Benninger & Wet Processing

Technical Report
On
Wet Processing
( Jan - Feb 2006)

Prepared By
AZHAR KHAN
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 Index

 Introduction
 Purpose of Report
 Wet Process Machines In L.T.M

 Singeing Process
 Chemistry of Singeing
 Singeing Machine
 Desizing
 Chemistry of Desizing
 Desizing Machine
 Scouring
 Chemistry Of Scouring

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 Bleaching
 Chemistry Of Bleaching
 Bleaching Machine
 Quantitative Analysis Of Liquor Chemicals

 Mercerizing
 Chemistry of Mercerizing
 Mercerizing Machine
 Quantitative Analysis Of Caustic

 Organogram Of L.T.M#. 4

 References

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 Introduction
Dear Readers,

Textile Industry is always supposed to be the basic requirement from very start of the first
civilization of the world. Moving through centuries this industry has adopted so many inventions
and technologies to fulfill the continuously rising demand of textile goods in all over the world. To
satisfy the qualitative and quantitative demand from rapidly growing population continuous
production plants are came into being with latest machines and highly skilled labors.

In last quarter of 19th century, due to “Multi Fiber Agreement” Pakistan and other South Asian
countries have got opportunity to get economic growth through Textile Industry. Lucky Group has
played a tremendous role for Pakistani Economy via this sector especially in last couple of decades.
Lucky Textile Mills #4 is one of it’s huge project, which in located in Landhi Industrial Area. L.T.M#
4 is reflecting the latest image of textile processing zone. It is equipped with high speed wet
processing ranges of Benninger, Switzerland. And dry process ranges of Monfort Gmbh.

In this report we will mostly discuss the wet processing range of LTM# 4. Which Includes back
Process machines and Pad Steam machine as well. The information available in this report will be
helpful you to get a quick overview of wet processing zone of Lucky Textile Mills.

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 Purpose Of Report
This report is designed to provide detail regarding commissioning process of the machines. Mr. Renaldo and
Mr. Stephan, Technicians from Benninger are going to finalize the commissioning of their supplied
machines. Mr. Oliver from Benninger is leading this team and their presence is making the commissioning
comparatively faster. Another purpose of his presence is to train the local staff of LTM chemically and
mechanically as well.

The selected guys would have to get machine and process knowledge from Mr.. Oliver and they have to
mention all the wet processes in detail in their reports. I have tried my best to forward mechanical
information of the machines instead of chemical facts. In this report reader will find some formulae useful
for processes, their derivations and some helpful knowledge regarding machine’s behavior.

I would like to pay my deep thanks for giving me this opportunity to Mr . Shoaib A. Rehman (G.M. LTM)
and Mr. Saleem Uddin (Process Mngr). With them I am very thankful to Mr. Oliver, Mr. Azhar Ali (Pre-
treatment Mngr), Mr. Kaleem Khan(Dyeing Mngr) and their staff members for their utmost supportive role
in completing this task.

Best Regards

M. yasir khan

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 Wet Process Machines In L.T.M

Lucky Textile Mills has a range of Benninger Machines for Wet

Processing.
In Pre-treatment Department Machines are:

 Osthoff Singeing
 Benninger Desizing
 Benninger Scouring/Bleaching
 Benninger Mercerizing

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 Singeing
Definition:
The process of removing protruding and projecting loose fibers from the surface of fabric is known
as “SINGEING”. In past this process was done by passing the fabric from the surface of hot
copper plates. But now with the enhancement of technology in the flame science new machines
have been invented. These machines are helpful to proceed removal of protruding fibers by means
of direct contact of controlled flame with fabric surface.

Chemistry Of Singeing:
Cotton yarn is made up of staples by means of spinning process. These staples could be of
different sizes. Normally the length of these staples could be varied in between 0.8 to 1.2 inches
and the diameter of staple could be calculated in microns. But most of the time the ratio in
between the length and diameter of staple is about 100:1. As the length of these staples are not
significant to each other. Therefore when these staples are turned into the shape of yarns by
means of spinning then mostly the ends of the comparatively small staples are projected out of the
yarn during manufacturing and as well as due to friction of fabric with other surfaces and with
fabric itself.
When this fabric is passed over the intensified flame of about 800°C for 4x10^-4 seconds then
these projecting fibers are turned into ash and the surface of the fabric gets comparatively
smoother than the un-singed fabric.

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 Singeing Machine
Singeing Machine is consist of a complete system. The main parts of this
system are:
 Fabric Intake System

 Drying Drums

 Brushing & Vacuum Suction 1

 Burner’s Chamber

 Brushing & Vacuum Suction 2

 Chemical Impregnating Chamber

 Squeezer and Fabric out-take System

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Fabric Intake System:
Fabric intake system is consist of few typically designed parts. Some
descriptions of these parts are given below:

 Fabric could be fed into the machine in the form of piles or could be taken from the
batch roll. Due to the reason of getting smooth intake the performance of batch
rolls is better than piles. Batch roll should have break device with to feed the fabric
smoothly. The absence of break system on the batch roll could invite an accidental
damage to the machine and to the fabric as well. This could be happened because
of the inertia of the heavy batch roll when the machine is suddenly stopped while
running at high speed.

 There are certain guide rolls at the entry of the machine for the smooth fabric’s
travelling and to avoid the physical crease formation on the fabric.

 SCRAY is located at the entry of this intake system. So that the fabric could be
stored into it. This storage is useful to change the batch roll without stopping the
machine. After scray the fabric moves through a tension rode to provide a relaxed
movement to the moving fabric. While traveling longitudinally the fabric could move
tangentially in either direction. Therefore a device is present after tension rode to
feed the fabric in certain running width, which is adjusted according to the process
requirement. This device is known as guider. It helps to control the tangential
movement of the fabric and as well as stretch the fabric tangentially.

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Bow Roll & Drying Drums
 After passing the guider fabric is traveled along the surface of the bow roll. The
function of this bow roll is to cover any bowing of the fabric which could be occurred
due to the pull of fabric across the guide rolls of feeding intake system.

 In average the fabric made up of cotton and its blend contains more than 15%
moisture in it. This is because of hygroscopic nature of cotton fiber. Instead of it if
we want some more detail then we have to have a look of weaving as well.

 In weaving section the wefts and warps are weaved together to form fabric. Warps
need more strength to be weaved smoothly. For this purpose sizing is done warp
yarns. Sizing paste is consist of Starch, PVA(Poly-Venyl Alcohol), CMC (Carboxy
Methyl Cellulose), Lubricants and salts. The quantity of the starch leads the recipe of
sizing paste and most of the times the percentage of the starch is about 85% of
whole paste by weight.
 Starch also lies in the category of -Amylase as the cotton does. Starch is different
from cotton just because of its comparatively less degree of polymerization. Hens
chemical properties of starch are similar to that of cotton fiber. With this fact starch
also absorbs moisture from the air.

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  This moisture could easily disturb the process of singeing. Singeing could not give
smooth and even results until this moisture is present in the fabric. Therefore the
fabric is moved over the surface of hot drying drums to evaporate the moisture
present in the fabric. The temperature of the surfaces of these drums is about 100
C.

Brushing & Vacuum Suction 1

 Grey fabric contains lot of fluff over its surface. And the very loosely physically
bonded protruding and projecting fibers turned into fluff as well while the fabric is
running over the surface of guide rolls, which persist some friction force to these
fibers and converts them into fluff as well. This fluff keeps on the surface of the
fabric because of electrostatic charges and vendor wall forces. So they need some
force to leave the surface of the fabric.
 On singeing machine this is done by means of brushing on the fabric. Therefore a
brushing device is installed on the machine, which wipes out the fluff from the
fabric’s surface. These brushes are made up of hard nylon fibers, which help to give
an adequate result without damaging the fabric surface.

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 The fluff leaving the fabric’s surface could again adhere back on the fabric. To
avoid this problem a vacuum suction pump is attached with the brushing chamber.
This pump collects all the fluff and dust from the brushing chamber and collect into
a container.

Burner’s Chamber:
 Burner’s chamber is the zone where the singeing process is actually taken place.
Mostly the fabric runs through this chamber at a speed of more than 120 m/min. In
LTM the burner’s chamber at singeing is consist of :

 Burners
 Cooling Rolls
 Heat Exchanger

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 There are four burners in the singeing zone. And the controlling system to
operate these burners are not dependant of each other. The operator has full
authority for their selection to use. All burners could be run together and only
selected drums could be run as per requirement. The threading allows to do
one side singeing as well as both side singeing. The flame intensity could be
varied from 5 - 20 mbar. The machine has the capability to stop automatically
and to immediately stop the gas supply in case of incorrect combustion inside
of the combustion chambers or if the flame extinguishes.

 There is a fuel preparation device which mixes the natural gas with air in ratio
of 1:4. It is very necessary to clean the nozzles of the burner on regular basis
otherwise the ash of protruding fiber is stored on the mouths of gas nozzles
which causes bad effects to the process.

 Carbon dioxide is continuously being produced in the burner’s chamber. And if

it stays in the chamber it will extinguish the flames. Therefore there is an
exhaust fan which pushes out all the carbon dioxide from the singeing
chamber.

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 To support the fabric in front of flame there are
six rolls in the singeing chamber. Four rolls for
the upper two burners and two rolls for the
lower two burners.
 The position of these rolls could be adjusted in
a way that the flame directly hits the fabric on
the surface of the rolls and they could also be
adjusted in a way that the flame hit the fabric
and there is no roll behind the fabric.

 Actually these rolls are being kept cooled by means of circulating cool water into them. The
steel roller absorbs heat from the flame and eventually becomes hot enough to melt most
thermoplastic fibers.
 Singer is arranged so the fabric is routed around these steel roller at the point where the
flame impinges on it. This opens up the fabric to make the projecting hairs more accessible
to the flame.

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 There is a thermal plates heat exchanger attached with the cooling rolls which extract
the heat from the water; returning from the rolls. And re-circulates this water again
into the cooling rolls.

Brushing & Vacuum Suction 2

After facing very much intensified flames protruding fibers of the fabric are converted into ashy
fluff. It is very important to remove this ash from the fabric’s surface. Otherwise this will cause
contamination in baths of next wet processes.

To solve this problem on precautionary basis there is brushing chamber just after singeing zone.
The function of this chamber is the same as of previous brushing chamber. Brushing rolls sweep
the ash from the fabric’s surface and this ash is collected in a container by means of vacuum
suction pump. The collection of this vacuum chamber is almost the same as of the previous one .

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 Desizing
Definition:
Desizing is a the first wet process to remove sizing chemicals from the fabric especially
from the warp yarns.
Starch molecule are poly-sacrides in nature and they are required to be converted into
mono-sacrides.Once a starch solution dries, the resulting film will not readily re-dissolve in
water; therefore, to completely remove starch from a fabric, the polymer must be chemically
degraded to make it water soluble. Three chemical methods can be used to degrade starch into
water soluble compounds namely;


Enzymatic Desizing
 Acid Hydrolysis
 Oxidative Desizing
Each Method has its own peculiar advantages and disadvantages.

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Enzymatic Desizing:
 Enzyme desizing is the most widely practiced method of desizing starch.
 Enzymes are high molecular weight protein biocatalyst that are very specific in their
 action.
 Enzymes are named after the compound they break down, for example,
 Amylase breaks down amylose and amylopectin, Maltase breaks down maltose
and
 Cellulase breaks down cellulose.

 For desizing starch, amylase and maltase are used.

 Amylase will degrade starch into maltose, a water soluble disaccharide and Maltase will
convert maltose into glucose, a simple sugar.
 There are two types of amylases
 Alpha Amylase produced from Malt Enzymes, Pancreatic Enzymes and Bacterial
Enzymes(bacillus subtillin )
 Beta Amylase are majorly produced produced from Malt Enzymes.

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 Chemical Impregnating Chamber For Desizing

After getting vacuum suction the fabric passes through chemical impregnating chamber
to pick up the desizing liquor. The time of impregnation plays a very keen role in any
wet processing. Keeping this fact important, double threading chamber is installed in
LTM. Which is capable to provide 28 meters impregnating length to the fabric being
processed. Five drives are equipped separately with upper rollers. These drives help to
run the fabric in equilibrium state through out the impregnating compartment. Each
drive is digitally connected with the sensor of load cell, which is located just before the
exit of chamber.

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 Load Cell is monitoring device which monitors the tension of fabric in whole impregnating
chamber. It regulates the speed of the fabric according to the requirement of tension in the
fabric. Tension in the load cell is always kept more than the compensator of that chamber.

 Why the load cell is required in impregnating chamber and

how does it work?
There is a compensatory role before chamber and a set of squeezing rolls after the chamber.
When the fabric enters into the chamber it faces two medium into it. One of water and
another of relatively moist air.
 The continuously zigzag transferring of medium produces variation of grip in between fabric
and guide rolls.
 The surface of the fabric becomes less slippery as far as it moves into the liquor.
 A slight elongation is also taken place in the fabric as well because of facing tension in wet
medium.
All these factors alters the tension on each guide roll and drive motors. But the squeezing
rolls can not sense these factors and it pulls the fabric according to the pre-defined speed.
Such miscommunication in between washing’s drives and squeezing rolls may damage the
machine and fabric as well.

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So we can say that load cell is a source of communication in between squeezing rolls and
chamber’s drives.
 When it finds an increase in force from squeezing rolls then it lifts itself and send

messages to drives of chamber to increase up their speed so that equilibrium could be

maintained in whole movement.
 When it finds that the fabric from the drives are coming with more speed and squeezing

rolls are pulling fabric with less speed in comparison to the speed of drives, then it
orders drives to reduce their speed so as to increase the tension in the fabric.

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 Scouring
Definition:
The process of removing the impurities from the fibers is called Scouring.
The impurities could be classified with the nature of fiber. There are two
types of fibers which are mostly used in woven industries of Pakistan.
 Natural Fiber i.e. Cotton
 Synthetic Fiber i.e. Polyester

 Natural fibers contain oils, fats, waxes, minerals, leafy matter and motes as
impurities that interfere with dyeing and finishing.
 Synthetic fibers contain producer spin finishes, coning oils and weaving oils.

Mill grease used to lubricate processing equipment, mill dirt, temporary fabric
markings etc.

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These impurities are not soluble in water, they can be removed by
 Extraction, dissolving the impurities in organic solvents.
 Emulsification, forming stable suspensions of the impurities in water.
 Saponification, Converting the contaminates into water soluble components .
Chemically, fats and waxes are esters of fatty acids. Fats, also known as triglycerides. These triglycerides
could be converted into fatty acids by means of hydrolysis process.

Hydrolysis of Triglycerides
Hydrolysis of triglycerides could be done in two ways.
 Acid Hydrolysis
 Base Hydrolysis or Saponification

Acid Hydrolysis:
The hydrolysis is catalyzed by strong acids to yield free fatty acids.

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Saponification or Base Hydrolysis:
In textile industries acid hydrolysis is not a suitable process therefore saponification has always
been in the practice of industrial technicians of textile field to remove oils from the fabric.This
hydrolysis is carried out under alkaline conditions where one mole of alkali is consumed per mole
of fatty acid. The alkali salts of fatty acids are called soaps.

The scouring could also be done by means of extraction process and then it is termed as
solvent scouring. The solvents have power to penetrate into hydrophobic waxes and oil’s
layers and to dissolve them quickly. But industries could not afford this method because of so
many reasons and one of them is obviously a cost factor. Hence we all believe that using
solvents or emulsifiers with the traditional aqueous caustic scouring process is more acceptable
and beneficial than just using any solvent alone. In this way this process would also known as
solvent scouring.

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The characteristic speckled look of cotton greige fabrics is caused by cotton motes
that were not removed during the yarn making process.
 Mote removal is a major objective in scouring cotton.
 Another objective of scouring is to remove minerals, waxes and pectines and
to improve absorbency.
There are three components in a cotton scouring bath:
 Caustic: To swell and dissolve the motes and to saponify oils and
waxes,

 Surfactant: To lower the bath's surface tension so it can wet-out the

fabric faster and to emulsifies oils and waxes and

 Chelating agent: To form water dispersible complexes with heavy metals.

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 Bleaching
Definition:
Natural fibers, i.e. cotton, wool, linen etc. are off-white in color due to color bodies present in
the fiber. The degree of off-whiteness varies from batch-to-batch. Bleaching therefore can be
defined as the destruction of these color bodies by means of oxidation and reduction as
well.
White is also an important market color so the whitest white has commercial value. Yellow
is a component of derived shades. For example, when yellow is mixed with blue, the shade
turns green. A consistent white base fabric has real value when dyeing light to medium shades
because it is much easier t o reproduce shade matches on a consistent white background than
on one that varies in amount of yellow.
Reductive Bleaches reduce color bodies into colorless compounds. Most textile fibers are
bleached with oxidizing bleaches.

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 However The Bleaching could be done by means of different Agents e.g.
SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE, SODIUM CHLORITE.
But we will discuss the mechanism which is in practice of LTM and new world. i.e.

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
 Today, it is estimated that 90 t o 95 % of all cotton and cotton/synthetic blends are
bleached with hydrogen peroxide.
 It is available commercially as 35, 50 and 70 % solutions.
 Decomposition is accelerated by metal contamination and is accompanied by the liberation
of heat and oxygen, which will support combustion and explosions in confined spaces.
 Hydrogen Peroxide is a n irritant to the skin and dangerous to the eyes.
 It is a corrosive, oxidizing agent which may cause combustion when allowed to dry out on
oxidizable organic matter.

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 Mechanism
Of
H2O2 BLEACHING
Hydrogen peroxide is a weak acid and ionizes in water to form a hydrogen ion and a per
hydroxyl ion in the presence of Alkali. The per hydroxyl ion is the active bleaching agent.

These per hydroxyl ions are then combine with Hydrogen ions of this medium to
generate Nascent Oxygen and water molecules. The discoloration of color particles of the
fabric is done by means of these nascent oxygen atoms.

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This nascent oxygen is always in very much activated form and is the only reason of
Bleaching with hydrogen peroxide. But one risk is always associated with these
decomposed oxygen atoms . That is they could combine with themselves to form
oxygen gas. And the composition of oxygen gas is highly exothermic reaction. And
this reaction produces about more than 450 joules/mole.

The nascent oxygen atoms move randomly in straight lines through out the medium
and the probability of their meeting is very less but if there is something which could
provide them a platform to get them into contact with each other then this platform
would Invite a big danger for the fabric. These platforms are known as catalysts
and metal particles are supposed to be the best catalysts for this reaction. Iron
particles could come from winding and weaving machine steam lines,manganese salts
from service water and copper salts from fittings of machine.

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 Effect of pH
Hydrogen peroxide is an extremely weak acid. Since the per hydroxyl ion is the
desired bleaching specie, adding caustic neutralizes the proton and shifts the reaction
to the right. Therefore:

 At pH < 10, hydrogen peroxide is the major specie so it is inactive a s a bleach.

 At pH 10 to 11, there is a moderate concentration of per hydroxyl ions.
 pH 10.2 to 10.7 is optimum for controlled bleaching.
 Sodium hydroxide is used to obtain the proper pH. At pH > 11, there is a rapid
generation of per hydroxyl ions.
 When the pH reaches 11.8, all of the hydrogen peroxide is converted to per
hydroxyl ions and bleaching is out of control.

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 Effect of Time and Temperature
Stabilized hydrogen peroxide does not decompose at high temperature therefore
faster and better bleaching occurs at 95 to 100 0C. This feature makes it ideal for
continuous operations using insulated open-width steamers.

Stabilizers
Stabilizers must be added to the bleach solution to control the decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide. Stabilizers function by providing buffering action to control the
pH at the optimum level and to complex with trace metals which catalyze the
degradation of the fibers.

Stabilizers are mainly consist of sodium silicate, organic compounds and phosphates
And their derivatives. Silicates are no more in use because of giving harsh effect on
the fabric. With stabilizer sequestering agent is also used in bleaching and its purpose
is to convert the metal particles into water soluble compounds so as to minimize the
risk of pin holes appearance on the fabric.

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Benninger Range In L.T.M.

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In L.T.M. continuous bleaching range is installed which is manufactured by

Benninger Gmbh. This machine is a perfect reflection of latest technology

and has ability to produce one short scoured bleached fabric at a speed of
150 meter per minute.

The parts of the machine are selected by keeping the most economical,
Technical and problem free aspects on selection table. The machine is
composite of different sections which are:

 Fabric Infeed Section

 Pre-Washing Section (Consist of Fortracta, Evoc, Extracta)
 Impecta
 Steamer with Saturator
 Post Washing Section(Consist of Fortracta, Extracta, Neutralizing
Chamber )
 Drying Zone and Fabric Out Take System

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Fabric Infeed Section
Fabric Infeed section is consist of several guide rolls, tension rods, compensator, bow
roll pull rollers, Scray device and guiders. Guide rolls are located in a way that the
Fabric could travel very smoothly and remain equally tensed in whole infeed section.
After these rolls the fabric is guided into the center by means of guiders.

Pull rollers are installed just above the scray device to pull the fabric into the scray
from the batch roll. These rolls are insulated with rubber material which helps them to
pull the fabric with more force. As the fabric has to drop into the scray by means of
Potential energy therefore it could be wrapped with pull roles because of lose of
fabric’s inertia and air friction. To avoide this situation a star roll is present under pull
rolls which push the fabric continuously away from the pull rolls . Then Fabric drops
into the scray device. Scray device has capacity to store about 800 meter fabric.

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In benninger machine scray needs to get some modification. Presently it is made up
of steel rods. And the gape in between each rod is about 5 inches. When the fabric
drops into scray then its selvedges are turned and slightly stuck into these gapes.
Because of this problem it becomes difficult to lift up the fabric flat and smooth from
the scray.

This problem could be solved by placing a metal Sheet behind skeleton of scray so
that the fabric could not move through the scray’s rods.
Then passing through the tension rod, bow roll and compensator the fabric goes into
pre-washing zone of the machine.

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Pre-Washing Section

Pre-washing section of the machine is designed to remove the desized starch, dirt and
fluff of the fabric. If we take a look on bleaching chemical recipes then we can easily
understand that because of the justified location of each part in pre-washing zone,
bleaching machine is giving remarkable economical results.

The pre-washing section is consist of:

 One Fortracta
 One Evoc System
 Three Washing Chambers

Instead of these parts a set (of a couple of squeezing rolls, expanding device and bow
roll) is also built in before each washing chamber.

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Fortracta:
Fortracta is a chamber which works to wash the fabric just by means of water so we
can say that it is new shape of washing chamber. However it is considered to be more
Economical and efficient than conventional washing cambers. It consumes less
Amount of water and gives approximately 40% better results than a washing
chamber.
The theory behind the design the fortracta is completely based on the relation of
some important physic’s rules and fluid mechanics.
 The directions of the fabric and the water are counter to each other. Somehow
water is falling in the gape by means of potential energy plus some pressure head
which is being developed by means of continuously water feeding pump.
 The fabric and the water meets in a narrow path while the flow rate of the water
is constant through out the system.
 We know that Flow Rate = Velocity x Area i.e. F= v. A
 As flow rates of water in the upper broader area and the narrow meeting path are
constant then we can say that F1 = F2=F or v1 . .A1 = v 2..A2 i.e. the products of
velocity and Area in broader section should be equal to the product of velocity and
area in narrow section.

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 If these products are same and the area is being decreased then the
velocity must be going to increased.
 And increasing velocity means increasing change in the momentum of
water .
 And increasing change in the momentum of water means the increasing
change in force.
 And increasing change in force means the increase in pressure.
 And increasing change in pressure means the more powerful collision in
between water molecules and the unwanted loose particles which are
present in fabric.
 And better collision of water with dirt and desized starch gives better
washing.
 This is the reason that a small fortracta could give 40% better results
than a normal washing chamber.

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 Fortracta could be installed
with or without a filtering
unit.
 As fortracta needs big quantity
of water therefore it is
preferred to recycle the water
by using filter device.
 So as to get economical results
a filtering unit is installed with
each fortracta in Lucky Textile
Mills.

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 Filtering Device
 Contaminated water from fortracta
comes into the first section of filter .
 And passes through a rotating gauze.
 Then fed back to the fortracta by
means of a pump.
 Sensor 1 senses the level of water in
second section of the unit. When level
goes down to this sensor then a
motor starts to wash the gauze while
its rotating. Its drainage goes out of
unit through a separate line.
 When the level of water reaches to
Sensor 2 then the pump stops to
feed water into the fortracta from the
filtering device.

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Evac System

After fortracta the fabric comes into

Evac unit. Evac unit is basically a vacuum
Extractor. Water in capillaries and spaces
between fibers and yarns is not bound as
strongly as water in the interior of the fiber.
The amount in the pores and spaces can
be reduced by passing the fabric over a
Vacuum slot. It consists of a hollow tube with a slot orifice running the length of the tube. A
vacuum pump is connected to the end of the tube and fabric passes over the orifice. The orifice
Is designed to get the greatest pressure drop through the fabric An automatic slot seal
Covers the portion of the slot left uncovered by the fabric and insures maximum vacuum
efficiency through the fabric. Most of the fluff and desized starch is sucked with this vacuum with
water as well. And this removal increases the pre-washing range by at least 10 %.

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 Pre-Washing Chambers

There are three washing chambers

installed in between evac device and
impecta. Each washing has a separate
in-feed system, which is consist of
 One Double Spiral Expanding Roll
 One Set Of Squeezing Rolls
 One Bow Roll
 One Compensator Roll

Double Spiral Expanding Roll expands the fabric through out the width of the fabric.
So as to minimize the risk of crease formation before entering in between squeezing
rolls.
Set Of Squeezing Rolls squeezes all the water from the fabric so that the next
washing chamber could not get the contaminated water into it from the previous
section.

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Bow Roll
Coming out of the squeezing rolls the fabric is passed over a bow roll. Bow roll is
designed in a way that it exerts different forces in its different points through out its
length. Force is minimized as far as we move away from it’s center point.
The selvedge of a fabric is always denser than whole of the width. This is the reason
That the selvedges move faster in the squeezer as compare to the central portion of
the fabric width. This change brings bows in the fabric. And the bow roll is considered
as the best remedy to recover these bows from the fabric.

Compensator Roll
In the starting of each washing chamber there is a compensator role. It’s function is
to control the tension in the fabric so that any crease couldn’t be formed in the fabric.
Raising its tension to the optimum limit the crease could be removed from the running
fabric at any time. If more tension is given to it then it will elongate the fabric which
is not likely for the next finishing, dyeing or printing process.

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 Washing Chamber
All pre-washing chambers on Benninger Bleaching are of equal length.
 Tight strand of each chamber is 21 Meters.
 All upper five rolls have separate drives. So as to minimize the tension on the
fabric which could be exerted by the guide rolls.
 Each upper roll has a roll with it whose diameter is less in comparison of the
diameter of drive roll.
 These small rolls provide tension into the fabric and give a superb massage to the
fabric so that water could penetrate into the maximum inner of the fabric. Instead
of it these rolls help to increase the linear capacity of the chambers as well.
 There are seven guide rolls in the bottom of the chamber and they just move on
bearings because of the driving force of the fabric.
 There is an expander roll in the upper central part of the chamber which helps to
open the width of the fabric and to stop the tendency of selvedge formation within
the washing chamber.

44
Impecta

45
Some Features of Impecta
 Impecta has complete automatic metering dozing system.
 Capacity of the Impecta is 210 liters.
 There are seven pumps and seven flow meters attached with it for
chemical dozing.
 Each chemical is separately dozed into the impecta.
 It works on the principle of exchanging liquor.
 There is a level sensor in the impecta which maintains the chemical’s
level in it.
 There is a set of heavy squeezing rolls before impecta and a set of nib
rolls at its exit.
 It dozes the chemical on the basis of the weight of the fabric.
 Liquor Exchange Factor of impecta is about 35% percent.
 Whole system is stimulated with the software of PLC.
 Effective Pick Up of Impecta could be changed for each fabric but its not
recommended by benninger’s technicians.

46
 First Filling Of Impecta

Commands to fill up the impecta are given by means of PLC device. And
it controls all the dozing very much mathematically. And each mili-liter of
the chemicals is then dozed with the help of pre-designed and built-in

calculations. To start the dozing operator needs to provide following

data to the computer:

 Required Speed Of The Machine (meter/ min)

 Kg.L.M Of The Fabric (Kg/ linear Meter)

 Required Dosage Of Each Chemical (ml/ kg)

47
With the help of this data computer will calculate the required Flow Rate of
each chemical and will send the commands to the chemical pumps.

Flow Rate (ml/ min) = Speed Of the Machine(m/min) x Kg.L.M of the Fabric (Kg/Lin.
Meter)x Volume of Chemical Per Kg Of the Fabric (ml/ kg)

 The first pump which starts to feed the impecta is the pump of water.In
first step 130 liters of water is filled into the impecta. And then it stops
before 170 m.m of dozing limits.
 Then all chemical pumps but of peroxide start to doze the chemicals
according to the given recipe. Peroxide is then dozed after all chemicals.
When the required amounts are dozed then all pumps are stopped. And
 Remaining length of 170 m.m. of dozing limits is then filled up with
water.

48
 Pick Up Inlet & Pick Up Outlet
It is a fact that outlet pickup of the
impecta plays very important role in the
Bleaching results and it should be
approximately 100% through out the
width of the fabric. But if the inlet pickup
of the fabric is equal to the outlet pickup
then it will disturb the results by means of
diluting liquor in impecta.

TO avoid this situation squeezers with

Heavy pressure are located before
impecta and light squeezers are located
just after impecta so that high pick up
could be obtained at outlet.

49
 Pre-Reduction Of H2O2
 Pre-Reduction Of Peroxide in bleaching had been played a very intensive
role in having tailing effects on the fabric.

 This problem was first resolved by Kuusters Gmbh. And then Benninger
adopt the patent Kuusters technology . This is known as add-on
technology. Which assures the longer peroxide stability in saturator
i.e. Impecta.

 The residential time of fabric in impecta is not more than 5m/ 100
(m/min). So heat exchange factor from pre-washing could not effect
the peroxide stability by more than 35%.

 Chemically this problem is also controlled by stabilizer.

50
 Liquor Exchange Factor
The impacta is working on the principle of liquor exchange instead of liquor
Addition . But this is an ideal situation however reality shows partial
combination of these both attitudes. So there is always a factor through
which the liquor is being exchanged in the impacta.
 Exchange

 Addition

We can define Liquor Exchange Factor as a substitution factor by which

the water in the fabric (entering impecta) is exchanged with the liquor of
impacta.

Explanation:
 Lets consider that 100 grams of fabric comes into impacta with 50%
pickup of water I.e. 50 gm water.
 Lets suppose the Ex. Factor is 0.6. This means that 0.6 moles per mole of
water are replaced with liquor in the impacta.

51
 Then the amount of water which would be replaced by liquor is :
Exchanged Amount Of Water = 50 x 0.6 = 30 gm.
Means the fabric will now have 20 gm water(from pre-washings) into it.
 Lets suppose the exit pickup of the fabric is 100% then this means that
fabric would pick 80 gm liquor up from the impacta. And the 100 gm
fabric would have 100 gm water into it.
 This means that the “Effective Pick up” of this setup is 80%.
 Effective Pick Up is a dependant of Exchange Factor.
 To Calculate Exchange Factor we need to determine the Effective Pickup.

Effect. Pick-up(%) = (Chemical per KG of Fabric/ Vol.Conc. In Impacta) x 100

And

Ex. Factor = (Eff. P.U – Exit. P.U+Entry. P.U) / Entry P.U.

52
 Concentrations
Of
Chemicals
 Although the automatic dozing system feeds the chemical with
consideration of Exchange Factor and Effective Pick Up as well but the
fabric which is coming into the impacta may change the liquor conc.
Connecting with the data discussed above we can explain the flow of
water through out the system as
 Each KG of fabric brings 500gm water into impacta.
 With Ex Factor = 0.6 it leaves 300 gm water into impacta and takes 200 gm
of this water with it out of impacta.
 Exit pick up is 100%. Means it takes 800 gm liquor from impacta. For a kg
fabric, if we are dozing total 50 gm chemicals then this means that pumps are
dozing 750 gm water for each KG of fabric.
 Means there are three risks related with water dozing which could bring
change in concentration of impacta. If the fabric is running at a speed of 100
m/min with GLM=300. Means in a minute 30 Kg fabric is bringing 9 kg water,
pumps are dozing 22.5 kg water and fabric is taking 28.5 kg water out of Imp.
 Minimum fluctuations in chemical flows could bring a significant change in
concentration of impacta after time to time.

53
 To recover any error because of the facts mentioned above it is
recommended to check out the concentration of liquor in impacta after
time to time.
 For this purpose there is a valve in impacta to take out the samples from
it. We can determine the concentrations of peroxide and caustic in liquor
by means of Titration.

TITRATION:

When an acid is mixed with a base then it forms water and salt. And its
end point could be determined in presence of specific indicator. For
different pH ranges different indicators are used. For caustic titration
against HCL we use Phenolphthalein and for peroxide titration against
KMnO4 we use Sulfuric Acid.

54
 Caustic Titration

Procedure:

 Take 1.N HCl in a burette.

 Wash and rinse a conical flask.
 Take 10 ml bleaching sample in the conical flask.
 Pour few drops of phenolphthalein in it.
 The color of solution will become pink.
 Titrate this solution against 1.0 N HCl.
 The color of solution will turned to transparent at the end point.
 Take the difference in between initial and final readings.
 Repeat the same process and take the average of both readings. Let the
average reading is “X” ml.
55
 Calculations
To calculate the concentration of 48 °Be NaOH from the value of HCl Law Of
Equilibrium is used, which says;
N 1 . V 1 = N 2 . V2
i.e. Normality of NaOH x Volume of NaOH Taken = Normality of HCl x Volume Of HCl Used

Hence N1 = (N2 . V2) / V1

Where N1 = No. Of Moles of NaOH per liter
Putting N2 = 1 N & V1 = 10 ml
Then N1 = V2 /10 ------- (Equ. 1)
As N = Gram /(Equivalent Mass x Vol. In Liters)
N = gm / ( Eq. Mass x Liter)
Putting Value of N in Equation 1
gm/(Eq. Mass x Liter) = V2/10
gm/ Liter = (V2/10 ) x Eq. Mass

56
Putting Eq. Mass of NaOH = 40 a.m.u.

Then Caustic in gm/ Liter = (V2/10 ) x 40

So the 100% NaOH in gm per liter can be determined as
Caustic in gm/ Liter = V2 x 4
as we are concerned with 48 °Be and its about 46. 8 percent caustic solution
Then the equation will become
gm/Liter = V2 x 4 x (100 / 46.8) = V2 x 8.5
Therefore 48 °Be caustic in gm/lit = V2 x 8.5
To convert these values in (ml/lit) divide this value by specific gravity of
48 °Be i.e; 1.5.
Then 48 °Be caustic in ml/lit = (V2 x 8.5)/1.5
48°Be caustic in ml/lit = V2 x 5.6
So with the method of titration given in last sheet we multiply the used
volume of HCl with 5.6 to get the ml/lit conc. Of caustic in bleaching liquor.

57
 Peroxide Conc.
 Take 0.1 N KMNO4 in burette.
 Rinse the conical flask carefully.
 Take 1.0 ml sample of bleaching liquor in a conical flask.
 Take 3-5 ml sulfuric acid of 10% in sample.
 Titrate it against KMNO4 until the color of solution becomes pink.
 Take the difference of initial and final readings.
 Repeat the process and take average of both values of KMNO4.

Using Law Of Equilibrium to calculate the peroxide concentration.

As, N1 . V1 = N2 . V2
N1 = (N2 . V2)/ V1
where, N = mass/( equivalent mass x vol. In liter)
Then, H2O2 (gm/lit) = (N2 . V2 . equivalent mass)/ V1 ---( Equ 1)

As,
Equivalent Mass of H2O2 = 34 / 2 = 17 a.m.u.
N2 = 0.1 N & V1 = 1 ml

58
Putting the values in equation 1:
Equ. 1 H2O2 (gm/lit) = (0.1 x V2 x 17)/ 1
H2O2 (gm/lit) = 1.7 V2
H2O2 (gm/lit) 50% = 1.7 x 2 x V2 = 3.4 V2
To convert this value in ml/lit  dividing by specific gravity of 50% H2O2 i.e. 1.19 g/l
Then
H2O2 (gm/lit) 50% = 2.85 V2

59
 Level Transmitting Device
If there is something wrong in dozing then the calibration of the pumps and
flow meters should be done. However as far as the liquor level in impacta is
concerned then to maintain it a level sensor is installed in it which does not
allow the liquor to enter into the impacta beyond a certain limit . It works
on the basis of reflecting electrodes. When any medium comes in between
Two terminals then it stops the pumps to doze chemicals and water
anymore.

This is the reason that Benninger recommends for the use of low foaming
chemicals in this setup, otherwise fluctuation in results would take place.

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 Pick Up Test

As it is mentioned before that the entry pick up of the impacta is always

Less than the exit pick up. The entry pick up could not be changed however
the exit squeezer has the option to change its through out pressure. To
Check out the performances of these squeezers tests were conducted on
Jan 27, 2006 in presence of Mr. Oliver. The details are:

61
 Date: Jan 27, 2006

Observations
Of
Effective Pick Up

S. No. Quality Construction Width G.L.M Speed Entry P. UP Ex. P. UP Ex. Factor Effect. P.UP

40x40/ 123x
1 CVC 68 94'' 296 130 50% 105% 0.55 0.83

2 PC 30x30/ 76x68 98'' 316 130 53% 112% 0.55 0.88

3 CT 7x7/ 68x38 63'' 630 80 58% 103% 0.55 0.77

40x40/
4 CT-Per 120x90 96'' 330 130 51% 95% 0.55 0.72

5 CT 30x30/76x68 76'' 240 130 64% 117% 0.55 0.88

Exit Padder
Pressure 700N

62
 Reacta
The
Steamer
 Tight Strand = 5 chambers x 25 meter = 125 meters
 Length Of Steamer = 12.7 meters
 Dwell Time = 6 – 40 minutes
 Max Capacity = 1470 kg
 Max Speed Recommended= 150 m/min
 Max Fabric meter capacity= 150 x 40 = 6000 meter
 Steam injects from the end point of tight strand.
 Temperatures of the steamers are 97 °C, 98 °C and 99 °C .
 Saturated Steam is used to activate the chemicals.
 Entry and exit speeds could be set at different rates.
 Compensating rolls, compensating rod, guide rolls, break roll,Piling roll,
roller bed and a number of expanding devices are installed for smooth
operation.

63
 Steamer Operation
 After getting chemicals the fabric goes into steamer for the activation of
the chemicals. Here it is treated with saturated steam, which is being
injected from the steam saturator.
 Saturated steam is defined as the steam at its condensation point or the water at
its boiling point. Means that the point where the water and the steam are in
equilibrium. Slightly decrease in temperature or increase in pressure would convert
this steam into water.
 The saturator reduces the pressure and temperature of the raw steam to make it
saturated.
 Steam beyond 100 °C is in its dry steam and dry steam could bring
yellowing in the fabric by means of removing it’s bond moisture from
the internal structure.
 Anyways the fabric is firstly moves around the rolls of tight strand. This
process gives a massage to the fabric and the chemical is penetrated all
around in the fabric evenly . 125 meter tight strand gives almost 1
minute to the fabric for this massage.

64
 There are five expanding rolls in the path of tight strand which force the
fabric to move tangentially with its full width.
 Traveling through guide rolls fabric comes to the piling device. Which
moves To and Fro so that fabric leaving the piler could be dropped in
form of managed piles.
 The piles of fabric is then temporarily stored on a platform of steel rolls.
There is a roll(pile turning device) in their end which is given required
pressure. More pressure means more fabric could be stored on this
platform. When the weight of the piles coincide the force of this pile
turning device then this device moves down and signals fabric to move
on rollers bed.
 If the dwell time of the steamer is adjusted for 20 minutes then the
rollers bed would cover the distance of 12.7 meter in 20 minutes.
 There is sensor in the end of this rollers bed which decides the exit
speed of the steamer. If the steamer is overloaded then this device is
pressed and speeds up the fabric from the steamer. It also increases the
speed of all post sections e.g post washing, dryer, winding.

65
 There is a tension rod in the steamer which reduces the shock pressure
of the raising fabric so that the post speed could remain smooth.

 The fabric moves out of the steamer and the potential energy disturbs
this process by bringing variation in the speed of the fabric. To avoid this
phenomenon a break roll device is installed at the exit of steamer which
control the movement of the fabric.

66
 Steamer & Temperature
 This is very important to control the temperature of the steamer. For this
purpose three PT-100 devices are installed in three chambers of steamer
and a PT-100 device is installed in the bottom of the steamer which
senses the mix temperature of steamer and the atmosphere and decide
to open or close the steam feeding into the steamer. But with some
reasons it is mixing one more temperature as well.
 This PT-100 is installed in a pipe. Its one side is opened in steamer and
other is facing atmosphere. It reads the temperature of both sides and
observes a mix temperature. Position of this PT-100 could be changed in
this pipe. If it is located near steamer it will calculate big mix
temperature or if it is near the open end of the pipe then it will observe
lower mix temperature.
 If the mix temperature is adjusted at 93 °C then the inside temperature
of the steamer will be 98 °C and if it is 90 °C then it will adjust 95 °C
inside the steamer.

67
 Post-Washing
 Fabric from steamer comes into post section. Through out It does not
come exactly in the center of the machine’s width.
 To keep the fabric in the center of the machine a centering device is
located just before post washing sections. This is perforated roll so that
it could give good grip to the fabric.
 It works on the principle of light reflection. Light is located in one side of
the roll. And there is a reflector on other side. When fabric goes to left
side then the sensor gets darkness in left side so it orders perforated roll
to move rightwards and vice versa.

Fortracta
The chemical is deeply present into the cores of the fabric. So it requires a
good washing to remove this chemical. The washings are very strong to
wash chemicals from the surface but to neutralize the core pH of the fabric
It is required to extract the strongly adhesive alkali from its cores.

68
To achieve this task fortracta is installed which is actually receiving the
used water of the post washings which contains acid . So helping the
fabric to start neutralization in it as well.

The water from fortracta flows back to the last washing of the pre-washing
zone. Which helps somehow to take a bleaching start in the last pre-
washing. In post washing section 5 Lit water per kg of fabric is utilized to
wash the fabric. And the exit pH is adjusted at 4.5.

Post Washings:
After fortracta six post washings are installed. Their temperatures are
Temperature in Post Washing #1 = 95 °C
Temperature in Post Washing #2 = 95 °C
Temperature in Post Washing #3 = 95 °C
Temperature in Post Washing #4 = 95 °C
Temperature in Post Washing #5 = 95 °C
Temperature in Neutralizing Chamber & Post Washing #6 = 70 °C

69
 Heat Energy
 As Bleaching Machine is mostly composed of washing chambers. About
80% of the area is occupied with washing chambers. This shows that
how much washing capability of this machine is required. Washing is
always better when it is doing with hot water.
 The total quantity of steam required for one kg fabric is 2.2 to 3.5 kg.
And about 1.2 – 1.8 kg steam is only required to washing chambers.
Which becomes about 52% of whole consumption.
 To reduce this consumption a thermal plate heat exchanger is install
with bleaching machine. Which recovers about 26% of heat from the hot
water and save 26% heat energy of the whole machine.
 The hot water from washings is drained after passing through heat
exchanger and then heat exchanger sends fresh hot water back to the
washing chambers.

70
 Drying Range
 There are 24 cans with bleaching machine.

 22 For Drying
 02 For Cooling
 Steam required for drying

 0.8 to 1.4 kg per kg of fabric.

 At exit moisture sensor is installed which senses the moisture in the
fabric.
 If the machine leaving fabric is carrying more moisture then the
requirement with it then the moisture manager opens up the steam into
the dryers. If we need 5% moisture in fabric and it is 10% and the
temperature of the drying drums is 140 °C then the moisture manager
will open up the steam valve to increase the temperature. This should
happens vise versa but in actual its not working ideally.
71
Mercerizing

72