The textile industry is constantly searching for environmentally friendly solutions.

Over the years a lot of chemical components have been replaced (Phosphates, Nonyl phenols etc) in the textile industry. The demand for low COD and BOD values, reduced levels of MBAS and BiAS and easily biodegradable products was the reason to search for alternative sources.

Elements of Earth
8.32 kms crust
% by weight in crust

O Si Al Fe Ca Na K Mg other
12500 km dia

= 49.2 = 25.7 = 7.5 = 4.7 = 3.4 = 2.6 = 2.4 = 1.9 = 2.6

Geotechnical engineers are interested mainly in the top 100 metres of the earth crust. As you can see from the table, 82% of the elements are oxygen, silicon and aluminium.

Soil Formation
Parent Rock
Residual soil Transported soil
~ weathered and transported far away
by wind, water and ice.

~ in situ weathering (by physical & chemical agents) of parent rock

Parent Rock
~ formed by one of these three different processes
igneous sedimentary metamorphic

formed by cooling of molten magma (lava)

formed by gradual deposition, and in layers

formed by alteration of igneous & sedimentary rocks by pressure/ temperature

e.g. marble

e.g. granite

e.g. limestone, shale

Mother earth supplies us with a large variety of minerals. Approx. 4000 different minerals are known worldwide, most of them are very nice but not all of them can be used for technical purposes.

Rosa Quartz

Roselite

Biotite

Kaolinite

Rosasite

Topaz

99% of the earth is composed out of only 8 minerals. The mineral group of silicates is the most important and well known for: - Clays (Aluminium/Metal oxides + Silicium dioxide) - Zeolites (Aluminium/Metal oxides + Silicium dioxide) - Silicate (Metal oxides + Silicium dioxide)

Clay minerals are made of two distinct structural units.

oxygen hydroxyl or oxygen aluminium or magnesium

silicon

0.26 nm
0.29 nm

Silicon tetrahedron

Aluminium Octahedron

All clay minerals are made of two distinct building blocks: tetrahedrons and octahedrons. The tetrahedron on the left has oxygen atoms at the corners, and there is a silicon in the centre. Octahedron has six oxygen or hydroxyl atoms in the corners, and an aluminium or magnesium ion at the centre.

Depending on the type and quantity of metal oxide, the ratio with SiO2 and the specific crystalline structure, different types of CLAY are known such as: - Kaolin - Smectite - Vermiculite - Illite - Hectorite : Aluminium oxide : Aluminium- and Magnesium oxide : Aluminium- and Magnesium oxide : Aluminium-, Magnesium- and Potassium oxide : Magnesium- and Lithium oxide

 Clay mainly consists of SiO2 and Al2O3 Other ions may be present Mg, Ca, Fe, Li, Mn,.. Some clays can stabilize H2O2 bleaches

3-Layer Silicate

Small particle size

Sheet Structure Delaminating of layers by simple dispersing High specific surface area(upto 750m2/g after dispersed

Negative charge on the surface, cationic charge at border

Inner crystalline capability of swelling

substitution of Si4+ and Al3+ by other lower valence (e.g., Mg2+) cations results in charge imbalance (net negative)
positively charged edges + _ _ + _ _ _ _ _ + _ _ _ _ + _ _ _ _

+
+ +

_
_

negatively charged faces

_ _ _ _ _ _

Clay Particle with Net negative Charge The clay particle derives its net negative charge from the isomorphous substitution and broken bonds at the boundaries.

Mineral

Specific surface (m2/g) 10-20 80-100 800 80

C.E.C (meq/100g) 3-10 20-30 80-120 20-30

Kaolinite Illite Montmorillonite Chlorite

 Amongst the big number of minerals, clays have very useful characteristics for textile applications Some clay-classifications: Kaolin (Aluminium: China clay) Semectite (Aluminium + Magnesium) Hormite (more Iron) Some exceptional properties of clay: Thickening agents in paints Oil and dirt absorber Absorber of inks in e.g. paper industry Stabilizer for hydrogen peroxide bleaches Softening agents in household products

 In water the clay particles are anionic charged and show a large adsorption effect for: - Hydrophobic waxes and oils - Metal ions (cation exchange capacity) - Hydrophilic materials and polymers

Nature Bentonite Cat litters Agro industry Civil industry Beverage refinery industry

Acidic activation (with HCl / H2SO4) Food industry Paper industry Beverage refinery industry Industrial catalyst

Alkaline activation (With soda ash) Foundry industry Civil & drilling industry Detergent, paper, textile industry Beverage refinery industry Rheological additive industry

Organic activation (With organic cation subst) Pigment & paint industry Sealing industry Fat lubricant industry Cosmetic industry

 All these classes (and many sub-classes) have different characteristics Because of this different special industrial applications e.g. paper coating In the past clays were used by Indian and Egyptian women to clean and smoothen their faces and to shampoo their hair. Clay masks and still popular! The clay structure is based on sheets By separating these sheets e.g. by stirring, a very big surface is created This surface (till 800 M2 per gram) makes it possible to absorb all kind of components like dirt, oil, greases etc. This gives an unique detergency effect

The most widely known mineral in the textile industry is sodium silicate as a mineral stabilizer for hydrogen peroxide bleaching L.N.s challenge: look for other minerals with the good properties of sodium silicate and with success!!

Clay minerals have been selected on the specific characteristics and formulated in new auxiliaries for the textile industry

 NaOH
Gives irreversible yellowing to cotton due to high alkaline High COD amount in waste water

Water glass
Salt reaction Needs to look for effective conventional auxiliaries Building deposits on the fabric and machineries

Complex Builder
Ecological problem Effective depend on the degree of water hardness and heavy metal contamination on the raw materials

 Adsorption of strong metal contamination

Organic complex builder fully or partially to be substituted

Water glass fully or partially to be substituted

 In hydrogen peroxide bleaching, both continuously and discontinuously In continuous desizing of synthetics In post scouring reactive dyed and printed cellulosics

 One of the new applications for clays is as a oneshot product for the discontinuous bleaching applications
It is based on this mineral technology A clay based multifunctional auxiliary for the discontinuous bleaching of cotton with hydrogen peroxide on jets, winches and overflows

Prescouring of PES/EL and PA/EL

Alternative for the hypochlorite bleach ecologically unfriendly

Without product

2 g/l pure non-ionic

Without product Without product

Without product

2 g/l TANNEX GEO 2g/l Altranol-GEO

2 g/l TANNEX GEO

Clearly to see is that the silicon oil is not well emulsified.

Altranol- GEO well disperse/emulsifies the silicon oil.

Excellent hydrogen peroxide stabilizer Unique wash performance Good wetting out of the fabric Excellent lubrification properties Low foaming; no defoamer required Ecologically very friendly Gives fabric a smooth handle

 Altranol GEO allows almost 35% reduction in the BOD & COD levels in the wash effluent Altranol GEO further reduces the COD/BOD levels by eliminating/reducing the need for additional auxiliaries in treatment baths i.e. wetting agents, chelating agents, surfactants, lubricants & defoamers. The effluent of treated textiles is easily & readily treated by flocculating, precipitating or filtering the natural clays & its adsorbed/precipitated contaminants, which are removed by any standard separation technique like filtering etc. The resultant effluent is significantly more environmentally acceptable than current effluents containing organic components & inorganic contaminants.

 Altranol ELB, besides reducing pollution due to lower BOD & COD levels, also results in lower volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) Is an outstanding lubricating agent providing a softer hand for treated textile goods Is non-foaming & extremely effective in removing processing oils & excess auxiliaries & other impurities from the substrates. Treated substrates are cleaner which improves dyeability & dye penetration resulting in increased colour yields of 10~30% Is suitable for processing all textile materials i.e. all fibres, filament, yarns, fabric & all products made from them. They include textured & non textured filaments & yarns, woven, knitted or non-woven fabrics.

 Excellent extracting effect to silicone or mineral oils from elastane fibers when blended with cotton / polyamide / polyester Stabil whiteness degree with possibility of increasing whiteness degree after every bleaching process Reduction of COD value in waste water

Heavy metals adsorption reduction of potential pin holes problem

Softness effect on cotton fiber anti crease mark effect

Bleach for whites indication recipe: 1-3 ml/l Altranol-GEO 2-3, 5g/l Caustic flakes 6-10 ml/l Hydrogen peroxide 35% X% Optical brightening agent 95-110C during 90-30 minutes

Some practical results: Cotton on winches 95C 60 mins; Customers standard: Basic white : 84 Total white : 155 S-factor : 0.36

LNCI 85 158 0.32

 Practical results continued: Knitted Cotton/EL on Thie jet Customers standard: Basic white : 72 Total white : 144 S-factor : 0.2 LNCI 77 156 0.1

 Other experiences:
Jig bleaching applications Bleaching of Cotton on X-cones Discontinuous bleaching of Linen Prescour PA/EL Prescour PES/EL Etc..

Clay technology for pretreatment of elastane fibres

 Elastane fibres (Polyurethane filament fibres) are commonly used nowadays in all kind of knits and fabrics.

Elastane fibres provide knits and fabrics stretch and retention effects.
Elastane fibres are blended with all kind of other fibres like PA, PES, Wo and Co.

 Articles can contain between 2 20% elastane fibres.

Articles can contain between 2 6% silicone oils.

Depending on the fibre blend this silicone oil, in combination with other fibre preparations (mineral oils, waxes, lubricants etc) could cause problems during further processing.

 Insufficient elimination of silicon oils will cause problems during subsequent processes and/or dyeings: - silicon spots and/or stripes on the material - silicon deposits in the machine - fumes and yellowing during thermofixation

Silicone oil on the elastane fibres is absolutely necessary to provide sufficient elasticity and avoid aging.
What is a safe way of processing elastane fibres ?

 Altranol-ELB is a specially formulated clay in combination with special non ionic surfactants. The clay in Altranol-ELB is from the same origin as in Altranol-GEO Altranol-ELB removes all superficial silicone oil, providing level dyeings, without totally removing the silicone oil. A certain amount of residual silicone oil is required to guarantee durable elasticity and to avoid ageing of the elastane-fibre.

 Very good wetting and scouring effect. Level dyeings as Altranol-ELB levels out all irregular oil contents. Residual silicone oil to protect the Elastane fibre in order to maintain durable elasticity and avoid ageing. Simple to dispense and easy to handle. Lubrication action due to the presence of clay . Applicable on all fibre blends with Elastane fibres. Non foaming. Ecological product (COD 560 mg O/g, BiAS 210 mg/g) APEO free.

Soda ash pH 9-10 (1 g/l)

Altranol- ELB 2 ml/l + 1 ml/l

water 2-3 l/kg overflow 30C

water 6-8 l/kg

Grey

C 30

30

80

80

80

60

40

Ratio 10:1

120 100

Temperature [C]

80 60 40 20 0 0 10 20 30 40 Time [min] 50 60 70 80

15 min @ 50C

Dyeing

Refill and add Altranol-ELB 0.5 ml/l other dyeing auxiliaries dyestuffs
Fill the machine and add Altranol-ELB Soda ash 12 ml/l 0.5 1 g/l

 Special multipurpose versatile compound for wet processing of textile goods made of natural & synthetic fibres: Complete, balanced bleaching assistant for single stage bleaching Washing elastane blends Cleaning effects on the machinery Ecological beaching procedure. Environmentally friendly

Positive issue on waste water treatment

OFFICE ADDRESS :403, Antariksh, Makwana Road, Marol Naka, Andheri (E), Mumbai 400 059 Tel.- 91- 22- 4221 6789 (30 Lines) 91- 22- 6692 4112 Fax -91-22- 2836 6434

FACTORY ADDRESS :D- 14 /10, T.T.C. M.I.D.C Industrial area, Turbhe , P.O.K.U.Bazar, Navi Mumbai 400 705 Tel.-91- 22- 4141 9899 (30 Lines) Fax -91- 22- 4141 9888

Email ID ketan@lnchem.in lnchem@vsnl.com