Jaguar in Pakistan found that fabrics treated with Cellusoft CR had a higher tensile strength than those treated with the traditional acid cellulase Cellusoft L. Another benefit they noted is better handle.
Cellusoft CR gives a fabric better drapability and a smoother, softer feel compared to acid cellulases.
Shahid Ayub, General Manager of Operations at Jaguar, says: “Cellusoft CR helped us to land a big order from an international brand in the UK that has strict quality standards. The UK customer was not satisfied with the results when they received samples from us and other mills in other countries using acid cellulases. However, later on, when we submitted samples BioPolished with Cellusoft CR, we got the order.”
Modern mill
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From left to right: Shahid Ayub, General Manager of Operations at Jaguar; Ahsun Iqbal, Customer Solutions Manager for Novozymes in Pakistan, and Sajjad Hamayun, Marketing Manager of Chemtech, the Novozymes distributor for textiles in Pakistan. |
Jaguar Private Ltd. is one of the leading names in knits processing in the Pakistani textile industry. They are a garment manufacturer with 2,500 employees and annual sales of approximately USD 33 million. This modern, vertically integrated mill is situated in Faisalabad in Pakistan, where they process up to 20 tons per day of dyed and white knitted fabric. The jet dyers they use are Sclavos & Thies integrated machines of 400 to 1,000 kg capacity, and the dyehouse is fully automated.
They produce a wide variety of knitted garments, including childrenswear, menswear and ladieswear. All garments are for export, primarily to Europe and North America. The fabrics are made of cotton or a blend of cotton and lycra. The latter is a more expensive stretch fabric and is usually BioPolished to enhance the quality.
Jaguar previously used Cellusoft L for BioPolishing, but they were one of the first mills to test Cellusoft CR back in 2005 when Novozymes was evaluating the enzyme prior to the launch. After successful trials, they decided to switch from Cellusoft L to Cellusoft CR in April 2006.
“Easy to use”
Shahid Ayub says: “The product is very easy to use due to a broader pH range, and now we don’t need to adjust the pH to pH 5 for BioPolishing. We can do BioPolishing at pH 7-8.”
For the mill, the biggest benefit is time saving because adjusting pH involves time and careful monitoring. About 30-45 minutes per bleaching step can be saved compared to BioPolishing with Cellusoft L. This allows the mill to increase the throughput of the jet dyers where the enzyme is added.
Apart from Cellusoft CR, Jaguar is currently conducting trials with another Novozymes enzyme called Scourzyme® L, a pectate lyase used for ‘BioScouring’ - the biological removal of impurities.
Before and after
BioPolishing is now carried out either after bleaching or after dyeing, depending on the particular requirement for the fabric.
When BioPolishing under acidic conditions, substantial changes in shade make it impractical to perform the process after dyeing. However, when Cellusoft CR is used after dyeing, the change in shade is very slight.
Energy savings
Jaguar has a rinsing system called Aquachrom in which the residual process water is drained out and fresh water is added automatically in a ratio of 50:50, thus saving time by quickly adjusting temperature to the desired level.
The recommended temperature for BioPolishing is 55°C, but the Jaguar mill has found that they can obtain very good results at 40°C and even at 30°C. The heating system at the mill is based on the use of oil, which has risen steeply in price in recent years. Reduced process temperatures result in reduced fuel bills.
Shahid Ayub comments: “Overall we find Cellusoft CR to be very user-friendly with exceptional results and we had no hesitation in using it routinely in our process.”