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On 16 January, the Hong Kong Productivity Co u n c i l ( H K P C ) o r g a n i s e d a s e m i n a r o n dyeing/finishing and functional treatments of textiles. The seminar provides new perspectives on industrial upgrade by promoting new technologies which are both energy saving and waste reducing. As part of the Cleaner Production Partnership Programme, the seminar aims at helping enterprises achieve green production and cost reduction at the same time.
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nitrogen can reduce the oxidation of sodium dithionite but is too expensive. Adding aldehydes or directly powering with electricity can improve the reducing power of sodium dithionite, but the problem of wastewater remains. If indirect electrochemical re d u c t i o n i s a d o p t e d, the medium can replace sodium dithionite as the reducing agent. The medium can provide both oxidising and reducing substances and can regenerate so that both waste and pollution can be reduced. Past experiments show that reduction by electrolysis can save about 90 per cent of production cost when compared with reduction by sodium dithionite. Apart from reducing dyes, electrochemical process technology can be utilised in other aspects. Taking bleaching as example, the core principle of electrochemical mercerising and bleaching is that bleaching chemicals can be produced by electrical energy and can be regenerated; hence the process is easily controlled, waste-reducing and energy-saving. The process can be monitored so that bleaching occurs evenly. Also, the cost and danger of transportation is greatly reduced, particularly regarding hydrogen peroxide which is explosive. Another emerging project is the technology of ozone electrolysis. Ozone is strongly oxidising and can be used in decolourising and other waterless dye treatments (e.g. ozone jets to prevent wearing out of jeans). As ozone can selfdecompose, it will not cause pollution problems once carefully treated.
a substance enjoys many advantages and can replace water in the dyeing process. The supercritical fluid normally used is carbon dioxide (CO2), as the critical temperature and pressure are easier to achieve than that of other substances. Moreover, carbon dioxide is also non-flammable without residues, so it is suitable for industrial use.
New perspectives on industrial upgrade by promoting new technologies which are both energy saving and waste reducing.
In traditional water-dyeing technology, textiles should undergo multiple processes with the help of aid agents, chemical salts, surfactants and reduction clearing agents. In contrast, for the supercritical waterless dyeing technology, only supercritical fluid is needed for dyeing and circulation, after which the pressure and temperature can be lowered and the whole process is finished, without producing any wastewater. Also, as carbon dioxide automatically detaches from textiles and remaining dyes, the latter can be reused. More importantly, as operation procedures are reduced, the dyeing cycle is also shortened from several hours to 15 to 60 minutes; energy is also saved due to the lower operational temperature. Regarding the cost, although the equipment required for the process is quite expensive,
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the supercritical substance (carbon dioxide) is cheap and the technology enjoys an overall advantage in cost. On the other hand, although the technology is not mature enough regarding application in natural fibres, the quality of the end-product made of synthetic fibres is high. Overall, the effects of interactions between different textiles with supercritical substances are yet to be fully discovered.
(including textiles), leading to various chemical fusions and fissions. These effects can alter the surface structure of textiles; hence plasma is suitable for surface treatment. Since only the surface structure of materials is altered by plasma, the substrate characteristics of textiles will not be affected. Also, as small amount of plasma is enough to produce profound effect and one set of equipment can accommodate to different kinds of gaseous chemicals, the equipment is relatively cost effective and user friendly. The kinds of plasma undergoing testing are varied, including silanes (Si nH 2n+2) (waterproof ), freons (increasing surface tension and oil- and dirt-proof effects) and phosphoruscontaining organic monomers (fireproof ), etc. Plasma treatment technology can also improve existing dyeing technology, including the newly developed technology of metallised fabrics. On the other hand, HKPC attempts to integrate plasma treatment technology and supercritical fluid dyeing technology, and replace supercritical fluid with plasma in the dyeing process. The lowpressure plasma dyeing technology is still being developed. The textile dyeing and finishing industry is considered energy-wasting and highly-polluting, which will be forced to withdraw under the upgrade and transformation policy. However, with technological development on a full swing, traditional industries are able to overcome technical difficulties and revive after the financial crisis. Recently, the HKPC is providing consultation service as well as technical assistance in pilot demonstration and sample trial for all interested enterprises. For details of the above new textile dyeing and finishing technology, please contact Dr Sam Mo ( Te l : 2 7 8 8 6 1 8 7 ) o r D r Fr a n k L i n ( Te l : 27885510), or visit the website: http://www. cleanerproduction.hk.
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