Speciality Chemicals

Dyeing to be sustainable

Dyes and chemicals suppliers to the textile industry are stressing innovation, sustainability and collaboration with customers. Andrew Warmington visited ITMA 2011 in Barcelona

Innovation, sustainability, collaboration with customers ... You have heard these terms many times before: they are the stock clichés of the chemicals industry and just about every other one for that matter. At ITMA 2011 in Barcelona, however, just about every supplier of chemicals and dyes to the textiles industry used these terms and often little else.

ITMA stands for International Textile Machinery Association, the body which organises the event. It remains essentially an equipment show. Traditionally, suppliers of dyes and chemicals were not even allowed to exhibit. They appeared for the first time at the 2004 show in Birmingham, then at Munich in 2007 and the Asian ITMA show in Shanghai in 2009.

These companies were present again in Barcelona in 2011, where they occupied part of one of the four halls. Present in the same hall was Oeko-Tex, the world's leading independent certification system for harmful substances in textiles. It sent 36 experts from its 15 accredited testing institutes to ITMA. Meeting the requirements of Oeko-Tex's Standard 100 is increasingly de rigueur for newly launched textile dyes and chemicals.

In recent years, the textiles industry has moved en masse to Asia and other emerging regions of the world in recent years and its suppliers have moved with it. This has decimated the traditional chemicals and dyestuffs industries of Western Europe that supplied it, with many famous names either moving with it, going into other areas or going out of business.

All three of the leading global suppliers have effectively moved to Asia. Huntsman Textile Effects and the Textile Chemicals business unit of Clariant both now have their headquarters in Singapore. The latter recently initiated a major restructuring, which will see more textile-related jobs in high-cost Switzerland disappear. The latter completed the move shortly after ITMA. DyStar, meanwhile, was rescued from bankruptcy by India's Kiri Dyes & Chemicals.

ITMA took place in Barcelona at the end of September

A few purely Western suppliers remain but most of the small suppliers at ITMA came from regions where the textile industry is strong. Turkey was particularly well represented, via Akkim, Bodal Chemicals, Denge, Ekosy, Ron Kimya, Marlateks and Promar. IGS hails from neighbouring Syria, while others came from India, Taiwan and - though less than at many other shows - China.

Spain itself retains a foothold, in part via its linguistic and cultural links with Latin America, a boom area for textile manufacturing. It was represented at ITMA by companies like Proquímica Ibérica, which was showcasing silicone-free anti-foaming agents, and Igcar, a supplier of optical brightening agents.

Inevitably, the large players were the most prominent in their new product development. Clariant launched over 25 "product, process and effect innovations", proclaiming its "focus on closely intertwined concepts for spot-on solutions that meet the demands of sustainability, protection, performance and fashion". Many were developed in partnership with other suppliers or customers.

Prominent among them was Pekoflam ECO/SYN, a bi-component flame retardant for durable finishes, particularly in cotton and cotton-rich blends. ECO in this context stands for ecological and economic, SYN for synergy. It is free of Oeko-Tex restricted materials, as are the vast majority of newly developed textile chemicals.

According to Thomas Winkler, head of the Textile Chemicals business unit, this is based on a synergistic application of phosphorus and nitrogen to avoid the use of halogens and emissions of formaldehyde and amines. It also has a very low impact on the fabric strength to which it is applies and excellent washfastness in domestic laundry and good performance in industrial applications.

Developed in partnership with Barcelona-based encapsulation specialist Lipotec, Quiospheres was Clariant's key technology innovation. The company describes this as "a high strength, high performance effect in cosmetotextiles that generates wellness and well-being to the consumer through state-of-the-art microencapsulation that can be applied to any fabric".

Cosmetic ingredients are encapsulated and applied homogeneously on fabrics or garments, then released or 'transphered' by the reaction or activities of natural skin enzymes to deliver their effects. Quiospheres Moist offers hydrating and moisturising properties, while Quiospheres Slim gives wellness and firmness, the company says.

Also at ITMA, Clariant launched Foam Eco Care, "a high performance sustainable and innovative technology for wrinkle-free finishing" that is applied using the Gaston CFS resin-based foam technology on cotton in place of conventional pad application. This was the result of two years of work with Cotton Incorporated of the US arising from the business unit's open innovation programme, as it sought to build on its existing Arkofix ELF.

Clariant used ITMA 2011 to showcase many new products

Foam Eco Care was developed in the lab and tested in Italian commercial mills. These tests, Clariant said, proved that it could be applied 25% faster than pad application and achieved the same smoothness, tensile and tear strength and superior flex abrasion. The payback time on introducing foam application equipment, it added, "would be very short".

Huntsman Textile Effects was also showcasing the results of some of its collaborations. For instance, Gentle Power Bleach, an enzyme-based peroxide technology for the low temperature bleaching of textiles at neural pH that reduces energy and water consumption within pre-treatment by 40%, came out of work with Lenzing, a fibre producer.

Meanwhile Smart Prep and Smart White pre-treatments for the dyeing and full white colouring of cellulosic fabrics and elastane brands were developed for use with the iMaster H₂O from machinery maker Thies. The company has also developed products in partnership with another machinery maker, Benninger.

Perhaps the key sustainable innovation at ITMA, however, was Avitera SE, a tri-reactive dyeing system for pale to medium and deep to very deep shades on cellulosic fibres and blends. These combine new reactive groups for rapid and very high exhaustion and fixation. Their high solubility and diffusion mean that they can be applied at a relatively low 60°C and at an ultra-short liquor ratio.

Using Avitera SE, company spokesperson Loraine Stantzos said at ITMA, water consumption in dyeing cotton can be reduced from 60-80 litres/kg to 15-20. Energy consumption can also be reduced by over 50% when they are used with the Eriopon LT low-temperature cleaning additive. Avitera SE also claims high compatibility and low sensitivity to dyeing parameters for excellent lab-to-bulk and bulk-to-bulk shade reproducibility, avoiding the use of further water and energy.

Looking further downstream, as far more water and energy is used in textile care than processing, Huntsman has developed the High IQ Intelligent Effects finishes to improve sustainability in garment use by allowing longer intervals between washes. Key elements include anti-bacterial deodorant properties, microcapsules bonded to the fabric to release a 'freshly laundered' odour slowly during wear and water-repellent finishes to prevent liquid and dirt from penetrating fabrics.

Although DyStar had relatively few product launches as such, sustainability was the absolute watchword of its activity. Indeed, since 2003 the company has developed and trademarked the Econfidence programme, which guarantees that all of its products are sold in full compliance with chemical legislation across the world, all backed up by what is claimed to be the most extensive testing programme of any dyes and textile chemicals supplier.

Oeko-Tex is setting the standards that the textile industry follows

Among other things, Econfidence certifies that all globally available DyStar products are free of azo dyes and other dyestuffs listed by the EU as carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic of any of the 21 disperse dyes listed as allergenic by Oeko-Tox. In addition, all components of its products have been pre-registered under REACH.

Some of the most important recent launches from DyStar are based on Vitamin E, aloe vera, jojoba oil and beeswax. These are designed to be suitable for all kinds of textiles worn on the skin or for skin contact. All are also certified both to Oeko Tex Standard 100 and the Global Organic Standard 3.0.

Some of the smaller Western suppliers also had new products to show at ITMA, mostly highly specialised. For instance, Germany's Pulcra Chemicals, a maker of auxiliaries for fibre textiles that was formerly part of Cognis and last year acquired DyStar's unwanted facility at Geretsried, showcased Osimol RFX, a multi-functional product for the dyeing of grey cotton and Lorinol BOR, a catalyst for vat dyeing in combination with hydrosulphite.

The former claims good extraction and emulsifying power, combined with dispersing and sequestering properties and due solubility, plus compatibility with problematic dyes like CI Reactive Blue 71. According to Pulcra, it can make average savings of 24% in time, 22% in energy and 18% in waste and wastewater, potentially allowing savings of €39,600/year in production.

From Avocet Dye & Chemical of the UK came Cetaflam DB EXL. As a halogen-, antimony- and solvent-free flame retardant, its green credentials are clear enough but, said technical director Paul Ravenscroft, it also has the potential to save over 40% of both processing time and energy and resources by comparison with conventional pad, dry and cure systems in when used on 500 metre batches of polyester.

Cetaflam DB EXL is used in application with the company's Levacet ASDN, an acid buffer with dispersing and sequestering properties for dyeing polyester, and Cetapol HD 27 dispersing and emulsifying agent. It is durable to repeated laundering, generates no toxic effluent, is suitable for OBAs and fluorescents and complies in full with REACH, Avocet states.

Tanatex of the Netherlands was talking along the same lines. Its 'Be Green' concept is a new process for low temperature (75°C) bleaching that is suitable for white for dyeing and full white bleaching. The system is based on a low temperature activator that controls the decomposition of peroxide and rapidly develops the required whiteness. Process time, water consumption and CO₂ emissions are all reduced by about 50%.

ITMA is still dominated by the large machinery stands

And finally, as if to prove that there is no end to the surprises chemistry can deliver, what was perhaps the most exciting innovation of all came from a company that had a small booth, squeezed right at the back of Hall 4 behind some machinery stands because it did not book until shortly before the event, and which has not until now had any presence at all in textile chemicals: the Oxy Group of Belgium.

The company, said general manager Raf Van Gils, has hitherto been mainly active in photographic chemicals, which is in steep decline. It has only just launched its new SPX-50 textile processing alternative but it has had a lot of interest from potential customers after recent tests, hence the belated decision to exhibit. Few details about its chemistry have been disclosed.

SPX-50, Oxy Group says, was developed specifically to optimise the fibre dyeing process and is used in the pre-bleach, scouring and exhaustion and wash steps to remove dirt, resins, fat and excess dye. The claim made for it is staggering: it "replaces nearly all auxiliaries, instantly improves productivity and profitability, with far less environmental impact".

With this product, the company adds, detergents, peroxide stabilisers, dispersing agents, humectants, anti-breaking agents, acid- and reactive levelling agents, lubricants, anti-foaming agents, water softeners and sequestrants, dye bath conditioners, finishing agents, colloid protectors and degreasers can all be replaced.

SPX-50, furthermore, works with all types of fibre dye - reactive, direct, acid, disperse and indigoid - on all of the major fibre types and across the whole pH range. Moreover, it reduces the usage of water and energy, temperature and environmental impact during dyeing, cuts the number of steps and down time between batches, as well as labour costs.

"This is a big claim and it provoked disbelief, but we have proved it," said Van Gils. Tests were run recently at mills in Belgium, the Far East and Latin America that fully validated this. For example, in dyeing 65-35 polyester-cotton blends on a Kingdom machine, SPX-50 saved 41% on process time and 54% in water consumption, while achieving a 41% increase in efficiency. Scouring and bleaching temperature was reduced from 105°C to 85°C, washing temperature from 95°C to 60°C.

With Oeko-Tex increasingly setting the standard and a customer industry that is under relentless pressure to clean up its image - and a disastrous environmental record - all these trends will only continue in the same direction. The chemistry of dyes and textiles may have moved away from its birthplace, but it is still developing.

 

 

From Online Issue: December 2011