or positively driven

Bow Roller and Scroll Rollers

 Bow Rolls are known as Banana Rolls, Spreader Rolls, Curve rubber expander, useful for
removing of wrinkles, slack edges, spreading and slit separation.
 Most of the Expander Rolls are driven by web tension itself without any extra drive.
  Scroll rolls are wrinkle removing rolls from web materials. They are available in different
materials (ss, rubber,

Tension compensator
 The tension applied to a web can be described as the webs tautness.
 The tension on the web would be equal to the weight in pounds. PLI would be
equal to the weight in pounds divided by the web width in inches.
 It is impossible to control web without proper tension being applied to it. The
web must be “in traction” with all machine idler rolls and driven rolls to
ensure proper web handling and control.
  When tension is too high webs will stretch in the machine direction and
compress in the cross machine direction. This narrowing of the web width can
cause wrinkles to occur.
 When tension is too low webs will shrink in the machine direction and web
width will widen in the cross machine direction. This widening of the web
width can cause wrinkles to occur.
 Tension control is important in three directions: unwind, process zone, rewind
zone
 Torque required to provide a certain level of tension to a web is total tension
measured across the web times roll radius
torque = tension x radius is linear,

so torque must be decreased (for unwinds) and increased (for rewinds) at a linear
rate relative to roll radius.
 Roll diameters are constantly changing, so torque and speed must be
constantly adjusted relative to changing roll diameters. Tension and speed in
the internal zones is much more stable since roll diameters in these zones does
not change.
 Tension can be measured either by using:.
o load cell tension control
o dancer rolls,
 dancing roll incorporates idler rolls that are “loaded” in one direction, while
the web tends to move them in the opposite direction. A sensor detects the
position of the dancer and tells the drive to increase or decrease in speed or
torque to add or remove material from the dancer.
 As long as the dancer roll remains between its physical limits (completely
empty or completely full) tension is constant on the web.There are many
methods of loading dancer roll tension controls. Older units may be loaded
with weights. Newer dancer roll tension controls may use air cylinders for
loading with pressure regulator valves.
Bleaching

All natural fibres are coloured and the colouring matter confers a yellowish brown
colour to the fibres. The purpose of bleaching is to destroy this coloured material
and to confer a pure white appearance to the fibres. Bleaching should also
decolorise or remove any residual impurities left by scouring.
Oxidative bleaching agents
Sodium hypochlorite, sodium chlorite and hydrogen peroxide are the three oxidants
predominantly used for bleaching cellulosic fibres. Potassium permanganate is
occasionally used for denim washing which confers a ‘stressed look’ to denim
garments, and peracetic acid is being looked at as a replacement for sodium
hypochlorite

Sodium hypochlorite
Hypo bleaches rapidly at room temperature. It is not as sensitive to heavy metals
as peroxide but it does easily chlorinate any organics present. It is essential,
therefore, that the cellulose be cleared of natural impurities by thorough scouring
before bleaching with hypo.
In practice, one or two alkaline boils may be required with intermediate washing.
These will be followed by scouring and further washing prior to bleaching.
Bleaching must be followed by washing and an antichlor treatment. The end result
is a prolonged, labour-intensive process with relatively low chemical costs but high
demand for water.
The chlorinated products from hypo are detected in effluent streams as adsorbable
organohalogens (AOX) and chloroform. These are materials regarded increasingly
as environmentally unacceptable. hydrogen peroxide does not form AOX
compounds
even in the presence of salt

Sodium Chlorite
Sodium chlorite is usually sold as a solid (80% active solids) or as a liquid (26%
active solids) with a specific gravity of 1.25. In contrast to hypo or peroxide
bleaching, it is used under acidic conditions. The scouring process, required for
hypochlorite, can be omitted and bleaching can be carried out on loom state or
desized materials. It bleaches seed well. Bleaching under acidic conditions removes
only small amounts of natural fats and waxes. This was an advantage for knitting
yarns and knitted fabrics as it gave a softer handle. Chlorite bleaching is relatively
unaffected by iron or copper contamination. One of the bleaching agents liberated
from chlorite under acidic conditions is chlorine dioxide. This corrosive gas is
toxic.
Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is a colourless liquid which is used, in the textile industry, as a
35 or 50% solution with specific gravity of 1.131 or 1.195 respectively. It is the
most widely used bleaching agent. Hydrogen peroxide is an extremely versatile
bleaching agent, applicable over a very wide range of bleaching temperatures
(ambient to 130°C) and times (minutes to days) on a wide range of machinery.
Bleaching is usually carried out under alkaline conditions and this allows
combination with other processes, such as scouring. Hydrogen peroxide can also be
activated by agents other than the hydroxide ion, for example u.v. radiation and O-
or N-acyl compounds. The usual activator for textile bleaching is alkali, usually
sodium hydroxide

Parameters in peroxide bleaching operations

Effect of pH
The stability of hydrogen peroxide depends on pH. At pH 1 to 3 it is stable ; but at
highly alkaline pH 11.5 to 13 it has least stability. The bleaching takes place around
10.5 due to accumulation of perhydroxyl ions in the bleaching bath. At
neutral or weak alkaline media, hydrogen peroxide does not produce any whitening
effect and may cause degradation of cellulose.
Effect of temperature
In practice cotton bleaching with hydrogen peroxide is carried out at 90-100C but
the temperature may be increased to 120C in the case of pressurized equipment
with a corresponding reduction in process time. The rate of bleaching increases with
the increase in temperature, but at the same time solution becomes unstable and
degradation of cotton increases. Below 80C the evolution of perhydroxyl ion is very
slow so also the rate of bleaching.
Effect of concentration of liquor
The optimum concentration of hydrogen peroxide depends on number of factors
namely liquor ratio, temperature and class of fibre. In the batch process using kiers
about 2-4% (o.w.f.) hydrogen peroxide is sufficient for cotton fabrics with a liquor
ratio of 10:1 to 20:1. In the continuous process, the cotton fabrics are saturated with
bleach bath containing 1-2% (o.w.f.) hydrogen peroxide. Very high concentration
may damage the fibre.

Effect of time

The time required to bleach with hydrogen peroxide depends on temperature, class
of fibre and equipment used for bleaching. In general, the time of bleaching is
inversely proportional to the temperature of the bleaching bath.

Stabilizer For Per Oxide Bleaching

 High pH and temperature lead to the decomposition of peroxide bleaching

liquor and degradation of the cellulose, which are catalysed by transition
metal ions
 The role of the stabiliser is simply to control or regulate these effects by a
multiplicity of functions. For example, they act as buffers, sequestrants and
 dispersants as well as, in special cases, enhancing performance of the
surfactants used in the bleach bath. The sequestering action inactivates
metallic impurities which cause catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide
or precipitation of hydroxides or carbonates. These impurities, the most
common being calcium and iron, are brought into the bleaching system by the
fabric, water supply or the other chemicals used.

 To Avoid The Undesirably Rapid Decomposition Of H2O2 An Auxiliary Is

Added To Bleaching Known As Stabilizer
 They Preserve HOO- Ions And Suppresses Its Decomposition
 They Give Anti Catalytic Effect By Means Of Complex Formation
 To Maintain Alkaline Earth Metals In Sufficient Quantity In Homogeneous
Conditions By Means Of Dispersion
 Stability In Bleaching Conditions

Stabilizer Working

 Attraction Between HOO- Ion And Alkaline Earth Metals Has To Be

Promoted
 Masking Of Transition Metal Ions By The Stabilizer
 Limiting Generation Of HOO- Ions

Stabilizer Helps In

 Increasing Degree Of Whiteness

 Avoid Chemical Damage To The Fibre
  Degradation Of Impurities

Classification

 Inorganic
 Organic
 Inorganic/Organic

Inorganic Stablizers

 Silicates:
o Cheaper And Excellent In Pad Steam Process, But
o Dehydrate At High Temp. Form White Spots (Silica Deposits) On
Fabric And Machine Parts
 Poly Phosphates, Alkali Phosphates:
o Complex Formation With Ca, Mg Etc.
o Good Dispersion And Detergency Properties
o At Higher Temperature Low Stability And Minimum Effectiveness For
Transition Metal Ions
o Water Eutrophication
 Borates
 Stannates

Poly Phosphates

Organic Stabilizer
  Polyamino Carboxylic Acid
 Polyoxy Carboxylic Acid
 Phosphonic Acids
 Ethoxylates
 Fatty Acid Condensation Products
 Fatty Alcohol Sulphates

Polyamino Carboxylic Acid

 Nitrile Tri Acetic Acid (NTA)

 EDTA
 HEDTA (Hydroxy Ethylene)

Stable At High Temp. But Do Not Have Collidal Or Dispersion Ability

Polyoxy Carboxylic Acid:

 Oxalic Acid
 Gluconoic Acid
 Citric Acid

Excellent Sequestering Properties But Dependent On PH

Phosphonic Acid Based Stablizers

  High Level Of Thermal Stability
 Stable In Strong Alkaline Conditions
 Act Selectively On Heavy Metal Ions
 Expensive

EVALUATION OF A BLEACHED FABRIC

 Cu number (cupra ammonium fluidity test)

 CIE Whiteness or Berger whiteness

WI = 3.3888Z - 3Y

Berger whiteness = Y+ a Z – b X
.
Heat setting

Heat setting is a heat treatment applied to the fabrics made up of thermoplastic fibres to impart dimensional
stability

Mechanism of heat setting

Important points
 When fabrics of PET are heated in water at the boil there is often considerable shrinkage as the tensions
in the filaments relax. The shrinkage may be even greater at higher temperatures
 Heat setting changes the morphology of the polyester fibres. The effects on the dyeing rate and the
extent of dyeing are variable depending upon the particular dye, the setting temperature and heating
time, and the tension imposed.
 Fibres of the most common polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PES), are quite crystalline and
very hydrophobic. Hot water does not swell them
MERCERIZATION

Target of mercerization

 Increase in colour depth

 Increase in tensile strength
 Increase in lustre
 Increase in dimensional stability
 Removal of dead fibres

CHANGES DUE TO MERCERIZATION

 Chemical  Physico-chemical  Structural

Controlling factors of mercerization

 Time  Temp.  Conc.  tension

Based on time and temp., mercerization is divided into:

 Hot mercerization
 Cold mercerization

Mercerization with hot caustic soda at a temperature between 60-70C with a

dwelling period of 20-25sec has become known as hot mercerization.

In classical cold mercerizing, processing takes place at temperatures of 15 to 18C

with 31 to 35% caustic soda solution with a dwelling period of about 50 seconds.

Based on conc., this alkaline treatment is divided into

 Mercerization
 Caustisization
Key features of hot and cold mercerization

Cold mercerization Hot mercerization

 Intense swelling but slow  Swelling is not very intense

 Core swelling is a problem  Even swelling
 Good lustre  Less lustre
 Less diffusion  High diffusion
 Cooling device is necessary  No cooling device is required

MERCERIZATION MACHINES
  Chain mercerization
 Chainless mercerization

Chainless mercerization

The chainless mercerising machines are so-called, because the is no fabric

stretching by clip-chains in this type of machines. The underlying principle in these
machines is to apply tension to the fabric before and during the mercerising process
and not to allow the cloth to shrink, till it reaches their stage when shrinking does
not take place,
Machine features:

The features of chainless cloth mercerising machines are:

1. Fabric entrance: This consists of the entrance scaffolding, automatic cloth

guiders, tension bars and a fabric  pre-tensioning system.  These parts take care of
their ceaseless cloth passage to the mercerising section with sufficient tensioning,
so that the possible shrinkage during the action of mercerising lie can be almost
eliminated.  The pre-tensioning system consists of three curved rubber covered
expanding rollers, in which necessary tension can be developed by their
proportional displacement of the middle curved roller. At the end of the pre-
tensioning section, the fabric is introduced into the mercerising impregnating
compartment.

2. Lye impregnation: The lye impregnation section consists of cylindrical metal

rollers, partially immersed in the mercerising alkali lye, having a specific gravity of
56° TW. Rubber covered cylindrical metal rollers rest above and between the metal
rollers. These roller restrict the weft wise shrinkage by means of fabric traction,
through the machine.  There is an arrangement to spray the lie over the fabric in the
impregnation compartment.  
3. Adjustable squeezing devices: At the end of each section of the chainless
mercerising machine, provision is made for an effective adjustable squeezing
device.  In the case of longer impregnating compartments, it becomes necessary to
arrange for an additional squeezing device within the impregnation section.  This is
necessary in order to complete the lye impregnation at that pre-determined speed
and to cope up with the production target. 

4. Adequate number of top and bottom rollers: With a view to obtain a perfect

mercerising effect, it is necessary that the cloth should be in contact with the lye for
the predetermined lye acting time.  It can be understood that the more the number of
rollers, the longer the dwelling time.  The idea is that the lye acting time of 50
seconds can be arranged by designing the impregnation compartment to suit the
ideal level, by adjusting the number of rollers in the impregnation compartment as
correctly as possible.

In some chainless mercerising machines, there may be an additional set of metal 

and rubber covered rollers, which help in covering up the lye acting time. For
higher dwell times , the machine speed to be reduced.  Similarly for Shorter lye
acting time, the speed is to be increased.

5. Stabilization of the mercerising effect:  there will be an uncontrollable

shrinkage in the fabric, if the mercerising lye contents are very quickly reduced
from the mercerising cloth.  In order not to allow this shrinkage to take place, the
initial treatment of the cloth should be with a weak lye solution.  The stabilizing
action is obtained in the stabilizing section. In some cases, the stabilization is
brought about by passing the mercerised fabric over a set of an expanding system
consisting of three or more rows of metallic segmented curved revolving rollers. .
This stretching device exercises a widthwise stretching effect, thus giving a much
better width  control over the lye impregnated fabric.  The strength of the week lye
splayed is generally about half the strength of the mercerising lye strength.

6. Recuperation of the mercerising lye:  The mercerising lye picked up by the

cloth during the process and which is still on the fabric after the stabilization  is
required to be recovered, ie., recuperated, to a great extent in the recuperation
section.  This section comprises a tank, with top and bottom rollers.  The fabric
passes over the top and bottom rollers, during which passage it is treated with hot
water, maintained at the temperature of  90° Celsius are slightly above.  Heating of
the water and maintaining the temperature are carried out by means of steam coil.

7. Neutralizing the lye on the cloth: After coming out of the recuperation, the
mercerised and hot water washed fabric is passed through a squeezing device into
the neutralizing section.  This section is provided with an arrangement to wash the
fabric with a weak acid solution. Neutralizing with an acid solution is necessary
only when there is no further alkali boiling process or any other wet process which
requires the use of alkali containing solutions.

8. Washing Zone: The purpose of the washing zone, which may consists of one,
two or more washing compartments, is to wash the mercerising fabric free from
alkalinity. 
Chain mercerization

Chain mercerization

The range is used for shirting and densely woven fabric of hard twist yarn. At first
the fabric is completely saturated with lye in an up and down impregnation unit, the
result is a uniform shrinkage in warp and weft direction. The fabric is getting the
necessary linear tension on a sky passage and afterwards is width-adjusted on the
following mercerizing chain field with conic inlet. The basic range is equipped with
horizontal clip chain. In the second part of the mercerizing range prior to passing
over to the washing range, the fabric is lye-extracted and stabilized by pouring over
with weak lye.
Chain mercerising range: In this machine the mercerising lye causes fabric
shrinkage, it is necessary to arrange the machine compliments in such a manner that
the finished fabric satisfies the dimensional requirements in all respects.

a . Fabric entrance section: The fabric is passed through a set of automatic cloth
guiders, guide rollers and tension bars.

b. Impregnation section: In the case of the chain type mercerising machines,

impregnation with the mercerising lye is carried out in suitably dimensioned
padding mangles.  The mercerising lye having an optimum concentration of caustic
soda is continuously fed to the trough of the padding mangle. the Single Web of
fabric gets a dip in the lye and is then passed through the padding mangle, where
the excess lye is squeezed out from the impregnated cloth. Small machines have
one padder whenever more mercerising production is required, but the passage
through one padder is not sufficient to make up the lye action time. A second
impregnation is, therefore introduced in the system.

c. Width stretching and stabilizing section: The lost in width due to shrinkage at

padding mangle is recovered by stretching the impregnated cloth in at the stenter .A
weak lye is sprayed on the fabric, while it is being stretched in the stenter frame. 

d. Steam recuperation zone: After squeezing the fabric at the end of the stenter
through the squeezing mangle, the fabric is introduced into the lye recuperation
section, where steam heated water, near boil, in the recuperation  washing
compartment with top and bottom rollers, recovers the major quantity of lye.

e. The washing section: The remaining portion of the lye is washed out of the cloth
in the washing section having the requisite number of washing compartments.
WATER HARDNESS

Hardness is defined as the presence of soluble calcium and magnesium

salts in the water.

The use of hard water in a textile dyeing or finishing mill can have some
serious consequences. These include:

 precipitation of soaps;
 redeposition of dirt and insoluble soaps on the fabric being washed –
this can cause yellowing and lead to unlevel dyeing and a poor handle;
 precipitation of some dyes as calcium or magnesium salts;
 scale formation on equipment and in boilers and pipelines;
 reduction of the activity of the enzymes used in desizing;
 decreased solubility of sizing agents;
 coagulation of some types of print pastes;
 incompatibility with chemicals in finishing recipes.
Even through water is softened, unwanted metal salts can creep in from
one or more sources, as mentioned below:
a) Basic raw material - Mineral content of cotton, which varies from
region to region, or higher iron content of raw water.
b) Metal contamination during storage and transport of other ingredients
such as Mild Steel drums used for dyes and chemicals. Basic chemical like
caustic lye being transported in Mild Steel tankers or MS drums.
c) Poor quality of piping used for water from the softening plant to the dye
house.
d) Rust during spinning, weaving or handling of the substrate.
e) Iron contamination from machine parts such as joints, bolts, etc. which
are made from non-specified material.
Thus, even if soft water is used for processing, some problems due to
metal impurities can crop up unexpectedly, leading to value loss or
reprocessing and putting pressure on thin margins.

Metal impurities can create problems:

1. In the scouring of cotton, particularly package yarn and terry towel, the
presence of calcium and magnesium leads to insoluble salt deposition on
the substrate, leading to harsh feel and/or resist marks. Also, scale
formation on continuous bleaching ranges and package dyeing machines
could take place due to presence of calcium.
2. In the bleaching of cotton with peroxide, pinhole marks in fabric and
hosiery, lower tensile strength in the case of yarn, and poor spinnability of
bleached cotton fibre are the result of iron and copper impurities.
Sometimes, pinhole marks may not be seen but DP values would be lower,
though whiteness remains the same. Also, the presence of calcium can
rapidly decompose hydrogen peroxide.
3. In reactive dyeing, precipitation of dyestuff could take place due to the
presence of calcium, leading to dye spots and poor colour yield, and
affecting reproducibility.
4. In washing off of reactive dyestuffs, poor wash fastness and wet rub
fastness result from the presence of calcium.
5. In the case of vat and sulphur dyes also, the presence of calcium
reduces fastness properties.
6. In the case of disperse dyes, the presence of calcium may lead to
agglomeration due to the formation of calcium salt, with anionic
dispersing agent present in commercial disperse dyes.
7. Certain anthraquinone disperse dyes, blues, red pinks and red violets,
form a complex with Cu2+, Fe3+, Ni2+, Co2+, present in traces. The blue
dyes precipitate and other dyes change tone to a dull, bluish shade.
8. In dyeing wool with chrome dyes, premature precipitation before
chroming could take place and lead to poor rubbing fastness.
9. Direct dyes, which are used in a few markets, can also lead to
precipitation in the presence of Cr3+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Co2+ if the dyestuff
has specific groups in it structure.

CHELATION
Chelation is the formation or presence of two or more separate
coordinate bonds between a polydentate (multiple bonded) ligand and
a single central atom.

The chelate effect describes the enhanced affinity of chelating ligands for
a metal ion, compared to the affinity of a collection of similar non-
chelating (monodentate) ligands for the same metal.

chelating agent: Any compound that reacts with a metal ion to produce a
chelate.
chelate compound: A cyclic compound in which a metal atom is bonded
to at least two other atoms.
Ligand: An ion, molecule, or functional group that binds to another
chemical entity to form a larger complex.

Chelation
Chelation is the formation or presence of two or more separate coordinate
bonds between a polydentate (multiple bonded) ligand and a single central
atom. Usually these ligands are organic compounds and are called
chelants, chelators, chelating agents, or sequestering agents; the resulting
complexes are called chelate compounds. To firmly bind a metal ion with
an organic molecule (ligand) to form a ring structure. The resulting ring
structure protects the mineral from entering into unwanted chemical
reactions.’
Chelate complexes are contrasted with coordination complexes composed
of monodentate ligands, which form only one bond with the central atom.
Chelating agents, unlike the other ligands in coordination compounds,
bind via multiple atoms in the ligand molecule, not just one.

The three main type of commercial sequestering agents are:

 Aminocarboxylic acid base products

 Phosphates and Phosphonates
 Hydroxy carbroxylates
 Polyacrylates

Aminolycarboxylates
In aminopolycarboxylates, it is assumed that one molecule of sequestering
agent complexes with one ion of metal. Depending upon the pH of the
medium, i e acidic, neutral or alkaline, the preferential sequestering order
or each product could change.

Some of the characteristics of some of these sequestering agents are

summarised as below:

 EDTA: Good sequestering agent for calcium and magnesium at

alkaline pH but no sequestering agents on Fe3+ at alkaline pH. Not
stable with oxidising agents. Low solubility in acidic medium.
 NTA: Sequestering of Fe3+ only at acidic pH but sequestering of
Cu2+ between pH 3 to 12. Low solubility in acidic medium. Not
stable with oxidising agents.
 DTPA: Good sequestering action Fe3+ under alkaline pH but
complexes with alkaline earth salts are less stable than EDTA.
slightly more resistant to oxidising agents. Low solubility in acidic
medium.
Phosphates and phosphonates

These sequestering agents are divided in two broad classes:

 Inorganic polyphosphates such as sodium hexameta phosphate

(SHMP), sodium polyphosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, sodium
trimeta phosphate, sodium pyrophosphates
 Phosphonated aminopolycarboxylates such as EDTMP, DETMP,
ATMP, HEDP, DTPMP

Inorganic phosphates work under specific conditions and work as

sequestering agents by converting troublesome metal ions into water
soluble complex by a process of ion exchange.
Phosphates of aminopolycarboxylic acids or phosphonates are derivatives
of phosphorous acid and are characterised by a C-P bond, which has
stronger hydrolytic stability than the P-O-P bond of polyphosphates.
Compared to popular amino polycarhoxylic acid based sequestering
agents, these phosphonates based sequestering agents have a high
chelation ratio. Apart from better chelation value or better chelation ratio,
these phosphonates also have better iron chelation than EDTA and NTA. 

3. Hydroxy Carboxylic Acids 

Organic compounds that have several hydroxylic groups often have the
property of preventing precipitation of bi and trivalent metal cations in an
alkaline medium. Some of the well known products in this category are: 

Citric acid, Tartaric acid, Gluconic acid and Oxalic acid. 

These are less important sequestering agents, compared to
aminocarboxylic acid or phosphonates. Gluconic acid/sodium gluconate
has been found to be an effective chelating agent for iron under alkaline
conditions. 

4. Polyacrylates 
Polyacrylates are effective dispersants, with mild chelation values and
protective colloid properties. The chelation values of polyacrylates have
no demetallising effect on metal containing dyestuffs. They are completely
non foaming. 
They are very suitable as dyebath conditioners, soaping agents and
washing aids. Being non surface active agents they are easily rinsable and
thus reduce the quantity of water required for removing their traces from
the substrates, unlike all surfactants. The typical chelation values offered
by polyacrylates do not come close to the chelation values offered by
amino polycarboxylates or the phosphonates. This problem has been
overcome by development of sugar acrylates. 

HLB Value Concept

(For surfactants & oils/fats/waxes etc.)
HLB stands for hydrophile lipophile balance. It indicates relative fraction of hydrophilic and
hydrophobic components in a surfactant, oil, solvent etc.
OPTICAL BRIGHTENING AGENTS

 Textile fibres do not appear perfectly white due to the presence of certain
coloured impurities. During chemical bleaching, coloured impurities are either
destroyed or decoloured by oxidation or reduction. Over-bleaching may
reduce the fibre strength.
 Even well bleached fabrics possess a slight yellowish appearance. This
yellowish hue of the materials can be eliminated by whitening with optical
brighteners or fluorescent brightening agents (OBA or FBA).
 The optical brighteners counteract the yellowness of the fabric by increasing
the reflection of blue light rays. They convert invisible short-wave ultraviolet
rays of sunlight into visible blue light and has a degree of whiteness which is
comparatively more intense.
  Fluorescent brightening agents are organic compounds, which when present
on textile fibres, exhibit fluorescence.
 FBAs resemble dyes in all respects except that they have no visible colour
and are thus called colourless dye.
 They are substances normally having a system of conjugated double bonds
and must be essentially planer and should contain electron donating groups
such as OH, NH 2 etc. and be from electron accepting groups such as NO 2, -
N=N - etc.
 FBAs absorb ultraviolet light in 300-400 nm region from day light and emit it
in the visible region (400-460 nm) at the blue-violet of the spectrum. The
emitted blue light compensates for yellow tints of fibres and at the same time
they also increase the luminosity of the goods.

Factors Influencing the Functions of Optical Whiteners

o Substrate
o Saturation
o Time
o Temperature
o Application method

Application of Optical Brighteners

The application of fluorescent brightening agent depends on the kinds of fibres on

which it is applied and accordingly can be classified as

o direct (or substantative),

o disperse and
o cationic types.

 The direct brightening agents are mostly derivative of 4, 4'-diaminostilbene-2,

2'-disulphonic acid and are used mainly for the brightening of cotton, paper,
viscose, linen and polyamides.
 Acid optical brightening agents contain free sulpho groups and serve mainly
for the brightening of silk and wool.
 Basic optical brighteners contain amino groups and include mainly coumarin
and pyrazoline types. They are used primarily for the brightening of natural
and synthetic polyamides.
 Disperse optical brightening agents are water insoluble compounds of various
structures and are used mainly for the polyester, cellulose acetate and
polyacrylonitrile. They are mainly triazolyl stilbenes, bis (benzoxazolyl),
ethylene polyamides and couramin .
 The fluorescent brighteners should be stable in the bleaching bath and
 also should be stable on the fibre at the thermosoling temperature in the case
of polyester.
 In continuous processing when sodium chlorite is the bleaching agent,
 then fluorescent brighteners must be applied after bleaching in the wash-off,
but with hydrogen peroxide bleaching it can be included in the peroxide
bleach liquor.
 Fluorescent brighteners can be applied to cotton materials prior to resin
treatment or it can be added to the resin formulation bath. However, proper
selection of catalyst is needed since certain catalysts impair the light fastness
of the treated fabric.
 Optical brighteners can be applied on cellulosic fibres either by exhaust or
padding methods.
 In the exhaust method, goods are entered into the cold liquor containing
optical brightener (0.5-0.6%, o.w.f.) and electrolyte (5 g/l) and then the
temperature of the bath is raised to optimum slowly over a period of 15 min.
When required temperature (depending upon the brighteners used) is reached,
a further 30 min of running is sufficient for complete exhaustion.
 When padding methods are used, the fabric is padded with a solution
containing 0.05 to 4 g/1 brightening agent in a two-bowl mangle at room
temperature keeping 80-100% expression. The material is dried and stored in
dark. To achieve good diffusion, full fluorescence and complete development
of the brightener, a subsequent heat treatment on stenter or in curing unit may
be given.
 The polyester/cotton blended fabrics can be optically brightened to the same
degree of intensity and brilliance as pure cotton fabric. Normally, after
application of disperse type optical brighteners for polyester fibre, either by
exhaustion or padding method, the usual direct optical brighteners are applied
to cotton by exhaust method. An intermediate treatment with hydrosulphite is
necessary to remove polyester brightener deposited mechanically on cotton
portion during padding operation.
 Carbonizing

 Carbonising is the chemical process used to remove vegetable matter (VM)

from wool.
 The VM, which may be seeds, twigs, burrs, grass etc., is predominantly made
up of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin whereas wool is principally protein.
 The most commonly used acid for this purpose is sulphuric acid. In its
simplest form, carbonising follows wool scouring and consists of
acidification, drying, baking, mechanical crushing and dusting to remove
the embrittled VM, neutralisation and final drying.
 The process of loose wool carbonising has remained essentially unchanged for
many years.

In conventional carbonizing process

 Wool piece goods are treated with sulphuric acid (6-8 oTw) containing acid
stable wetting agent and hydroextracted.
 The treated wool substance is dried at low temperature (60-70 oC very quickly
to minimise degradation by sulphuric acid of intermediate critical
concentration.
 The dried wool is then heated at 110oC for a short time.
 The goods are then neutralised immediately or run dry through a dolly or
milling machine to remove the charred vegetable matter and then neutralised.
 Neutralisation of wool fabric can also be carried out in open-width scouring
machine. Neutralisation with ammonia or ammonia/ammonium acetate
mixtures removes acid from the fabric far more rapidly than either sodium
carbonate and sodium acetate.
 In a rapid carbonising process wool is treated in up to 8% (w/v) sulphuric
 acid solution for 30 sec and time delay of about 10-15 min is introduced
before drying.
 The locally damaged areas can greatly weaken the fibre if surface acid is not
evenly distributed during drying. However, in the rapid carbonising method
 with a delay of 10-15 min, the distribution of sulphuric acid between surface
acid and total acid inside the wool changes. Free surface acid penetrate into
the wool fibres and bonds to wool. Thus the amount of concentrated acid
formed during drying and baking is minimised and as a consequence, less
chemical attack occurs to wool in rapid carbonising.