Best Available Techniques

Implementation
IN

Textile Sector

Submitted by:

Gujarat Cleaner Production Centre

(Established by Industries & Mines Department, GoG)
Block No: 11-12, 3rd Floor, Udhyog Bhavan, Gandhinagar
Phone: + 91 79 232 44 147 E-mail: gcpc11@yahoo.com
URL: www.gcpcgujarat.org.in
 Table of Contents

Sr. Page
Chapter
No. No.

1 Best Available Techniques 01

2 Scenario of Indian Textile Industry 04

3 Manufacturing Process of Textile Products 11

4 Environmental Issues in Textile Sector 17

5 Existing Environment Management Techniques 24

6 Cleaner Production Option in Textile Industry 33

7 Best Available Techniques Case Studies 51

8 References 73
1. Best available techniques

The term “best available techniques” is defined as “the most effective and
advanced stage in the development of activities and their methods of operation
which indicate the practical suitability of particular techniques for providing in
principle the basis for emission limit values designed to prevent and, where that
is not practicable, generally to reduce emissions and the impact on the
environment as a whole.”

“Techniques” includes both the technology used and the way in which the
installation is designed, built, maintained, operated and decommissioned;

“Available” techniques are those developed on a scale which allows

implementation in the relevant industrial sector, under economically and
technically viable conditions, taking into consideration the costs and advantages,
whether or not the techniques are used or produced inside the Member State in
question, as long as they are reasonably accessible to the operator;

“Best” means most effective in achieving a high general level of protection of the
environment as a whole.
The techniques and associated emission and/or consumption levels, or ranges of
levels, have been assessed through an iterative process involving the following
steps:

 Identification of the key environmental issues for the sector.

 Examination of the techniques most relevant to address those key issues.
 Identification of the best environmental performance levels, on the basis of
the available data in the European Union and world-wide.
 Examination of the conditions under which these performance levels were
achieved; such as costs, cross-media effects, main driving forces involved in
implementation of the techniques.
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 Selection of the best available techniques (BAT) and the associated emission
and/or consumption levels for this sector.

On the basis of this assessment, techniques, and as far as possible emission and
consumption levels associated with the use of BAT, are presented that are
considered to be appropriate to the sector as a whole and in many cases reflect
current performance of some installations within the sector. Where emission or
consumption levels “associated with best available techniques” are presented,
this is to be understood as meaning that those levels represent the
environmental performance that could be anticipated as a result of the
application, in this sector, of the techniques described, bearing in mind the
balance of costs and advantages inherent within the definition of BAT.
However, they are neither emission nor consumption limit values and should not
be understood as such. In some cases it may be technically possible to achieve
better emission or consumption levels but due to the costs involved or cross-
media considerations, they are not considered to be appropriate as BAT for the
sector as a whole. However, such levels may be considered to be justified in
more specific cases where there are special driving forces.

The concept of “levels associated with BAT” described above is to be

distinguished from the term “achievable level” used elsewhere in this document.
Where a level is described as “achievable” using a particular technique or
combination of techniques, this should be understood to mean that the level may
be expected to be achieved over a substantial period of time in a well maintained
and operated installation or process using those techniques.

Where available, data concerning costs have been given together with the
description of the techniques. These give a rough indication about the magnitude
of costs involved. However, the actual cost of applying a technique will depend
strongly on the specific situation regarding, for example, taxes, fees, and the
technical characteristics of the installation concerned. It is not possible to
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evaluate such site-specific factors fully in this document. In the absence of data
concerning costs, conclusions on economic viability of techniques are drawn from
observations on existing installations.

It is intended that the general BAT is a reference point against which to judge the
current performance of an existing installation or to judge a proposal for a new
installation. In this way they will assist in the determination of appropriate "BAT-
based" conditions for the installation. It is foreseen that new installations can be
designed to perform at or even better than the general BAT levels presented
here. It is also considered that existing installations could move towards the
general BAT levels or do better, subject to the technical and economic
applicability of the techniques in each case.

While the BAT reference documents do not set legally binding standards, they are
meant to give information for the guidance of industry, Member States and the
public on achievable emission and consumption levels when using specified
techniques.

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2. Scenario of Indian Textile Industry

Background

Indian textile industry is one of the largest textile industries in the world. Today,
the textile manufacturing and exports is making significant contribution to the
Indian economy. India earns around 27% of the foreign exchange from exports
of textiles. Further, Indian textile industry contributes about 14% of the total
industrial production of India. Indian textile industry involves around 35 million
workers directly and it accounts for 21% of the total employment generated in
the economy.

Entrepreneurial High production

skills cost with respect
Large pool of to other Asian
Huge textile competitor
skilled and
production
cheap work
capacity
force

Huge
Use of outdated
unorganized and
Efficient multi- manufacturing
decentralized
Strengths of fibre raw technology
Huge export sector
Indian Textile material Weaknesses of
potential Indian Textile
Industry manufacturing
capacity Industry

Large Very low

domestic import
market content Imports of cheap Poor supply chain
Flexible textile textiles from other management
manufacturing Asian neighbours;
systems

Figure1. Strengths & Weakness of Indian textile industry

Although the Indian textile and craft sector contributes to 14% to industrial
production, 4% to the GDP, and 17% to the country's export earnings, there
have been little targeted efforts to study and address problems relating to health
and safety of workers as well as the general environmental impact of textile and
crafts production processes. Negative environmental impacts from production
processes disproportionately impact poor communities who are often located in

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close physical proximity to production sites. Consumers across the world are
becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues, as well as more sensitive
to the conditions in which the products they consume are produced. Pro-active
approaches in protecting environment and health, and taking safety measures,
will be will be the key steps in ensuring long term competitiveness of the Indian
textile and craft sectors.

The top five textiles and garment exporting nation are US, China, India,
Germany and Japan and United kingdom. USA is the largest importer with a
share of 17% of the total global trade. The Indian textile and garment industry
has an important presence in the country’s economy through its contribution to
industrial output, employment generation, and the export earnings. It
contributes almost 5% to the $ 1.8 trillion Indian economy whereas its share in
Indian exports.

Introduction

India Textile Industry is one of the leading textile industries in the world. There
are more than 70 textiles and clothing clusters in India. These clusters contribute
about 80% of total production. There are 39 power loom clusters and 13
readymade garment clusters in India. Bhiwandi and Malegaon are the two largest
power loom clusters.

The Indian textile industry contributes about 14% to industrial production, 4% to

the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 17% to the country’s export
earnings. The industry provides direct employment to over 35 million people and
is the second largest provider of employment after agriculture.

The total textile exports during 2013-14 was valued at INR 239221.80 crore (in
2013-14) as against INR 189940.65 crore (in 2012-13) and registered growth of
25.95% in Rupee term. During the year 2013-14, Readymade Garments account
for almost 37% of the total textiles exports. As per latest available statistics

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 during the first nine months of 2014-15, exports of RMG account for 47% of the
total textiles exports. Cotton textiles (35%) and Man-made textiles (18%).

In 2012, Apparel had a share of 69% of overall market, textile contributed the
remaining 61%.The top five textiles and garment exporting nation are China,
India, Italy, Germany and Turkey.

 Distribution of Textile Industries in India

Tamil Nadu is the leading state in India in terms of number of factories for
textiles and garments industry in India.

India is the one of the world’s largest producers of textile and garments. The
potential size of the indian textiles and apparel industry is expected to reach
14,718 billion by 2021. The industry realised export earnings worth 2742.17
billion in 2013-14. It is also one of the largest contributing sectors of India’s
exports contributing 11 per cent to the country’s total exports basket. The sector
contributes about 14% to the industrial production, 4% to the gross domestic
product (GDP), and 27% to the country’s foreign exchange inflows. It provides
direct employment to over 45 million people. The textile sector is the second
largest provider of employment after agriculture.

Number of textile and garment factories in operation, state-wise, and their

percentage share are given in the Table 1.

Table 1: Textile and Garment Factories in India

Number of
Sr. Percentage
States Factories in
No. share (%)
Operation
1 Tamil Nadu 5601 34.78
2 Maharashtra 1811 11.25
3 Gujarat 1660 10.31
4 Rajasthan 1237 7.68

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 5 Punjab 899 5.58
6 Karnataka 893 5.55
7 Uttar Pradesh 881 5.47
8 Haryana 663 4.12
9 Delhi 619 3.84
10 Kerala 400 2.48
11 Andhra Pradesh 394 2.45
12 West Bengal 305 1.89
13 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 205 1.27
14 Madhya Pradesh 175 1.09
15 Daman and Diu 131 0.81
16 Himachal Pradesh 43 0.27
17 Orissa 39 0.24
18 Assam 26 0.16
19 Jammu and Kashmir 28 0.17
20 Pondicherry 24 0.15
21 Bihar 17 0.11
22 Uttaranchal 16 0.10
23 Goa 15 0.09
24 Chhattisgarh 13 0.08
25 Jharkhand 9 0.06
26 Total 16104 100.00
Source: Annual Survey of India

Source: CRISIL report on “Enhancing Competitiveness of Indian Manufacturing

Industry: Assistance in Policy Making, 2009”

Textile Industry in Gujarat

Gujarat is one of the leading industrial states in India and textile industry in
particular had contributed in a big way to the industrialization of the State. In
fact, overall economic growth of the State is very much dependent on this sector.
Gujarat is the leader in textile comprising of 1,560 medium and large textile
units. Textile Industry plays an important role in Indian economy, as well. It is
an employment oriented industry, occupying the second position i.e. after
Agriculture. Around 25% of fixed investment, production value and employment
of the SSI sector are from textiles alone. Further, 23% of GDP comes out of

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textiles in the State, 16% of the cultivated land area of the state is for cotton
and Gujarat is the largest cotton producer in the country.

Table 2: Textile Clusters in Gujarat

States Product Location

Power loom Surat, Kalol

Readymade Garments Ahmedabad

Gujarat
Cotton Cloth Weaving Vijapur

Textile Printing Jetpur

Large Fabric Process Houses are concentrated in Ahmedabad (250) and Surat
(450) in the State. The State accounts for 12% share of the total textile exports
of the country. A large number of Garment Units and Garment Processing Units
are developed in urban areas of the State. Clusters of processing units are
located at Surat, Ahmedabad (Narol) and Jetpur. Though these units fall under
decentralized sector, some of them operate on medium scale production capacity
having good capability of processing wide range of fabrics.

 Ahmedabad Textile Cluster

Ahmedabad was known as the Manchester of India. Ahmedabad is located in one

of the highly industrialized and urbanized parts of Gujarat State. It is the seventh
largest metropolis in India. Ahmedabad is predominantly an industrial centre with
large-scale cotton textile industry providing the economic base of the city. The
entrepreneurial environment created by the local financial elite was largely
responsible for founding the modern textile industry in the city. Denim, blending
and cotton industries are the major industrial units. Majority of units are MSI
with LSI units like Reliance, Arvind mills etc. Arvind Mills is second largest denim
manufacturing units in the world.

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By 1950, nearly 0.125 million workers were employed in the textile mills. Around
1960 nearly two thirds of the industrial production was in textile and allied
industries. It also generated directly half of the total industrial employment in the
state. Prior to 1985 there were 85 textile mills in Ahmedabad city. While
Ahmedabad continued to be dominated by its textile industries, the state also
created infrastructure for industrial development in Naroda, Odhav and Vatva
which led to a significant diversification in the small and medium industries,
related to engineering goods and chemicals.

 Surat Textile Cluster

Textile Processing Industry has flourised leaps and bound in South Gujarat
particularly in Surat district. There are nearly five lakhs of power looms in Surat,
which consumes yarn of about four lakhs of metric tons in preparing the grey
fabrics. About two crores meters of grey textile is manufacture daily in Surat.
Today there are about 450 Dyeing and Printing Units located in and around Surat
in various clusters - Pandesara, Sachin, Kadodara and Palsana.

These Dyeing and Printing Units are engaged in processing of manmade fabrics,
i.e. Dyeing, Bleaching, Printing, Finishing of grey fabrics. Mostly these units are
processing the grey fabrics on job work basis. They receive the grey fabrics from
the Traders / Merchant Manufacturers of the market and process the fabrics as
per their requirement. There are about 150 wholesale markets in Surat. The city
of Surat is now known as "Silk City".

The power loom sector gives employment to about 6 lakhs people. Similarly, the
processing industry gives employment to about 5 lakhs people. Besides, lakhs of
people are engaged in trade, transport, cutting, packing and ancillary industries
like dyes, colour, chemicals, textile engineering etc. Of the total production of
cloth in India, the synthetics fabrics accounts for about 90%.

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Surat alone accounts for 40% exports of fabrics generating revenue of more than
Rs. 500 crores. It produces cheap fabrics affordable to poor people. Surat is
having a major petrochemical industrial area at Hajira, which is facilitating
production of yarn from petroleum, which is basic raw material for polyester
based textile industry.

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 3. Manufacturing Process of Textile Products
The production processes in textile and garment industries involve following five
stages:

Input /Raw material Processing Output

Yarn Manufacturing
Textile Fibers Yarn
(Spinning Mill)

Fabric Manufacturing
Yarn (Weaving / Knitting industry) Grey Fabrics

Wet Processing
Grey Fabrics Finished Fabrics
(Dying / Printing & Finishing industry)

Finished Fabrics Garment Manufacturing Garments

Figure2: Production Processes in Textile Industry

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 Flow Diagram of Wet process in textile industry

Grey Cloth

Stitching and Sewing

Shearing / Croping

Singeing

Desizing

Scouring

Bleaching

Dyeing Mercerizing / Brighting Printing

Stentering
Finishing

Calendaring

Figure 3: Flow diagram of Wet process in Textile Industry

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 Textile manufacturing wet process

Table 3: Production of Textile by wet Processes

This process (cotton only) is considered one of the

processes for finishing preparation, and is only
concerned with cotton woven fabrics. In this
Singeing
process the greige fabric surface on both sides is
subjected to a gas flame, which burns the
protruding fibres and results in a smooth surface.

In this process the size materials on the warp

threads of the fabric are removed, by passing the
fabric in a bath of sulphuric acid or by using
Desizing
enzymes, soap or hot water depending on the
sizing material. This process is also considered one
of the preparation processes for finishing.
Fabric
In this process, the de-sized fabric is passed
Processing
through a cleaning bath, using alkaline or solvent
industry
solutions to dissolve any impurities or soiling on the
fabric. De-sizing and scouring could be done in one
Scouring
operation in some plants. The operation is a
preparation step for bleaching and dyeing. It is
possible to do de-sizing by using hot water and
soap.
This process (for natural fibres) is also one of the
preparation processes for finishing, to obtain white
Bleaching
colour in the fabric, by using bleaches, such as
hydrogen peroxide or hypochlorite.
This process (for cotton only) is also a preparation
Mercerizing
process for finishing, in which the fabric is treated

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 with sodium hydroxide to create lustre, more
strength and higher affinity for dyes in the fabric.
This process could be applied to woven or knitted
cotton fabrics.
This process is the finishing process in which the
yarn, fabrics, or garments are treated to add colour
and intricacy to the product, using dyestuffs,
auxiliaries, reductants, oxidants, etc. This process
Dyeing
is well known to be a major source of pollution due
to the many chemicals used, and the large
quantities of wastewater resulting from the process,
and loaded with pollutants.
In this process the fabric is printed with colour and
patterns, using pigments, dyes, acids, alkalis,
Printing
softener, binder and emulsifier solvents. Printing is
also one of the major sources for pollution.
In this process (for wool), woven or knitted wool
fabrics are treated with sulphuric acid to remove
Carbonizing
the vegetable cellulosic matter naturally existing in
wool fibres.
In the special finishing process (moth-proofing,
water repellent, stain resist, …etc.), the fabric is
Special
chemically treated to achieve certain characteristics
finishing
in the finished fabric giving it special performance,
such as water-proof, crease resistance, etc.
This process is considered as a mechanical finishing
Brushing and process, in which the fabric surface is subjected to
napping a brushing action to raise fibres from the yarns and
create a hairy surface in the fabric. This process

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 may be applied to both woven and knitted fabrics.
This process is also a mechanical finishing process
that is applied to woven fabric, to shear the
Shearing protruding fibres from fabric surface and create
smooth surface fabrics. This process is a source for
fibre particulates
This is a mechanical finishing process simulating,
the ironing process of fabric to produce smooth
Softening by unwrinkled surface. The woven fabric is passed
calendaring between smooth pressed rollers to remove surface
fibres and reduce friction between fibres, resulting
in soft feel in the fabric
This is a mechanical finishing process applied to
woven fabrics to compact the structure by passing
Sanforizing
the fabric between smooth heavy rollers, and
produce compacted fabrics
Source: Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board Environmental Guidance Manual –
Textiles Project

Use of Raw Materials, Chemicals and Dyes in Textile wet Processes

It is essential to control inputs to get right out puts from each process and to
reduce wastes. As the environmental impacts arise from the inputs into
processes, we need to understand the inputs in terms of raw material and
chemicals including dyes used in the processes. Table 5 provides information on
basic input materials requirement in different processes.

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 Table 4: Inputs to wet process

Inputs to wet processes

Sizing Polyvinyl alcohol, carboxy methyl cellulose, oils, waxes,
adhesives, urea, diethylene glycol, etc.
De-sizing Enzymes, sulphuric acid, detergents and alkali
Scouring Sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, surfactants,
chlorinated solvents
Bleaching Hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid.
Mercerization Sodium hydroxide, surfactants, acid, liquid ammonium
Dyeing Dyestuffs, auxiliaries, reluctant, oxidants
Printing Dyes (acids or alkalis), pigments, kerosene, binders,
ammonia, xylenes.
Chemical Formaldehyde, phosphorus, ammonia, silicone,
finishing fluorocarbon resins, toluene,
zircon salts etc.

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4. Environmental Issues in Textile Sector

 Alkyl phenol ethoxylates (detergents, wetting agents, leveling agents, etc.):

their metabolites (octyl- and nonylphenols) are highly toxic to aquatic life and
are reported to disturb the reproduction of aquatic species by disrupting the
endocrine system (octyl and nonylphenol are on the list of “Priority
Substances” targeted for priority action under the Water Framework Directive,
in particular nonylphenol is identified has “Priority Hazardous Substance”)
 Polybrominated diphenyl ethers and chlorinated paraffin’s (flame retardants),
halogenated phenols and benzenes (reagents in the production of flame
retardants): some members of these classes of substances (e.g.
pentabromodiphenylether, chloroparaffines) have already been identified as
“Priority Hazardous Substances” for their toxicity.
 Mothproofing agents based on permethrin and cyfluthrin (carpet sector) and
other biocides: these are highly toxic to aquatic life
 Sequestering agents such as EDTA and DTPA and NTA: these are capable of
forming very stable complexes with metals (EDTA and DTPA are also poorly
bioeliminable)
 Chlorine and chlorine-releasing compounds such as sodium hypochlorite
(bleaching agent) and sodium dichloroisocyanurate (wool anti-felting agent):
these are capable of reacting with organic compounds to form adsorbable
organic halogens (AOX)
 Metal-containing compounds such as potassium dichromate
 Substances with carcinogenic potential, such as a number of aromatic amines,
formed by cleavage of some azo dyes or vinylcyclohexene and 1,3-butadiene,
which can be present in polymer dispersions due to an incomplete reaction
during polymerization.
 Chlorine bleach is known to be extremely toxic to the environment and to
consumers, yet chlorine-based chemicals are still often used to bleach fabrics.

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  Dye bath effluents may contain heavy metals, ammonia, alkali salts, toxic
solids and large amounts of pigments - many of which are toxic
 Emissions of CO2, SOx, NOx and particulates associated with the on-site
burning of fossil fuels to produce thermal energy are also to be taken into
account.
 Lint can originate from many textile production steps, particularly from
preparation, dying and washing operations. Usually removing lint is fairly easy
using primary control measures such as filters, which can be placed in the
circulation line of dyeing and other equipment. The filters must be maintained
and cleaned out on a regular basis to ensure proper operation. The collected
lint usually can be dried and then land filled or incinerated. Higher quality lint
can be marketed.
 Stain remover (Carry solvents like CC14) : Ozone depletion, Capacity of ten
times more than CFC
 Oxalic acid (Used for rust stain removal): Toxic to aquatic organism, Boosts
COD
 Printing gums (Preservative pentachlorophenol): Dermatitis, Liver and Kidney
damage, Carcinogenic
 Fixing agent like Formaldehyde and Benzindie is Harmful
 Bleaching (Chlorine bleaching): Skin diseases (itching), harmful
 Dyeing like Amino acid is Carcinogenic

 Pollutants Associated with Sizing, De-Sizing and Scouring

Size is a mixture of primary and auxiliary chemicals. Three main types of size are
currently used.

 Natural products (starch).

 Fully synthetic products (PVA, PVAc, PAA, PEs).

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 Semi synthetic products (blends) (modified starch, starch ether, starch ester,
carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC), hydroxy ethyl cellulose (HEC), carboxy methyl
starch (CMS).

Auxiliary used in sizing mixture include:

 Adhesives and binders: Natural gum, (locust bean gum, tragasol, gelatine,
soya protein casein, acrylates, PVA, CMC).
 Antistatic agents: To suppress static in high speed weaving.
 Anti-sticking agents: To reduce fouling of dry cans and guide rollers (waxes,
oil, sulfatedtallow, pine oil, kerosene, and stoddard solvent.
 Biocides: (preservative) o-phenyl phenol (OPP).
 Deformers: Zinc and Calcium chloride, light mineral oil, isooctyl alcohol.
 Deliquescent: Zinc and Calcium chloride, polyalcohol's (PEG), glycerine,
polypropylene glycol, Diethylene glycol (DEG), Urea.
 Emulsifier, dispersants and surfactants: Non-ionic ethylene oxide
compounds
 Humectants: To protect against drying.
 Lubricants and Softeners: Fasts, waxes, oils, tallow, sulfated tallow, butyl
stearate, glycerine, mineral oil.
 Thinning agents: enzyme, oxidizers, per borates, persulfats, peroxides,
chloramides.
 Weighers: Clay

Any of these additives that are present in the size mixture will later be removed
in wet processing and thus all of these materials will appear in waste streams
from de-sizing operations. Most of these additives have very high BOD values
and the sizing agents are also responsible for up to 80% of the total COD load in
the wastewater. The toxicity of few of these additives has been recorded. In

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 addition to size and de-size chemicals removed from textile, sizing and de-sizing
operations generate additional wastes that deserve attention, including:

 Packaging material for size

 Dumps of unused portion of size mixes
 Machine cleaning and maintenance
 Fibre lint and yarn waste

De-sizing: Artificial fibres are generally sized with water-soluble sizes that are
easily removed by a hot water wash or in the scouring process. On the other
hand natural fibres such as cotton are most often sized with water insoluble
starches or mixture of starch and other size materials. Enzymes are used to
break these starches into water-soluble sugars. Bacteria in waste treatment can
easily attack the water-soluble sugars and these are very degradable and have
high BOD.

Scouring: Cleaning process that removes impurities from fibres, yarn or cloth.
The impurities include lubricants, dirt and other natural materials, water-soluble
sizes, antistatic agents and fugitive tints used for yarn identification. Scouring
uses alkali to saponify natural oils and surfactants to emulsify and suspend non-
saponifiable impurities in the scouring bath.

Bleaching: Chemical process that eliminates unwanted coloured matter from

fibres, yarns or cloth. Bleaching decolourises coloured impurities that are not
removed by scouring and prepares the cloth for further finishing processes such
as dyeing or printing. The most common bleaching agents include hydrogen
peroxide, chlorine bleaching, sodium hypochlorite, sodium chlorite and sulphur
dioxide gas.

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 Pollutants Associated with Dyeing Process

Many pollutants are associated with the dyes and chemicals used in dyeing
processes. These may originate from the dyes themselves (e.g. salt, surfactant,
levelers, lubricants, and alkalinity). Pollutant impacts are also associated with
chemicals used during dyeing, equipment maintenance and cleaning. Dyeing
contributes most of the metals and essential all of the salts and colour in effluent
from textiles operations, and these are priority areas for pollution prevention.
There are certain reports stating that dyeing consumes 7% of the water and
contributes 5% of the BOD in a typical cotton finishing operation.

The Table 5 details the pollutants associated with various dyes.

Table 5: Pollutants Associated with Common Dyes

Dye Class Fibre Type of Pollution

Salt, Unfixed dye, Copper salt, Cationic
Direct dyes Cotton
fixing agents
Reactive dyes Cotton Salt, Alkali, Unfixed dye
Vat dye Cotton Alkali, Oxidizing agents, Reducing agents
Alkali, Oxidizing and Reducing agents,
Sulphur dyes Cotton
Unfixed dye
Organic acids, Unfixed dye, Metals,
Chrome dyes Wool
Sulphide
1:2 Metal
Wool Organic acids, Metals
Complex dyes
Acid dyes Wool Organic acids, Unfixed dye
Disperse dyes Polyester Reducing agents, Organic acid carriers

Source: Impact of Textile in Environmental Issues and Environmental Legislation (Part I) By:
Karthik T. and Gopalakrishnan D.

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 Pollutants Associated with Printing Process

Textile printing, like dyeing also generates varying amounts and types of
pollutants.

The Table 6 presents the main pollutant associated with printing and identifies
their sources.

Table 6: Pollutants Associated with Textile Printing and Sources

Pollutant Typical Sources

Suspended solids Discarded print paste and clear (Pigment printing)
Formaldehyde From binder
Urea Print waste (Wet printing)
Drying / Curing oven emissions (Solvents and Acetic
Air emissions
acid)
Non-aqueous oil / water thickeners, Machine cleaning,
Solvents
Screen cleaning
Aquatic toxicity Surfactants, Solvents
Discarded print waste, Colour kitchen operations,
Colour
Implement cleaning
Discarded print waste, Photo operations, Reducing
Metals agents in discharge printing, Screen making,
Engraving operations
Water (and Heat) Washing of printed cloth, Desizing operations
BOD Back-coating operations (Carpet printing)

Source: Impact of Textile in Environmental Issues and Environmental Legislation (Part I) By:
Karthik T. and Gopalakrishnan D.

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 Pollutants Associated with Finishing Process

Finishing operation generates solid and liquid wastes as well as atmospheric

pollutants. Pollutant categories include:

 Solid wastes: Fabric scraps and trimmings from salvages and seams; fibre dust
and fragments from napping, shearing and related operation, paper tubes and
empty chemical drums.
 Liquid: Discarded finishing mixes and rinse water from finishing implements and
equipment as well as facility clean up.
 Vapours: Exhaust gases from drying and curing.

 Apart from above pollutants in various processes the hazardous chemicals can
cause health hazards to workers

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5. Existing Environment Management Techniques

The environmental concerns of the textile industry are centered on the textile
processing which generates water pollution (in the form of effluents) during the
process - mainly dyeing. Some ways in which textiles affect the environment
uniquely are: Wet treatments like de-sizing and scouring using oxygen-depleting
substances reduce the cleanliness of the water; Absorbable Organic Halides
(AOX) emissions, caused by less biodegradable organic halogenated compounds
result from bleaching processes; high Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) arising
from cotton de-sizing; strong alkaline effluent from mercerization; Dyeing
process produces effluent with high COD, metals, toxic substances, salts, etc.,
originating from the dyes and dispersing agents. Such effluent is released to
water sources such as river, resulting in pollution. Though textile industry
produces both air and water pollution, it pollutes water more significantly than
air.

There are numerous technologies developed across the world, even in India, to
mitigate pollution in the textile sector. Water pollution in textile processing sector
has been addressed in India, mainly by treating the effluents, through the ETPs
and CETPs. These plants involve physico-chemical treatment of the waste-water
using lime and ferrous sulphate. However these are not widespread and the
pollution-related parameters in the treated water are still not within the safe
limits at certain locations. There is a scope of improving the infrastructure and
functioning of these plants.

The main environmental impacts of the textile chain derive from the so-called
"wet processes", mainly implemented by the textile finishing industry. Water is
used as the principal medium to apply dyes and various finishes. On average,
90% of the water input in textile finishing operations needs to be treated end-of-
pipe.

24
 Dye bath wastewater from textile mills is highly polluting in nature. The pollution
load is characterized by high colour content, suspended solids, salts, nutrients
and toxic substances such as heavy metals and chlorinated organic compounds.
Many textile mills in India currently discharge their wastewater to local
wastewater treatment plants with minimum treatment such as pH neutralization.
This process removes much of the residual dye colour. Larger mills can discharge
more than two million gallons of wastewater of this kind each day.

On the basis of various methods of treatment and the ultimate modes of

disposal, the best practicable control technologies generally practiced in India
are:

1. Primary Treatment (Primary treatment comprising screening, oil and grease

removal, equalization, coagulation, dosing and clariflocculation is required for the
discharge into municipal sewer), and
2. Primary and Secondary Treatment (following either activated sludge process or
extended aeration system and aerated lagoon system for discharge into inland
water bodies or marine waters)

There are many textile industries which have gone for water recovery from
treated waste water through Reverse Osmosis process and also recovery of brine
through nano-filtration from concentrated dye effluent generated during cotton
textile dyeing operation. Some industries have even achieved zero discharge by
subjecting R.O. reject through multiple effect evaporators.

The basic environmental management techniques in Indian textile industries also

vary according the process and scale of operations, but in general the following
techniques (technologies and techniques) that are found with respect to the
environment management are presented in Table 7.

25
 Table 7: Environment Management Techniques in Indian Textile
Industries

Operation Existing Technology / Technique

One of the major resources wasted in almost all industries

is water. Proper vigilance and maintenance of the
equipment and the process utilities (Maintaining check on
Good house leaking valves, cracks and fissures of pipe, faulty
keeping equipment leading to wastage of material) comes under
the environment management techniques and regular
practice for conserve and optimize on raw material and
resources.

The water consumption and efficiency in the washing is

affected largely due water applied per unit weight of
fabric, method of application (spraying, pulsing, cascading
etc.) water temperature, contact time and/or fabric speed,
number of washes, washing cycle and intermediate water
Washing extraction method (squeezing, suction, beating, etc.).

Use of hot water in place of cold water almost halves the

water consumption.

Horizontal washing configuration gives same performance

as of two conventional vertical configurations.

Size is one of the widely used chemical which is not

permanent on the final product. All the types of sizes are
more or less recovered, except starch since acid and
enzyme action in de-sizing degrades starch, making
useless as a size.

Enzymes have been developed which degrade starch to

Sizing / De-sizing
ethanol instead of a hydro glucose. The ethanol is distilled
and reused as solvent / fuel again reduces the BOD load.

Waste reduction in achieved in starch based sizing by

replacing enzyme process with oxidation (say by hydrogen
peroxide) thereby reducing the BOD load in waste water.

Micro-processor controlled chemical feeds have made it

26
Operation Existing Technology / Technique

possible to carry out the oxidation de-sizing at the

required conditions of temperature, pressure, dwell time
and chemical concentration.

This is usually done batch-wise by first impregnating the

material with the de-sizing agents and then washing the
hydrolyzed or degraded starch product with copious
supplied of water. Often, this operation is done in an
inefficient manner, calling for further processing of the
material at later stages and thus entailing the use of large
quantities of water.

Pad batch dyeing has emerged as an alternative to

conventional continuous dyeing. In pad batch system the
fabric is impregnated with dyestuff and alkali liquor and
then batched on rolls or in boxes covered with plastic
films, to prevent CO2 absorption or evaporation of water,
and then stored for two to twelve hours. This process has
been successful in waste reduction due to speed, simplicity
and elimination of necessity of salts or dye bath additive
Dyeing chemicals as compared to continuous dyeing.

Except for the continuous systems of dyeing, this

operation is mainly carried out in the form of batches
using liquor to material ratio of about 3 to 5:1 for jigger
dyeing, 10 to 15:1 for package dyeing and 20 to 40:1 for
hank dyeing. Because of the peculiarities of batch-wise
processing, the water used being in smaller quantities
cannot be readily stored and has to be drained away.

In any processing sequence, this is an essential operation

for the removal of impurities in cotton. With the J box
system this operation requires only 1.2 liter of water per
Scouring kg of the fabric as against 3-5 liters required in the batch
wise conventional operation of kier boiling.

Also by proper precaution during kier boiling, it will not be

necessary to take the material for a second boil and

27
Operation Existing Technology / Technique

thereby saving about 2 to 3 liter of water per kg of fabric

for every scouring operation.

It is a treatment with weak solution of sodium

hypochlorite. Often excessive alkalinity of the batch
detracts from efficient bleaching. For satisfactory
treatment, the alkalinity should not be more than 10 % of
the available chlorine in the solution.

Chemicking From the economy point of water, the chemicking and the
scouring operations are carried out in cisterns. This
method is useful in conserving water. Where cisterns are
not available, storage tanks near the washing machine can
be equipped with a pump to remove the water from the
washing machine and stored. The used batch may be
replenished and used again wherever required.

The mercerizing treatment consists in treating the yarn or

fabric with about 20 % solution of caustic soda for a period
of ranging from about 30 seconds for fabrics to 2 minutes
for yarns. After this the material is washed to remove
caustic soda. The caustic soda on cellulosic material is a
very tenacious chemical to wash and unless the washing is
Mercerizing efficiently done, large quantities of water are required. In
actual practice, however, the quantity of water used for
washing is more, and in extreme neglected case, it could
be to the tune of 40 liters of water per kg of material.
This, results, not only in large consumption of water,
which if taken for recovery, require unduly long recovery
periods and also large quantities of steam.

Replacing water processing with solvent processing in

textile indicated uneconomic al costs and possible violation
Solvent Processing
of air emission standards for storage, handling and by-
product recovery.

Transfer Printing The conventional printing involves colour paste (dyestuff,

thickening agent, water etc.) application to the fabric and

28
Operation Existing Technology / Technique

subsequent steaming for dye fixation, after which all the

chemicals other than the dye need to be removed from the
fabric. This increases effluent generation and degrades
effluent quality.

Transfer printing transfers dyestuff, previously printed on

paper, on the fabric under 200 0C temperatures in a
thermo press within 30 seconds. Only the dyestuff and no
other chemical, is transferred to the fabric thus eliminating
the after wash.

Processing solutions of textile chemicals is diluted partially

using the air in place of water by forming foams. This is
used in carpet dyeing, coating operations, foam dyeing
and foam finishing. Subsequent amount of energy is saved
as less quantity of water is required to be evaporated
Foam Processing during drying.

Foam processing is applicable in continuous process

equipment, as the production line is stopped the foam has
to be disposed of which is difficult, especially with unstable
foams. A suitable foam disposal method needs to be set up
before employing this technique.

Spent caustic from the mercerizing (major contribution) as

well as other units (minor contribution) is recovered for
reuse either by dialysis i.e., membrane separation
technology or by the most commonly used evaporation
method. The membrane separation technology is relatively
must costlier than the evaporation technique and such
Recovery of Caustic expenditure do not justify for the small and medium scale
textile industries.

The wash liquor from the processing unit is collected in

storage cum equalization tank from where it is pumped to
the first evaporator where it is subjected to high
temperatures using pressurized steam. The resulting
vapours are reused to heat the next evaporator and so on.

29
Operation Existing Technology / Technique

Normally, vacuum (22-24 inch of Hg) is applied in the final

stage evaporator which lowers the normal boiling point of
wash liquor (100 0C) to around 60-65 0C thus facilitating
the evaporation process and initializes and maintains the
flow of steam and the liquor. The vapours from the final
stage evaporator are subjected to sudden cooling in
barometric condenser to create vacuum. To recover 1 kg
of caustic soda, 16 kg of water needs to be evaporated.
The steam required for 1 kg caustic recovery in a
quadruple effect evaporator is only 6 kg (water evaporated
by 1 kg steam is 3.2 kg). The recovered caustic can either
be reused in the merceriser after adequate seeding with
fresh caustic or can be utilized in the preparation of soda
bleach by passing chlorine through the diluted recovered
caustic solution under controlled conditions.

Starch is the commonly used size in the country. Starch

degradation during the de-sizing eliminates the possibility
of its recovery. Starch also exerts a high BOD load on the
receiving stream.

The other type of sizes such as carboxymethyl cellulose

Recovery of Sizing (CMC) and polyvinyl acrylate (PVA) are comparatively
Material more expensive than starch but are recoverable. They are
economical for only vertical mills to use them as the size
can be returned to the makeup kettles whereas for the
non-vertical textile mills it is uneconomical to use these
expensive chemicals only to be recovered by another
independent processor.

Batch machines are relatively more expensive but are

more efficient than continuous dyeing ranges in their
usage of water, chemicals and energy. Batch dyeing offers
Reuse of Dye Bath flexibility, short run capability and ease of control.
Reduction in quantity of waste water and discharge of
pollutants can be obtained by reconstituting and reusing
the dye bath instead of discharging it after one dyeing.

30
Operation Existing Technology / Technique

The dye bath is pumped to a holding tank while the

product is instead in the same machine in which it was
dyed. After the rinsed product is removed the dye bath is
returned to the dye machine for the next dyeing cycle.

The use of Sulphur and vat dyes has declined due to

environmental concerns. Most of the direct dyes are azo
compounds which have been found to be carcinogenic in
nature. Benzidine from which congo red was synthesized is
a carcinogenic and hence benzidine based products are
phased out.

A new class of disperse dyes based on benzodifuranone

and free of metal halides has succeeded in overcoming the
thermomigration and Sulphur requirement problems of
conventional disperse dyes. Also, these dyes can be
decolorized by alkali. Other alkali clearing disperse dyes
based on diester or thiophane groups in their structure
have enabled the development of highly productive one
bath-two stage process for cotton and polyester exhaust
Development of dyeing.
Dyes
Reactive dyes are versatile in terms of dyeing. However,
problems of wash fastness and high electrolyte usage
occur.

Development of neutral fixing reactive dyes has helped in

satisfactory dyeing of cotton and polyester by one bath
process. They have high molecular weight and are
designed for high temperature dyeing.

Bifunctional dyes, carrying two reactive groups, increased

substantivity and high temperature application resulting in
good leveling properties. The two reactive groups and high
exhaustion values with higher utilization and resulting in
lesser hydrolyzed dye with less effluent. However, removal
of unfixed dye at the washing stage is difficult due to high
substantively built into such dyes.

31
Operation Existing Technology / Technique

The hetero bifunctional dyes or mixed bifunctional dyes

containing two groups of different substantively are
amongst the latest range of reactive dyes. These dyes are
less sensitive to temperature and can be applied over a
wide range of temperatures and accordingly, improve
shade reproducibility. Medium substantively favors level
dyeing and two reactive groups lead to relatively high
exhaustion. In cold pad batch method these dyes require
lesser time of about 15 hours. These dyes also have the
advantage of easier wash off as one of the products of
hydrolysis of these confers low substantively.

Methods of Effluent Several methods are employed for the treatment and
Treatment disposal of waste water from textile industries. The
treatment procedures are neutralization, chemical
treatment (precipitation), biological treatment and
advanced treatment systems. The choice of method differs
from plant to plant and the method best suited for a
particular plant has to be evaluated with reference to the
type of wastes to be handled and the degree of treatment
required in the particular situation.

32
6. CP Option for Textile Industry

 GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Good Housekeeping involves every phase of industrial operations and should

apply throughout the entire premises, indoors and out. Efficient production and a
good working environment are complementary. The elimination of inefficiencies
and accident hazards caused by unfavorable conditions in and about the
workplace is essential in getting the job done properly and safely. It requires
orderly conditions, the avoidance of congestion, and attention to such details as
an orderly layout of the whole workplace, the marking of aisles, adequate storage
arrangements, and suitable provision for cleaning and maintenance.

GHK
Sr. No. CP option
1 Worker train for correct measurement and application techniques.

2 Use correct measurements of chemical to reduce waste or spoilage.

3 Monitor storage area for signs of chemical leakage.

4 Increase production efficiency through improved record keeping.

5 Maintain equipment even if it not in use.

6 Gloves, boots, face masks or other protective clothing available for

workers.

7 Provide tight-fitting covers for chemical baths, to reduce sickening.

8 Train workers in proper use of salts and dyes.

9 Fumes and minimize evaporation of costly chemicals.

10 Insulate pipes to reduce energy loss and decrease fuel needs.

11 Shutting off machines when not in use.

33
 12 Repair of broken and steam pipe and connections.

14 Training of supervisors and workers to follow the control and

checking procedures of the jet dyeing machines.

15 Training to workers for proper collection of paste.

16 Fill the paste transfer bucket up to 80% of its capacity.

17 Training to workers for proper collection of paste.

18 Train the labour to ensure zero spillage.

19 Use the respective containers for keeping the waste materials.

20 Use the trimming in housekeeping.

21 Filling of the print paste charging buckets of about 3/4 th of its

capacity so as to avoid spills.

22 Instead of transferring print paste manually by mugs to the

charging bucket, the same can be filled under gravity flow by
making a provision of a tap in the drum.

23 Blower and water pump of the printing machine should be switched

off when printing is not in operation.

24 Proper steam distribution and networking so as to avoid pressure

and temperature variation.

25 Provision of valve arrangement in the drum for taking out paste.

26 Provision of drag out tray to the worker to collect dripping paste.

27 Installation of water level controllers in overhead tanks.

28 Using Water Efficient Processes and Equipment

34
  BETTER PROCESS CONTROL

Better process control aims at optimizing the process parameters/conditions like

pH, temperature, pressure, residence time etc., to ensure operation of existing
processes at higher efficiency and with lower waste and emission generation.

BPC
SR. NO. CP OPTIONS
1 Use calibrated service tank for addition of water to the drums

2 Using co-generation facility to avoid stoppages and water draining due to

power interruptions

3 Use low TDS water in the drumming operation which is a high

temperature operations

4 Increase rate of feed water by changing the pipe size from 2” to 3” at the
delivery point of the over head tank

5 Use calibrated service tanks for addition of water

6 Improve the washing practice by establishing operating procedures based

on dirt present

7 Optimize the use of caustic in scouring operation

8 Optimize use of acid

9 Improve the scouring process by establishing operating procedures based

on the scouring requirement

10 Optimize & use of minimum acid quantity based on the strength required

11 Optimize liquor ratio

12 Use dedicated stirrers for each recipe

13 Establishing and maintaining procedures for paste handling and training

the workers to follow the same

35
14 Use dedicated drums for each recipe

15 Co-ordination between the design department and the printing section.

16 The design and coverage percentage should communicated to the print

section

17 Regular maintenance / preventive maintenance of the doctor’s knife and

washing system of the blankets

18 Use of counter washing in the first three tanks of cold wash

19 Use of counter current washing in the tow tanks of hot wash

20 Passing of cloth through roller squeeze after each stage

21 Ensure proper quality of cloth procurement (specify mess size and

material)

22 Preventive checklist to be prepared and followed to avoid damage screen

23 Cloth size adjustable to the screen dimension is to be procured if available

24 Specific cloth for specific screen to be procured

25 Modify the photography practice

26 Counter current washings to be given

27 Reuse of Boiler off-gas with economizer/condenser

28 Install temp indicator to ensure desired heating to the cloth is done

29 Hot air control through graduated knob to be made so that the distribution
can be controlled

30 Provide insulation to the surface of the duct line

31 Develop colour standardization. Computerize the same if necessary

Calibrate the weighing balance once in a month

36
35 Develop proper cleaning method. Use of nozzle based cleaning should be
practiced.

36 Develop appropriate filtration method. The present method is time

consuming & crude way.

37 Use nozzle based cleaning.

38 Control the temperature/ Regulate the temperature/ Optimize the process

39 Standardize the LPG consumption.

40 Optimization of boiler damper and settings to reduce energy losses.

41 Before carrying out neutralization pH should be checked and accordingly

neutralization chemical to be added

42 Use of high pressure jet nozzles for screens washing

43 Introduction of static cold wash instead of running wash before scouring

44 Avoidance of drying unit operation between print washing and stenter

finish

45 Water meter installation to control material to liquor ratio and for further
data generation on water consumption

46 On-site colour removal of heavily coloured effluents with the help of

membranes.

47 Reduction in HCL concentration print washings by 30%

49 Improvement and close watch on boiler operation by on line flue gas

analysis

50 Installation of steam flow meter for each processing department.

51 Installation of a tray at the printers to avoid spilling

52 Application of activated peroxide bleaching new-process

53 Used in chemick wash in bleaching operation

37
54 Change of the process of dyeing can help in water conservation

55 The after wash is required to remove the un-fixed dyes from the fabrics in
drying operation
56 Change of the process of dyeing can help in water conservation

 RAW MATERIAL CHANGE

Change of raw material options includes the use of less hazardous materials or
raw materials of higher quality aimed at reducing the quantity/toxicity of
waste generated from the process.

RMC
SR. NO. CP OPTIONS
1 Use of the bi / poly functional dyes can reduce the water
consumption and waste load in effluent.

 TECHNOLOGY CHANGE

Technology change constitutes the replacement of technology, processing

sequence and/or synthesis pathway to minimize waste and emission generation
during the production process.

TC
SR. NO. CP OPTIONS
1 Auto cut off mechanism to ascertain predetermined water
addition to the drums.

2 Use nozzle based cleaning to reduce the quantity of wastewater.

3 Install exhaust fan near the source of emission.

4 Use of direct natural gas firing system in stenter instead of

thermic fluid heating system.

5 Automated print washing instead of manual.

6 Pneumatic operation of screen printing instead of manual

7 Automatic colour kitchen

38
  Standardize colour and gum stock preparation
 Computer controlled system for delivering the exact
quantities of colour and gum for a given recipe

8 Installation of computers for colour matching

9 Use of direct gas firing for heating in stenter/drier instead of

heating it by Thermic fluid heater

10 Switch over from manual to pneumatic operation for screen

printing

11 Finishing techniques :
33.1 Enzyme catalysed finishing processes
33.2 Plasma technology
33.3 Electron-ray treatment
33.4 Supercritical Carbondioxide
33.5 Ultrasonic treatment

12 Printing technology: Ink jet printing

13 Electrochemical dyeing

14 Wastewater Reduction By Automatic Shut Down (Solenoid)

Valves

15 Convert conventional bleaching to C.B.R.[continuous bleaching

range ]

16 Dyeing was carried out with cold pad batch

 RECYCLING

Recycling is the onsite recovery and reuse of wasted materials and energy. The
recovered materials may either be reused in the same process or another
purpose.

RECYCLE
SR. NO. CP OPTIONS
1 Keep the wet cloth in a basket and allow water to drain which

39
 has to be collected back for recycle

Hang it on the steel wire and allow water to drain which has to
2 be collected back for recycle

Pass the cloth through the squeezer and allow water to be

3
squeezed out which has to be collected back for recycle

Reuse in the second wash wastewater for the next batch

4
Recycle the scouring bath after adding make up chemicals
5
Recycle the cooling water coming out of the jet dyeing machines
6
Reuse alkali bath in scouring
7
Reuse dye bath with addition of requisite make-up chemicals
8
Re-use of collected water from various bleaching process
9
Reuse the acidic water from neutralization process step
9
Collect paste from the drums manually by scrappers
10
Recycle of non-contact cooling water from zero-zero finishing
11 machine

Collect and reuse the print paste of all types

12
Collect and reuse the print paste from the screens using squeeze
13
Filter the water and see whether the same can be used
14
Recycle of treated waste water to non-critical areas
15
Collection of steam condensate from jet dyeing machines and
16 zero finish machines and reusing it as boiler feed water

Reuse of spent scouring liquor twice

17

40
 Dye bath reuse
18
Reuse of neutralization(after scouring and washing) bath of
19 dyeing batches

Recycling blanket wash water

20
Print paste recovery from screens and squeeze (after each lot of
21 printing) by a simple wiper

Rainwater collection and charging of bore wells

22

Installation of effluent treatment plant and reusing of treated

23 water in the non-critical areas

In-house reuse of plastic bags and wrappers

24
Recovery & Reuse of Caustic Soda from Mercerizing Wash waters
25
Recover the sizing agents by ultra-filtration
26
Direct reuse of primary wash water from mercerization in
27 scouring processes

Acid wash water is collected from bleaching operation

28
Chemick wash water collected & used in kier-wash & de-size
29 wash

 EQUIPMENT MODIFICATION

Equipment modification includes small changes to existing equipment, which aims

at reducing the waste generation caused due to poor equipment design.

EM
SR. NO. CP OPTIONS
1 Install water meters and practice the usage of the meters to add
required quantity per batch

41
2 Calibrate the existing dip measuring system

3 Install dedicated pump to each drum

4 Lagging of drum washers to insulate the surface so as to provide
heat retention

5 Auto cut off mechanism to ascertain predetermined water

addition to the drums

6 Install water meters for all the jet-dyeing machines and practice
the usage of the meters to add required quantity per batch

7 Install and use air jet (stream) dyeing machine

8 High temperature jiggers

9 Automated dyestuff preparation and dosing

10 Installation of condensate collection system

11 Dye-house automation including automatic dispensing,

dissolving/mixing, transportation and distribution of liquid and
solid dyes and chemicals according to customer’s recipes and
procedures

12 Provision of high pressure jet nozzle for screen cleaning

13 Prepare the screens as per the actual fabric with to be printed

14 Installation of closed condensate collection system

15 Adjust the tension while making the screen either with a

calibrated tension adjuster

16 Install exhaust system

17 Use SS cooking pan with indirect heating system

18 Use scrapper mechanism to remove residual colour

42
 intermittently

19 Change the design of the frame to semi circular or rectangular

pattern

20 Use of press switch for view glass light in jet dyeing machine

21 Increase number of chambers in stenter from 3 to 5 and

increase the fabric speed

22 Reduction in print paste loss through edge carryover on printing

machines

23 Insulation of heat exchanger

24 Insulation of jet dyeing machine

25 Provision of vacuum slit for reducing moisture content of fabric

26 Attach stirrers on an overhead moving rail to reduce drum

movement

27 Provision of lift for movement of print paste between the

different floors

28 Provision of high pressure jet nozzles to wash screens

29 Insulation of steam and thermic fluid lines

30 Selection of low liquor ratio jet dyeing machine

43
 GENERAL WASTE MINIMIZATION OPTIONS

REDUCING WATER CONSUMPTION

Water consumption in a textile factory can be reduced by implementing various

changes ranging from simple procedures such as fixing leaks, to more complex
options such as optimizing water use and reducing the number of process steps

Some suggestions are outlined in this section.

 Repair Leaks, Faulty Valves, etc.

A simple method of determining if leaks exist is to take incoming water meter
readings before and after a shut-down period when no water is being used. A
difference in the readings could indicate a leak.

 Turn off Running Taps and Hoses

Encourage workers to turn off taps and hoses when water is not required. The
fixing of hand triggers to hoses also reduces water consumption.

 Turn off Water when Machines are not running.

Encourage workers to turn off machines and water during breaks and at the end
of the day. Avoid circulating cooling water when machines are not in use.

 Reduce the Number of Process Steps.

This involves a study of all the processes and determining where changes can be
made. For example, fewer rinsing steps may be required if a dye with high
exhaustion is used.

 Optimize Process Water Use.

Examples include using batch or stepwise rinsing rather than overflow rinsing,
introducing counter-current washing in continuous ranges, and installing
automatic shut-off valves.

 Recycle Cooling Water

44
Cooling water is relatively uncontaminated and can be reused as make-up or
rinse water. This will also save energy as this water will not require as much
heating.

 Re-use Process Water

This requires a study of the various processes and determining where water of
lower quality can be used. For example, final rinse water from one process can be
used for the first rinse of another process.

 Using Water Efficient Processes and Equipment

Although replacing outdated equipment with modern machines which operate at
lower liquor ratios and are more water efficient requires capital investment, the
savings that can be made ensure a relatively short pay-back period.

 Sweeping Floors
Instead of washing the floors of the dye house and kitchens, rather sweep up any
spillages and wash down only when essential. Not only will this reduce water use,
but also the concentration of contaminants to drain as the waste is disposed of as
solids.

REDUCING CHEMICAL CONSUMPTION

The majority of chemicals applied to the fabric are washed off and sent to drain.
Therefore, reducing chemical consumption can lead to a reduction in effluent
strength and therefore lower treatment costs, as well as overall savings in
chemical costs. Various options for reducing chemical use are listed below:

 Recipe Optimization
Recipes are generally fail-safe designed which results in the over-use of
chemicals. Optimizing the quantity of chemicals required will lead to more
efficient chemical use and lower costs. Continual updating of recipes should be
carried out when new dyestuffs enter the market as, in general, less of these
chemicals are required.

45
 Dosing Control
Overdosing and spillages can be reduced by mixing chemicals centrally and
pumping them to the machines. Check that manual measuring and mixing is
carried out efficiently and automatic dispensers are properly calibrated.

 Pre-screen Chemicals and Raw Materials

Avoid dyestuffs containing heavy metals, solvent-based products and carriers
containing chlorinated aromatics. Safety data sheets should be obtained from the
chemical manufactures to obtain information such as toxicity, BOD and COD.
Check that raw materials do not contain toxic substances. Check that companies
will accept expired raw materials for disposal.

 Correct Storage and Handling

More effective control of the storage and handling of chemicals will results in less
spillage reaching the drains.

 Chemical Recovery and Reuse

Chemical use may be reduced through recovery and reuse. For example, sodium
hydroxide from mercerizing can be recovered through evaporation. Dye baths
may be reused and size can be recovered for reuse.

 Improve Scheduling
Review the scheduling of continuous processes such as sizing, desizing, padding
etc. to ensure that the same chemical bath is used as many times as possible,
thus reducing the number of dumps to drain per day

ENERGY CONSERVATION

As with water conservation, reductions in energy use can result in substantial

savings and lower emissions from boilers or generating plants. Some energy
efficient options are listed below.

46
 STEAM GENERATION
Boiler blowdown

It is necessary to control the build-up of total dissolved solids (TDS) within any
steam-raising boiler, through periodic blowing-down. It is essential that boiler
TDS is monitored regularly in order that excessive blowing down is avoided.
Increasing blow down by 5% will increase fuel consumption by between 1% and
1.5%.

Economizers

Boiler efficiency may be increased by preheating feed water through the use of
an economized installed within the boiler flue. In general, increases in feedwater
temperature will results in 1% less fuel being burned at the boiler.

Combustion air temperature

Boiler efficiency can be increased by recovering waste heat from the flue gas and
preheating combustion air. An increase in combustion air temperature will result
in about 2% efficiency increase.

 STEAM DISTRIBUTION AND USE

Insulation

All hot surfaces of a steam distribution system must be insulated. Justification

can be made on the grounds of a reduction of heat loss, improvement in steam
quality (through reduced condensate formation) and healith and safety issues.
Heat loss charts are available for various combinations of pipework diameters and
surface temperatures over a range of insulation thicknesses. As a rough guide,
insulation can be economically justified to reduce bare pipe losses by 90%.

47
Flash steam recovery

Flash steam is generated when hot condensate is allowed to reduce in pressure,

allowing a certain amount of condensate to evaporate (flash). The total heat
content of the new system at equilibrium is the same at the total heat content of
the original condensate. The quantity of flash steam generated may be calculated
using a flash steam chart, or from steam tables. Wherever the generation of flash
steam occurs, it is important to consider alternative possible uses for it (this
includes the use of flash steam from boiler blow down).

REDUCING AIR POLLUTION

Some steps to reduce the emissions to air include:

 Decreasing emissions of organic solvents by changing to water-based

products.
 Using scrubbers to collect particulate matter.
 Optimizing boiler operations to reduce the emissions of nitrous and sulphur
oxides.
 Pre-screening chemicals using the Material Safety Data Sheets to ensure that
chemicals are not toxic.
 Identifying sources of air pollution and quantifying emissions.
 Designing and manufacturing products that do not produce toxic or hazardous
air pollutants.
 Avoiding fugitive air emissions from chemical spills through improved work
practices.

REDUCING SOLID WASTE

In terms of volume, solid waste is the second largest waste stream in the textile
industry next to liquid effluent. There are a number of waste minimization options
available to reduce solid waste, and these include:

48
 Reducing the amount of packaging material by improved purchasing practices
such as ordering raw materials in bulk or returnable intermediate bulk
containers (IBCs). This reduces spillages, handling costs, exposure of workers
to chemicals and the amount of storage space required.
 Purchasing chemicals in returnable drums. Enquire if vendors will accept
unwashed drums as this will reduce the waste water generated in the factory.
 If possible, ordering chemicals in IBCs rather than bags as these are easily
broken, causing spillages.
 Purchasing yarn on reusable plastic cones rather than cardboard cones.
 Reducing seam waste through effective training programmes.
 Selling waste fibres, sweeps, rags, yarn and cloth scraps.
 Selling used pallets to a recycler.
 Donating damaged pallets to institutions (e.g. schools) for the wood.

REDUCING TOXICITY

Compounds that contribute to the aquatic toxicity of textile effluent include salit,
metals, surfactants, toxic organic chemicals, biocides and toxic anions. Some
methods of reducing the use of these compounds are to:

 Reduce metal content through careful pre-screening of chemicals and dyes for
metal content and using alternatives where possible.
 Eliminate galvanized plumbing as reactions with brass fittings can take place
in the presence of acids, alkalis or salit and lead to the release of zinc.
 Reduce the amount of salit in the effluent by optimizing recipes, using low-
salit dyes, reusing dyebaths and optimizing dyeing temperatures.
 Use biodegradable surfactants such as linear alcohol ethoxylates.
 Replace chlorinated solvents with unchlorinated alternatives.

49
 Replace the use of biocides with ultraviolet light as a disinfectant for cooling
towers.
 Carefully pre-screen chemicals for their toxic nature using MSDS.

REDUCING NOISE POLLUTION

The following steps can be implemented to reduce noise pollution:

 install screens and sound baffles on fans,

 regular maintenance of machinery,
 fit anti-vibration mounts on machines, and
 Fit walls with sound-absorbing material.

50
7. Best Available Techniques Case studies

Following is a brief on the Pilot measures explored and Implemented in the

sector through successful demonstration of environmental benefits.

Pilot measure 1: Recycle/reuse of cooling water and condensate water

as boiler feed water

Problem: Cooling water and condensate water are non-process water uses.
Many cooling water systems are operated on a once-through basis. Condensate
water includes water from heat exchangers in dyeing machines, drying ranges,
cooling cans on continuous ranges, while cooling water includes hot water from
jet dyeing machine and compressors (if water cooled).In the knit industry for
example, the amount of cooling water utilized in the process is equivalent to
13% of total fill and rinse water. Traditionally, jet dyeing machines are equipped
with common heat exchangers that are used for both heating and cooling which
is normally drained with other effluent and thus increasing fresh water
consumption as well as effluent quantity & load at ETP.

Pilot measure: Both the cooling water and the condensate is recovered
completely from jet dyeing machines and reused as boiler feed water in Rinkoo
Processors. While cooling water from jet dyeing machines is reused as process
hot wash water on soft flow dyeing machines, RFD (Ready For Dyeing) machines,
etc. in KomalTexfab.

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Benefits:

 The total boiler feed water is being now catered by recovered condensate &
cooling water amounting to 50 KL per day
 Boiler feed water consumption reduction: 100%
 Recovery of energy in form of heat from hot water: 15%
 Reduction in boiler emissions
 Reduction in waste water generation (quality & quantity)

Cost benefits analysis:

Capital costs for implementation was Rs. 3,00,000, operating costs includes the
pumps operation of 10 HP for transfer amounting to Rs. 3,13,000 per annum,
resulted in saving of Rs. 33,00,000 per annum with payback period of 3 months
(Rinkoo Processors).

Capital costs for implementation was Rs. 11,00,000, while operating costs
includes the pumps operation of 10 HP for transfer amounting to Rs. 1,96,000
per annum, resulted in saving of Rs. 12,12,000 (Rs. 5,94,750 fuel cost + Rs.
6,17,760 fresh water pumping cost) per annum with payback period of 13
months (KomalTexfab).

Pilot Measure 2: Reuse of Treated Water for Washing at Printing Machine

Problem: Screen is used for printing designs. When designs or colours on design
are changed then screen is washed. Similarly the frames also need washing on
change over. One Printing machine requires 1500 lit/hr for continuous cleaning of
the blanket and screens, therefore in it requires 150 KL of water per day. During
washing wash water is generated, which is treated in ETP.

Pilot measure: The ETP plant treated water is recycled for its use in cleaning
process of screen & frames. In house piping arrangements were made to divert
the ETP treated water for cleaning at printing machines through an overhead
tank.

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 Benefits:

 Reduced fresh water consumption by 150 KL per day

 Reduction of CETP charges in future for the volume of waste water reduced

When implemented: Industries started using the ETP water for washing
purposes in 2010 & started using the ETP treated water for washing purpose in
2013.

Costs benefit analysis:

Capital cost for implementation was Rs. 1, 00,000, Operating cost for running
pumps of 6 HP for water transfer of Rs 1, 69,000 per annum giving total savings
of Rs 3, 46,500 with payback period of 10 months.

Capital cost for implementation was Rs. 3, 00,000, Operating cost for running
pumps of 7.5 HP for water transfer of Rs 86,000 per annum giving total savings
of Rs 2, 58,000 with payback period of 21 months.

Pilot Measure 3: Water Consumption Optimization at Jigger Machine

Problem: In overflow rinsing, clean water is fed into a machine and drained
through an overflow weir usually set near a normal running level. Overflow
rinsing is inefficient in terms of water use as clean water is often fed into a
machine with the control valve fully opened thus having 3 times (1200
litre/batch) higher flow rate of overflow water required.

53
 Pilot measure: In order to reduce water consumption and effluent generation
two separate water lines for jigger machines, for water filling (1.5 inch) with auto
timer based controller to fill required quantity of water into jigger, for overflow
(0.5 inch) line with auto timer controller which allows only 400 litre per 20
minutes and stops the water flow after one turn. Also the water supplied to the
jigger is from condenser cooling water of caustic recovery plant which in turn
saves the 30 KL/yr of additional fresh water consumption.

Benefits:

 Economic savings with reduced fresh water consumption by 360 KL per year
 Reduction in effluent generation due to reuse of cooling water.
 Reduces the load on ETP and reduction of CETP charges in future for the volume
of waste water reduced

When implemented: The modification was implemented in 2010 by the

industry.

Cost benefit analysis: Capital cost for the modification was Rs. 2,00,000 per
jigger with water saving of 360 KL/yr. Although the fresh water cost is not
significant, the payback in this case is not fast considering the fresh water cost
only.

54
Pilot Measure 4: Caustic soda Recovery System

Problem: A large quantity of caustic soda is used in different processes of textile

processing of the industry, most notably in mercerization process. Mercerization
is the treatment of cotton under tension with caustic soda solution at 150 - 200
0
C for 25- 40 seconds. For this purpose fibres and fabrics are impregnated within
a caustic soda solution. Fabric is treated with caustic soda (NaOH) solution.
Caustic soda reacts with the cellulose, swells it and imparts above properties.
After treatment, fabric is washed with water with starching tension to remove
un-reacted caustic soda (98 to 99 % of unreacted caustic) from the fabric. This
wash water contains substantial amount of caustic soda which is not only the
resource loss but also it generates pollution in the wastewater (higher COD, TDS,
TSS, alkalinity etc).

Pilot measure: Caustic Soda Recovery System separates the weak lye (wash
liquor) into strong lye and vapour condensate (slightly alkaline soft water). The
condensate can be used for pre-washing and the caustic soda can be reused in
the mercerizing process.

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 Benefits:

 Chemical (Caustic) consumption reduction: 75%

 Reduction in waste water generation (quality & quantity)

When implemented: Industry implemented the caustic recovery plant in year

2013 from Elite Engineers, Thane, Maharashtra.

Cost benefit analysis: Total savings of Rs. 1,42,00,000 with payback period of
12 months. (Operational data). Payback time depends on plant size and
operating time per day.

Pilot Measure 5: Batch washing in Place of Continuous Washing in Jet

Dyeing Machine

Problem: In Jet Dyeing Machine, the washing is carried out with continuous flow
of fresh water in order to remove the unexhausted dyes and chemicals without
any control. During continuous washing 5000 litre / batch of water is consumed
without any real requirement and as a normal practice.

Pilot measure: Batch / Intermittent washing is applied with fresh water intake

56
 of three cycles in batch manner instead of continuous flow of water. Achieved by
giving appropriate instruction to dyeing master and & operating staff.

Benefits:

 The same washing quality is achieved in batch washing with 3500 litre / batch of
water.
 This is a reduction of water consumption of 30%.

When implemented: Industry implemented the batch washing in 2010.

Cost benefits analysis:

The reduction in water consumption was approx. 39600 KL per annum on 11 nos.
machine without any capital cost or operating costs, with saving of Rs. 3,05,000
per annum (pumping cost only) with immediate return.

Pilot measure 6: Replacement of alkaline scouring with bio-scouring

enzyme for enzymetic scouring.

Problem: Scouring is carried out to remove impurities that are present in cotton.
This is usually done at high temperatures (above 100 °C) with sodium hydroxide.
Produces strongly alkaline effluents (around pH 12.5) with high organic loads,
tend to be dark in colour and have high concentrations of Total Dissolved Solids
(TDS), oil and grease in wastewater. The processing cost of fabric was Rs. 5.15
per kg of fabric

Pilot measure: Replacement of alkaline scouring in the manufacturing process

with bio-scouring enzyme for enzymatic scouring with chemical supplied by
Camex, Ahmedabad, also available with Novozyme.

57
Benefits: Bio-scouring process provides many advantages, such as reduced
water and wastewater costs, reduced treatment time and lower energy
consumption because of lower treatment temperature. Commercial bio-scouring
enzyme products are based on pectinases which are used for enzymetic scouring.
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of
enzymatic scouring process are 20-45 % as compared to alkaline scouring (100
%). Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) of enzymatic scouring process is 20-50% as
compared to alkaline scouring (100%).

Bio scouring resulted in following benefits:

Water consumption reduction: 45.45%

Chemical consumption reduction: 8.65%
Electrical power consumption reduction: 37.04%
Fuel (coal) consumption reduction: 24.55%

58
When implemented: Industry took the trails on number of batches with new
bio scouring product and on the basis of results with no risk to product quality
industry replaced the alkaline scouring with bio scouring in 2013.

Cost benefits analysis:

The processing cost of fabric reduced to Rs. 3.91 per kg of fabric. There is no
capital cost required since only replacement of chemical is required (although
with 10 % additional cost compared to existing chemicals), the total savings
achieved was Rs. 50, 22,000 per annum.

Pilot Measure 7: Reuse of Alkaline Stream from Mercerizing

Problem: In mercerising process, fabric is treated with caustic soda (NaOH)

solution. Caustic soda reacts with the cellulose, swells it and imparts properties
like strength, improve lustre and increase absorption of the fabric for dyes. The
alternate to recover caustic is caustic recovery plant which requires significant
capital investment and also running cost in form of steam and manpower. After
treatment, fabric is washed with water with starching tension to remove un-
reacted caustic soda (98 to 99 % of unreacted caustic) from the fabric. This wash
water contains substantial amount of caustic soda which is not only the resource
loss but also it generates pollution in the wastewater (higher COD, TDS, TSS,
alkalinity etc).

Pilot measure: Industry has gone through the process waste stream
identification and probable processes for reuse of the waste streams and after
process modification, the alkaline stream is collected in underground tanks of
which 50O caustic stream is collected and reused for next batch while the 20 O
caustic stream is pumped to overhead tank and is supplied through common line
with tapings to individual jigger machines for use during next process i.e., dyeing
process where the alkaline stream is used for boiling and bleaching of fabrics.

59
 Benefits:

 Reduction of caustic consumption by 15000 kg per year.

 Reduction of CETP charges in future for the volume of waste water reduced

When implemented: Industry done installation of mercerising waste water

collection tanks with piping & pumping system through In-house modification in
2010.

Cost benefit analysis: Capital cost for implementation was Rs. 5, 00,000, with
negligible operating cost giving total savings of Rs. 5, 40,000 per annum with
payback period of 12 months.

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 Pilot Measure 8: Efficient Boiler operation

Problem: Boiler efficiencies will vary over a wide range, depending on a great
variety of factors and conditions. The highest efficiencies that have been secured
with coal are in the range of 50-82%. It is being observed that the combustion
efficiency of the boiler is lower than the current standard boilers delivering, the
combustion efficiency of the boiler was found to be only 80 % while the
combustion efficiency of efficient boilers is more than 90 %. The reasons for low
combustion efficiency are:

 The heat transfer is poor due to low heat transfer area and short contact time
between flue gas and the water.
 The fuel charging door remains more or less open during the entire operation
due to various reasons, mostly human errors
 There is no control over fuel firing in combustion chamber

Pilot measures: After detailed investigation industry has decided to replace the
existing boiler which is not efficient with the efficient 6 TPH capacity boiler with
ESP system to take care the air emissions as well. The performance of the
existing boiler was evaluated and comparison with the efficient boiler for same
amount of steam generation was carried out, on the basis of calculations industry
placed the order for new boiler.

61
 Benefits:

 Reduction in coal consumption: 10-30%

 Reduction in boiler emissions.

When implemented: The new boiler is commissioned in 2014.

Cost benefit analysis: The capital cost of the boiler is Approx. Rs. 85,00,000
(excluding ESP), while the operating cost remains the same while it will reduce
due to consideration of latest technologies and control of the boiler system, the
total estimated savings of Rs. 50,00,000 giving payback period of 21 months.

Pilot Measure 9: Optimization of Heat Energy in Jigger Machine

Problem: Hot water is required for Dye application, Dye fixation, soaping etc. in
a Jigger Dyeing Machine. The Jigger Dyeing Machine is required for Dyeing of
cotton fabric or cotton content of the blended fabric. Dyeing of cotton fabric
requires hot water at temperatures 80°C to 96°C depending upon the type of dye
used. Heat for raising this hot water was drawn from steam raised in boiler by
direct injection to water in jigger machine at approx. 3 kg/cm 2g, thus significant
amount of heat was required to raise the water temperature also the high steam
pressure leads to higher velocity which escapes from the water bath of jigger to
atmosphere without delivering the heat and increase the steam consumption
further due to losses. Average specific steam consumption at jigger machine was
1.5 to 2 kg of steam per kg of fabric.
Pilot measure: The water supplied to the jigger is from condenser cooling water
(soft water) of caustic recovery plant at 50 0C, thus the water is preheated and
will need steam only to raise temperature from 50 0C to average 85 0C. This hot

62
 water is further heated in closed tank with direct steam injection at 1 kg/cm 2g
pressure only to utilise the full heat content of the steam. The machines are
supplied with hot water directly instead of heating water at machines. To
maintain the required temperature during the process there are seamless SS
coils at bottom of the jigger machines to provide indirect heating through thermic
oil available.

Benefits:

 Reduction in coal consumption by 102 tons per year.

 Reduction in fresh water consumption of 30000 KL per year
 Reduction of CETP charges in future for the volume of waste water reduced
 Reduced emissions from boiler

When implemented: The modification and installation was done in-house by

industry in 2011.

Cost benefit analysis: Capital cost invested for the various modifications was
Rs. 13, 50,000 with total savings of Rs. 8, 70,000, with negligible operating cost
giving payback period of 18 months.

Pilot Measure 10: Low Liquor Ratio Jet Dyeing Machine

Problem: Jet dyeing machine dyes the cloth by forcibly contacting the jet flow of
dye stuff solution. It executes efficient dyeing in such a manner that the tension
on the cloth is decreased as much as possible, and that the cloth dyes evenly
with a relatively small amount of dyestuff. Current Jet dyeing machines operate

63
 at a liquor ratio of 10:1, thus resulting in excess water consumption and in turn
excess waste water generation. One factor limiting implementation is the high
cost of the new machines, which favours use at new facilities rather than as
replacements for older machines

Implemented measure: Machines of newer designs operate at a liquor ratio of

7:1. These machines usually incorporate low-friction Teflon internal coatings and
advanced spray systems to speed rinsing.

Benefits:

 Reduced water consumption: 30%

 Reduced electrical power consumption: 20%
 Reduced fuel (coal) consumption: 30%
 Reduced consumption of chemicals & auxiliaries.
 Reduction in waste water generation (quality & quantity)

When implemented: Soft flow dyeing machines were supplied by Brazil,

Germany in year 2008-09 to the industry.

Cost benefits analysis:

Capital cost of 900 kg/hr machine was Rs. 1.25 crore, with reduced operating
cost than conventional jet dyeing machines total savings achieved was of Rs.
18,90,000 per annum giving payback period of 80 months (Excluding cost of
chemicals saving & waste water treatment & disposal cost).

64
 Pilot Measure 11: Auto Colour Dispensing Through Spectrometer &
Chemical Dispensing System

Problem: The correlation between the formula developed in the lab and the
formula used in production cannot be done manually thus resulting in excess
chemical usage and increased rework. Reproducing colour accurately and cost-
effectively in all of these instances is difficult. Number of problems associated
with using traditional manual methods of preparing solutions is as following:

 Errors can occur when manually calculating the amount of dyestuff, auxiliary and
water required when making up solutions.
 Manually weighing out the precise amount of the required dye takes time and
skill, and the risk of mistakes in a busy production environment is high.
 Manually dispensing auxiliaries and water accurately is very time consuming.
 Variations in the temperature of water used can affect the stability and accuracy
of solutions for certain dyestuffs.
 Inaccuracies in the amount of auxiliary added in solutions can affect the stability
and reliability of solutions for certain dyestuffs

Pilot measures: An infrared exhaust laboratory-dyeing machine with a fully

automated dosing system. Once the on-screen colour is created, the software
then, in turn, automatically computes the right colorimetric data. This is the
digital "signature" of that colour - and includes the standard colorimetric
parameters such as reflectance and L, a, b data. The system accepts
measurements from a spectrophotometer in the form of colorimetric data, and
instantly transforms that data into visual colour on the screen for evaluation or
adjustment.

Perfect stock solutions require perfect dispensing of chemicals to machine and

thus automated chemical dosing system was installed for production machines.

65
 Benefits:

 These systems reduce the tendency to overuse environmentally harmful

chemicals and, therefore, reduce pollutant loads of discharged effluents. They
also reduce handling loss and equipment clean up. In addition, they improve the
efficiency and reliability of chemical reactions in the dye bath, ensuring
consistent and reproducible results.
 It reduces chemical usage (excluding dyes) by at least ten 10 % and rework of
fabric by 3 %. It also reduces labour and overhead costs, increases production,
and eliminates the manual handling of chemicals.

When implemented: Auto Dispensing System (Aral, Israel), Spectrophotometer

(gretagmacbeth) and IR dyer (Copower) were installed by industry in year 2011.

Cost benefit analysis: The capital cost invested by industry was Rs. 2,
00,00,000, with minimum operating and maintenance cost, the total savings
achieved by industry is Rs. 62,64,000 per annum giving simple payback of 3.5
years.

Pilot Measure 12: installation of Variable Frequency Drive in Jet Dyeing

Machine

Problem: In Jet Dyeing higher pressure of 3.5 kg/cm2 is required to ensure

uniform dyeing of the fabric and also causes fabric movement whereas lower
pressure of 1.5 kg/cm2 is required for creating movement of the fabric during
cycle other than dyeing cycle. Due to non-availability of any mechanism for
varying the pressure, the pump is made to operate on much more than the
required pressure or is throttled to get the required pressure. In case of
operating at higher pressure, electricity is unnecessarily wasted.

66
 Pilot measure: The system proposed is retro fitment of a VFD armed with PLC
based control gear to the Jet Dyeing Machine so as to implement time based and
requirement oriented change in RPM of the pump. The PLC based system can be
integrated with existing control gear or can be installed as a package.

Benefits:

 Reduction in electricity consumption

 Better process control

When implemented: The VFDs were installed on 11 nos. pumps of Jet Dyeing
Machine in 2010.

Cost benefit analysis: Capital cost of one 12.5 HP VFD is Rs. 30,000, operating
costs is negligible, giving total savings of Rs. 55,000 per annum with return of
investments of 7 months.

Pilot Measure 13: Flash Steam Recovery of Dyeing Range to

Preheat Boiler Feed Water

Problem: A typical dryer machine has 12 to over 30 steam cylinders. A typical

16 cylinder dryer requires 110 kg steam input per hour for 2400 m/hr fabric
running rate, i.e., approximately 0.30 kg of steam per kg of water evaporated.
The steam after condensation comes out of the dryer cylinder at approx. 2
kg/cm2g pressure which then is collected in an open tank, due to sudden change
in pressure some of the heat from condensate is used to evaporate water and
thus generation of flash steam. This flash steam goes into atmosphere as waste.
67
 The industry is having 4 nos. of drying ranges with average 45 KL/day
condensate generation from each range.

Pilot measure: The industry designed a simple system to recover this flash
steam and raise the temperature of boiler feed water to reduce the fuel input at
boiler by supplying heated water. A additional tank is constructed above the
condensate recovery tank and flash steam generated is allowed to be passed
through coils in the top tank to heat the water, when the water temperature
reaches the required feed water temperature an automatic valve opens the flow
to condensate tank and the heated water with hot condensate is pumped to the
boiler feed water tank.

Benefits:

 Reduction in coal consumption by 510 tons per year.

 Reduction in fresh water consumption of 3375 KL per year due to recovery of
flash steam
 Reduced emissions from boiler

When implemented: The system for heat content utilization from flash steam is
designed In-house by the industry and was implemented in 2012, the schematic
of the system is shown below:

68
 Cost benefit analysis: Capital cost for the modification was Rs.1, 00,000 with
savings due to reduction in fuel consumption of Rs. 35, 67,000 per annum with
negligible operating cost giving payback period of 10 days.

Pilot Measure 14: Heat Losses Optimization at Cylinder Dying Machine

Problem: A typical 16 cylinder dryer requires 110 kg steam input per hour for
2400 m/hr fabric running rate, i.e., approximately 0.30 kg of steam per kg of
water evaporated. The side plates of cylinders, non-covered cylinder surfaces
and non-isolated piping emit heat to the surrounding area and thus loss of
energy. The major challenges for insulating the side plates of a cylinder dryer are
following:

 Cylinder dryers rotates at 50-60 rpm

 Normally industries insulate with glass/mineral wool
 Water resistance of mineral wool is very low and thus gaining moisture by
insulation makes it conductive to heat loss
 Normally insulation peel off within 2-3 month of installation
 Due to low moisture resistance and holding of moisture within insulation
promotes corrosion

69
Pilot measure: Side plates of drying range can be insulated with more durable
(life & properties) mineral/rock wool, which can result in reduction of steam
consumption. This non-combustible mineral wool is a composition of inorganic
components which are melted in a furnace, and then spun and bonded with a
resin to form various insulation products. Mineral wool comes in various forms.
Meter sections come in preformed sections and vary in density from 160 kg/m³
to 185 kg/m³, depending on the pipe size. The Wired Mattress, rigid and semi-
rigid board and flexible felt comes in a matt form, or reinforced mat depending
on the requirements.

70
 Also, there are heat resistive coatings available in market which are polymer
based coatings with special thermal insulation properties and are applicable for
the hot surfaces where the installation of conventional insulation is not practical
due to various reasons. These heat resistive coatings claims reduction of heat
losses upto 20 % and surface temperature reduction up to 40 %.

Benefits:

 Reduction in steam consumption: 5-10%

 Reduction in boiler emissions.
 Production area working conditions will improve
 Safety for workers will improve

Cost benefit analysis: Capital costs of the insulation will be Rs. 35,000 for 12
m2 surface area, No operating costs involved and estimated saving is Rs. 1,
16,000with payback period of 4 months.

Pilot Measure 15: Optimization of Exhausts by Controlling the Exhaust

Humidity with Automation

Problem: In Cotton Printing, Stenter is used before printing but after pre-
treatment. In case of Polyester or PC Dyeing, stenter is used twice, once for heat
setting and then again for final finish. Only 5.4% of heat given to stenter is
utilized in heating the fabric in case of Heat Setting. Heat gained by fabric in any
typical stenter operation is 4.6% only. It is further evident that approx. 95%
stenters are used for the purpose of moisture evaporation, released to
atmosphere or wasted.

Pilot measure: Instruments are available which automatically control the

dampers to maintain exhaust humidity within this specified range thereby cutting
air losses without significantly affecting fabric throughput. By installing the
exhaust moisture controlling system (retrofit), the moisture % age required to be
present in the finished fabric is set and optionally if required speed of the fabric
is varied so as to attain exact moisture % age. Proposed equipments are
available with Vibha Power Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Indore, M.P.

Benefits:

 Reduction in consumption of electrical power: 5-10%

 Reduction in consumption of fuel (coal): 20%
 Reduction in thermic fluid heater emissions.
 Reduction in process time.

71
Cost benefit analysis: Capital costs of the equipment is Rs. 1,65,000, No
operating costs involved, Estimated saving is Rs. 1,85,000 (@ 5 % savings) with
return of investments in 11 months.

72
8. References:

 GCPC Report on ‘Cleaner Production in Textile Industries, 2011’.

 Impact of Textile in Environmental Issues & Environmental Legislation (Part I)

By: Karthik T. and Gopalakrishnan D.

 Productivity and Competitiveness of Indian Manufacturing Sector: Textile and

Garments Report by NPC (National Productivity Council).

 Human Resource and Skill Requirements in the Textile Industry: A Study on

mapping of human resource skill gaps in India till 2022 by NSDC (National Skill
Development Corporation).

 BAT Guidance Note on Best Available Techniques for the Textile Processing
Sector (1st Edition) by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).

 Environmental Standards in the Textile and Shoe Sector - A Guideline on the

Basis of 'The BREFS – Best Available Techniques Reference Documents of the EU'
By Umweltbundesamt.

 Comprehensive Industry Document (COIND) for Textile Industry by CPCB

(Central Pollution Control Board).

 Environmental Guidance Manual Sector: Textile Projects by RPCB (Rajasthan

Pollution Control Board).

 Outcome budget of ministry of textiles 2015-2016.

 Overview of textile industry in Gujarat, Enpro Enviro Tech and engineer Ltd.

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Stop Pollution – Save Environment

Gujarat Cleaner Production Centre

(Established by Industries & Mines Department, GoG)
Block No: 11-12, 3rd Floor, Udhyog Bhavan, Gandhinagar
Phone: + 91 79 232 44 147
Mail: gcpc11@yahoo.com, info@gcpcgujarat.org.in
URL: www.gcpcgujarat.org.in