About 85% of the water in textile production is used predominantly for dyeing and inishing. These processes use about 75% of all the energy and 65% of the chemicals to convert fiber into textile. Any cut in production time, chemical, energy, and water usage means substantial cost savings for textile mills constantly working with tight cost margins. It also washes away much of the industry’s bad reputation as a great industrial polluter.
So far enzymes have been helpful in this respect both during bleach clean-up and biopolishing. Mills traditionally bleach to obtain smashing colors in the dyeing process. The bleach is normally rinsed with reducing agents and large amounts of hot water. By adding a small amount of catalase in the bleach cleanup process hydrogen peroxide is catalyzed into oxygen and water, resulting in lower water usage and less wastewater pollution.
To get smooth cotton textiles with vibrant colors, textile mills polish the fabrics, targeting
the small protruding fiber ends that make the fabric look fuzzy and create pills. Polishing can be done by singeing with a gas flame. The less harsh alternative, biopolishing, uses cellulases to polish the yarn surface and prevent pilling.
Get two for one
To optimize the processes and offer an environmentally friendly alternative, Novozymes
has developed a product that combines bleach clean-up and biopolishing into one. “Cellusoft Combi greatly reduces time, energy, and water consumption by combining biopolishing and bleach clean-up processes in the dyeing step. The product allows end user mills to free up production and improve throughput,” says Umar Riaz, Global Marketing Manager for textiles at Novozymes.
At PT. Kemilau Warna Ceria, they have tried to biopolish with Cellusoft Combi. The 1,600 employees produce 13,000 meters woven fabric and 20,000 kg knitted fabric a day for dyeing and printing. The company has recently made large investments to develop a high-quality knitted fabric and has already invested in several new machines to improve capacity. To boost production further the director of PT. Kemilau Warna Ceria, Hendro Prasetyo, decided to try out the ready-to-use Cellusoft Combi. The first test results were promising. “We find the product very good, both technically and concept-wise. Cellusoft
Combi reduces processing time and saves costs on electricity, water, and steam,” says Hendro Prasetyo. Experts in the company were equally positive about the results. "Cellusoft Combi removed hydrogen peroxide from the fabric very well, and the biopolishing was excellent,” says Sukardi, head of the dyeing department at PT. Kemilau Warna Ceria.
Time is money
So far one of the greatest hurdles for using enzymes is that it introduces an extra step
in the production. “Mills currently doing biopolishing and bleach clean-up in two separate processes now have the opportunity to combine both steps during dyeing in an economical way. Due to the unique nature of Cellusoft Combi, it doesn’t interact with dyes
and improves fabric quality, while saving the mill up to 100 minutes in processing time, plus water, labor, and energy costs,” says Umar Riaz.
The great savings that Cellusoft Combi gives create great interest in a competitive
market. “A majority of our customers who’ve tested the product have now replaced the
traditional acid cellulases with unique Cellusoft Combi,” says Han Kuilderd, Customer
Solutions Manager for textiles at Novozymes. “Companies that biopolish with Cellusoft
Combi can produce a high-quality fabric at virtually the same cost as fabrics that aren’t biopolished but still achieve the smoothness and softness that biopolished fabrics are known for. It’s simply a win-win product.”
 |
|
Cellusoft® Combi can save the mill energy, time, and resources compared to traditional biopolishing products. |