Textile Yarn Dyeing - Tips & Techniques

Cotton yarn dyeing techniques explained in detail right from manual dyeing to latest automated
machine dyeing. Tips on bleaching, dyeing and finishing along with many frequently faced
problems are addressed in this blog.

October 19, 2009

Package Dyeing of Unmercerised Cotton yarn with High Exhaust Reactive Dyes

Start Dyeing @50C; ensure the starting bath pH be 6; adjust with Acetic Acid if necessary.
Add salt (vacuum or Glaubers salt) and hold for 15 minutes
Add the volume of dissolved and filtered dyestuff and hold 10 minutes.

Add the volume of dissolved and filtered dyestuff and hold 10 minutes.
Raise the temperature @2C/minute to 80C and hold for 20 minutes.
Add alkali (Soda ash) and hold 25 minutes.
Add alkali (Soda ash) and hold for 30 minutes.
Check sample
Drain
Cold wash (10 + 10 minutes)
Neutralize @ 40C with adequate qty of Acetic acid.
Cold wash 10 minutes
Hot Wash @ 70C (2C/minute) 10 minutes
Soap @ 95C 15 minutes (1st soap)
Soap @ 95C 15 minutes (2nd soap)
Soap @ 95C 15 minutes (3rd soap)
Hot Wash
Sample check for shade and wash fastness
Cold wash (10 + 10) minutes
Acid wash with 1 gpl of acetic acid
In the same acid bath cationic softener treatment 20 minutes
Check pH 6
Unload.
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May 26, 2009

Yarn Conditioning Process
Textile fibers are subjected to various physical operations to make in to a yarn. For example
cotton fiber passes through opening, carding, drawing and spinning to become a yarn. During
these phases the original moisture content on the fiber would have been lost and some static
electricity would be carried by the fiber. The amount of static current carried by yarn changes
from fiber to fiber. Similarly the strength of any fiber depends up on how close the present
moisture content is to the original natural value.
Similarly some high twist yarn would tend to loose its twist as and when it is allowed freely,
making a lengthwise elongation.
Some fibers would tend to shrink when exposed to hot atmosphere or any treatment that involves
heat and hence higher temperature. For example polyamide, polyester etc.
Some blends like Cotton/Lycra, Viscose/Lycra require conditioning to make the width the fabric
stable.
So all the above said factors, if not addressed properly would reflect badly on the final quality of
yarn or fabric.
A process that addresses all the above parameters is called CONDITIONING. Conditioning
process differs from fiber to fiber.

So conditioning is a preliminary process in any processing that improves and maintains the
quality of yarn.
Conditioning may be done in yarn stage on perforated paper or plastic cones/cheeses in an Auto
Clave or Horizontal beam dyeing machine as shown above.
Conditioning Process for various yarns:
1) 100% Polyester yarn: Load the yarn in the form cones wound on plastic cones, in to a beam
dyeing machine. Introduce steam and raise the temperature to 100C at 3C per minutes. Steam
for 15 minutes at 100C followed by 15 minutes cooling = 1 cycle. Repeat the cycle for 4 times.
2) 100% Nylon: Load the yarn in the form cones wound on plastic cones, in to a beam dyeing
machine. Introduce steam and raise the temperature to 100C at 3C per minutes. Steam for 15
minutes at 100C followed by 15 minutes cooling to a temperature of 50C = 1 cycle. Repeat the
cycle for 4 times.
3) Silk yarn: Load the yarn in the form cones wound on plastic cones, in to a beam dyeing
machine. Introduce steam and raise the temperature to 70C at 3C per minutes. Steam for 15
minutes at 70C followed by 15 minutes cooling to a temperature for 30C = 1 cycle. Repeat the
cycle for 4 times.
4) Cotton/Lycra (40's Lycra) or Viscose/Lycra (60's) : Conditioning the yarn as mentioned for
silk.

The following effects would be envisaged by steam-conditioning of yarn:

- Twist Setting - Preventing Snarling (yarn loops)
- Better Dye affinity - Eliminating static electricity
- Influencing the Cloth handle - Preventing crease-proneness
- High bulking - Humidifying
- Dye - fixing - De-crinkling
- Determining residual boiling shrinkage.
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March 02, 2009

Lycra Yarn Pretreatment in Package dyeing machine:
Machine Circulation Cycle Settings:
Cheese winding: on plastic cones or cheeses.
Cheese Weight : Not more than 500 grams/cheese

DEMINERALIZATION:

o Recipe:

Kierlon Jet B Conc = 0.05%

Lufibrol MFD = 0.05%

@ 50C for 2 cycles

This is done to remove the unwanted mineral contents from the

fiber.

Hot Wash = 1 cycle @ 50C

Cold Wash = 1 cycle

BLEACHING:

o Recipe:

Soda Ash = 2.0%

Stabilizer = 0.5%

Lissopol D paste = 0.5%

Hydrogen Peroxide(50%) = 2.0%

@ 65 to 70C for 45 to 60 minutes.

Set the bath with chemicals other than H2O2.

Raise temperature @ 1.5C/minute

Hot Wash = 1 cycle @ 50C

Peroxide Killer Treatment:

o Recipe:

Organic Peroxide killer = 0.25%

Acetic acid = 1.5 g/l

Drain, Cold wash

Start Dyeing.

@ 50C for 1 cycle

Note:
1. Bleaching temperature should not go beyond 65 to 70C
2. Cheese weight = 500 grams and less is safer.
3. If you want to use regular cheese weights of 800 to 1000 grams, then the cheeses have to be

conditioned in the autoclave with moist steam at 100C for 30 minutes, repeatedly, so that a
stable shrinkage percentage of yarn is reached. The linear shrinkage % should be 20 to 25%.
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What is Lycra? Lycra yarn and its properties.

LYCRA is a man-made elastic fibre invented and produced only by DuPont.Its remarkable
properties of stretch and recovery enhance all fabrics and garments in which it is used, adding
easy comfort and freedom of movement and improving fit and shape retention. Swimwear and
lingerie owe their figure-flattering fit to LYCRA. All types of hosiery are softer, smootherfitting and more durable thanks to LYCRA. In short, a little bit of LYCRA makes all types of
apparel fit better, feel better and look better. Tech-Talk
LYCRA belongs to the generic elastane classification of man-made fibres(known as spandex in
the US and Canada) and is described in technical terms as a segmented polyurethane it is
composed of soft, or flexible, segments bonded together with hard, or rigid, segments. This
gives the fibre its built-in, lasting elasticity.
LYCRA can be stretched four to seven times its initial length, yet springs back to its original
length once tension is released.
While LYCRA appears to be a single continuous thread, it is in reality a bundle of tiny
filaments.
How LYCRA is used
LYCRA is never used alone; it is always combined with another fiber (or fibers), natural or
man-made. Fabrics enhanced with LYCRA retain the appearance of the majority fibre.
The type of fabric and its end use determine the amount and type of LYCRA required to
ensure optimum performance and aesthetics. As little as 2 percent LYCRA is enough to
improve a fabrics movement, drape and shape retention, while fabrics for high-performance
garments such as swimwear and active sportwear may contain as much as 20-30 percent
LYCRA. Weaving or knitting techniques, togheter with fabric type and end use, determine
whether LYCRA is used in a bare or covered yarn form.
Single and double covered LYCRA

Core-twisted LYCRA

The material used in the making of the Cotton-Lycra line of Snob underwear consist of:
-90% Cotton
-10% Spandex(Lycra)
Cotton-Lycra Care
-Machine wash in warm water.
-Do NOT use Chlorine bleach.
-Tumble dry at low temperature.
Courtesy: Dupont Lycra

Posted by thesmarttime at 6:16 PM 1 comments

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January 23, 2009

Package Dyeing (HT HP) - Cheese Yarn Dyeing-II
Reactive Dyeing of cotton yarn in cheese form:
Whether it is Vinylsulphone or Bifunctional dyestuff, you may follow the following dyeing cycle for yarn
dyeing:
The Chemical table shown below contains a Code No. that has to be included time to time when the
dyeing process is going on.

Code No

Name of Chemical

Grams/liter

Acetic Acid

0.5

Sequestering Agent

0.5

Acetic Acid

0.5

Vacuum Salt or Glauber's Salt

As Recommended

Dyestuff

O.W.F.

Soda Ash

As Recommended

Acetic Acid

0.5

Sequestering Agent

0.5

Anionic Soap

0.5

Acetic Acid

0.5

Dye fixing Agent

Not Necessary

Softener

1.0

Processing Cycle for Yarn Dyeing:

Set the dye bath with soft water at ambient temperature and as per MLR

Enter the RFD (Ready For Dyeing) yarn in to the processing vessel.

Add Chemical [Code-1]. Circulate for 3 minutes (In -> Out) and hold for 10 minutes. Drain.

Check pH. It should be 6 - 7. Check for channeling.

Fill cold water, add chemicals [Code-2], Circulate for 5 minutes (In -> Out) and hold for 10
minutes.

Raise temperature to 40C and hold for 5 minutes.

Add dissolved dyestuff [Code-3] in 2 to 3 portions with Out -> In circulation at 40C.

Raise temperature to 60C @ 1.5C/minute and hold for 15 minutes.

Add Chemicals [Code-4] in two parts with In->Out circulation and run for 45 minutes.

Check the sample and drain the dye bath.

Rinse at room temperature for 5 minutes and drain.

Give overflow rinse as per the dept of shade - 3 to 5 minutes.

Fill fresh water, add chemicals [Code-5] and hold for 5 minutes. Drain.

Fill hot water (60C), add chemicals [Code-6] and circulate for 3 minutes.

Raise the temperature to 95C and run for 15 minutes. Drain.

Rinse at 70C for 10 minutes followed by 5 minutes overflow wash. Drain.

Fill fresh cold water, add chemicals [Code-7] & [Code-8] and circulate for 3 minutes, hold for 15
minutes and then drain.

Fill Cold water, add chemicals [Code-9], circulate for 3 minutes and hold for 10 minutes. Drain.

Unload the batch.

Notes on Dyeing:

1. For Shades above 7%, two soaping operations are necessary.

2. Dye fixing is optional but not a substitute for thorough washing.
3. Pressure difference during In->Out and Out ->In operations has to maintain a constant.
In->Out 100 - 140 KPA
Out->In 90 - 120 KPA

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October 20, 2008

Nylon yarn filament dyeing - tips
Nylon Yarn Dyeing:
Like polyester fiber, (polyamide) nylon also requires to be heat set prior to any wet processing.
Nylon can be best heat set in aqueous water bath at about 120C for half an hour with a
dispersing agent like Ekaline FI. This treatment should be followed by hot and cold washes.
Then dry the yarn and rewind it on parallel winding machine.
Pretreatment & Dyeing:
1. Sodium Acetate = 1%
2. Acetic acid = 1%
3. Glauber salt = 10 %
Run at 50C for one cycle. Now add the dissolved dyestuff at the same temperature. Run at 75
for 10 minutes and raise the temp to 95C and continue dyeing; add a leveling agent such as

Lyogen SE at this temp (for dark shades 1% and for light shades up to 4% or as recommended by
the manufacturer).
After treatment:
1. After thorough hot and cold washes, a fixing treatment is required for dark and medium
shades. There are products like Lyogen PA liquid are available for this purpose and the user
should follow the instructions of the manufacturer.
2. Finishing of nylon yarn can be made using some anti-static agent in the final bath.
3. Hydro extract, dry and rewind.
Ref:
Textile Processing Guide
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May 06, 2008

Dyeing Equilibrium - A Practical Dyer's Guide to Reactive Dyeing of Cotton Part-4
In the previous post we have discussed the chemical aspects only and the processes of reaction
with cellulose and the water have been treated as if they were occurring quite separately. But in
fact this is not the case and we have just seen the importance of exhaustion in obtaining a good
efficiency.
We will now examine what happened in a two stage dyeing process in which the dyestuff is
exhausted from the neutral dye bath in the first stage and then at a later stage the solution is made
alkaline so that the reaction begins.
In the first stage of neutral dyeing, no decomposition of dye takes place and the process is
exactly the same as the dyeing of a direct dye. The only difference is the lower degree of
exhaustion of reactive dyes. At the end of the 1st stage we have two equilibrium.
When alkali is added to the system, chemical reaction begins. In the dye bath hydrolysis with
water occurs, while in the fibre, the dissolved dye will also hydrolyse, but the adsorbed dye will
mainly react with the fibre although the possibility of aqueous hydrolysis cannon be excluded.
The hydrolysed dye (DOH) will have similar properties to the parent dye ( or direct dye) and will
not get adsorbed on the fibre surface. Finally, when all the reactive dye present has been
destroyed one way or another, new equilibrium will be set up between the hydrolysed dye in the
dye bath, in solution inside the fiber and adsorbed on cellulose while the combined dye is present
as a separate component, not taking part in this.
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Labels: Reactive system of a reactive dye and cellulose

April 27, 2008

Reaction Rates of Reactive Dyes: A Practical Dyers's Guide to Reactive Dyeing
Cotton - Part-3
The rate of reaction with cellulose may be written:
Rate = Kc (D.Cl)f (Cell O)
The rate constants of reactive dye with cellulose may not be available but the rate constant with
water is known and since the two are proportional, may be used as a guide to behavior. The rate
constants of some procion dyes are shown in the table below. The rate of reaction of Procion H
at 20C is extremely low ad difficult to measure. The values shown in the table are extrapolation
from the values at 50C and 70C.

Dyes

Bi molecular reaction
1 gram
Constant
mloe/c20C
50C

Orange 2R

13.5

Red 8B

13.2

Yellow GR

11.0

Blue 3G

3.22

Yellow 6G

2.82

Scarlet G

2.06

Orange G

1.61

Rubine HB

0.18

1 gram mloe/c50C

1.99

9.99

Yellow H3B 0.054

0.81

5.06

Yellow H3G 0.034

0.55

3.62

Blue HB

0.044

0.46

2.23

Blue HGR

0.027

0.34

1.89

It will be observed that there are significant differences between the reactivity of individual dyes
in each group the most reactive being roughly 10 times more reactive than the least reactive.
However the difference between hot brand and cold brand is even more marked, the latter being
50 times as active as the former.
The rate constant of a chemical reaction increases with increasing temperature by between two

and three times for every 108C increase in temperature. Clearly then an increase in temperature
of 50 (from 20 to 70) may be expected to increase the rate 50 times. This is seen in the above
table, where rate constants pf Procion H dyes at 70C are similar to those of Procion dyes at
20C.
Rate of reaction can be changed by varying the concentration of cellulose ions in the fibre, by
changing the pH of the external bath.
If 1 unit pH of the dye bath is increased, the concentration of cellulose ions will increase tenfold.
An increase of 1.7 pH units will increase the concentration 50 fold and the rate of reaction
similarly. Thus Procion H dyes at pH 12.5 should react at the same rate as the Procion M dyes at
pH 10.5. This proves to the case but the yield of the combined dye is relatively low.
The reason is, if the pH exceeds 12, the exhaustion of dye bath falls rapidly. Below pH 11, the
concentration of cellulose ions is small compared with that of dye, at pH 11 it is roughly equal
and at pH 12 it is considerably greater than that of the dye. Because of the increasing ionization
the fibre acquires a large negative charge that depresses the absorption of the dye.
Thus the degree of exhaustion at pH 12 is so low that though the reaction takes place with
cellulose in cold in one hour, the efficiency is low.
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April 24, 2008

Fibre-Reactive Dyes - A Practical dyer's Guide to reactive Dyeing - Part-2
What are Fibre-Reactive Dyes?
Definition
A fibre-reactive dye will form a covalent bond with the appropriate textile functionality. This is
of great interest, since, once attached, they are very difficult to remove.
Early fibre-reactive dyes
The first fibre-reactive dyes were designed for cellulose fibres, and they are still used mostly in
this way. There are also commercially available fibre-reactive dyes for protein and polyamide
fibres. In theory, fibre-reactive dyes have been developed for other fibres, but these are not yet
practical commercially.
Although fibre-reactive dyes have been a goal for quite some time, the breakthrough came fairly
late, in 1954. Prior to then, attempts to react the dye and fibres involved harsh conditions that
often resulted in degradation of the textile.
The first fibre-reactive dyes contained the 1,3-5-triazinyl group, and were shown by Rattee and
Stephen to react with cellulose in mild alkali solution. No significant fibre degradation occurred.
ICI launched a range of dyes based on this chemistry, called the Procion dyes. This new range
was superior in every way to vat and direct dyes, having excellent wash fastness and a wide
range of brilliant colours. Procion dyes could also be applied in batches, or continuously.
The general structure of a fibre-reactive dye is shown below:

Note the four different components of the dye

The chromogen is as mentioned before (azo, carbonyl or phthalocyanine class).
The water solubilising group (ionic groups, often sulphonate salts), which has the expected effect
of improving the solubility, since reactive dyes must be in solution for application to fibres. This
means that reactive dyes are not unlike acid dyes in nature.
The bridging group links the chromogen and the fibre-reactive group. Frequently the bridging
group is an amino, -NH-, group. This is usually for convenience rather than for any specific
purpose.
The fibre-reactive group is the only part of the molecule able to react with the fibre. The different
types of fibre-reactive group will be discussed below.
A cellulose polymer has hydroxy functional groups, and it is these that the reactive dyes utilise as
nucleophiles. Under alkali conditions, the cellulose-OH groups are encouraged to deprotonate to
give cellulose-O- groups. These can then attack electron-poor regions of the fibre-reactive group,
and perform either aromatic nucleophilic substitution to aromatics or nucleophilic addition to
alkenes.
Nucleophilic substitution
Aromatic rings are electronically very stable, and will attempt to retain this. This means that
instead of the nucleophilic addition that occurs with alkenes, they undergo nucleophilic
substitution, and keep the favorable p-electron system. However, nucleophilic substitutions are
not very common on aromatics, given their already high electron density. To encourage
nucleophilic substitution, groups can be added to the aromatic ring which will decrease the
electron density at a position and facilitate attack.
For example:

But this requires harsh conditions. To improve the rate under mild conditions, powerful electronwithdrawing groups such as -NO2 may be added.

However, this will only work if

there is a good leaving group, such as -Cl or -N2.
The major fibre-reactive group which reacts this way contains six-membered, heterocyclic,
aromatic rings, with halogen substituents. For example, the Procion dye2: (This is the same as
the chime molecule at the top of the page)

Where X = Cl, NHR, OR. Nucleophilic substitution is facilitated by the

electron withdrawing properties of the aromatic nitrogens, and the chlorine, and the anionic
intermediate is resonance stabilized as well. This resonance means that the negative charge is
delocalised onto the electronegative nitrogens:

One problem is that instead of

reacting with the -OH groups on the cellulose, the fibre-reactive group may react with the HOions in the alkali solution and become hydrolyzed. The two reactions compete, and this
unfavourable because the hydrolyzed dye cannot react further. This must be washed out of the
fabric before use, to prevent any leakage of dye, and not only increases the cost of the textile, but
adds to possible environmental damage from contaminated water.
Nucleophilic addition
Alkenes are quite reactive due to the electron-rich p-bond. They normally undergo electrophilic
addition reactions. Again, nucleophilic additions are less favored generally, because of the

repulsion between the Nu- and the electron-rich p-bond. However, they will occur if there are
sufficient electron withdrawing groups are attached to the alkene, much as before, with aromatic
substitution. In this case, the process is known as Michael addition or Conjugate addition.
For this reaction type, the most important dye class is the Remazol reactive dye. This dye type
reacts in the presence of a base such as HO-. The mechanism for the reaction of one of these
dyes is shown below:
As before, the intermediate is resonance stabilized, but this has not been shown.
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Labels: Reactive system of a reactive dye and cellulose

April 20, 2008

A Practical Dyer's Guide to Reactive Dyeing of Cotton - Part-1
Introduction:
Reactive dyes are probably the most popular class of dyes to produce 'fast dyestings' on piece
goods. These were first introduced a little over 40 years based on a principle which has not been
used before. These dyes react with fibre forming a direct chemical linkage which os not easily
broken.
Their low cost, ease of application, the bright shades produced by them coupled with good wash
fastness make them very popular with piece good dyers. Even in thereads these classes are
gaining in popularity for cotton sewings.
Chemistry of reactive dyes:
Reactive dyes differ from other colouring matters in that they enter in to chemical reaction with
the fibre during the dyeing process and so become a part of the fibre substances.
A reactive dye may be represented as
R-B-X
where R - Chromogen
B - Bridging group
X - Reactive system
When this reacts with the fibre, F, it forms
R-B-X-F
The wet fastness of the dyesings produced depends on the stability of the true covalent bond X-F.
Reactive Systems:
Some of the popupar reactive systems is use today:
Reactive dyes are based on Cyanuryl chloride. The cold brand dyes (M brand) are based on
dichloro triazinyl derivatives whereas the "H" brands are monochloro triazinyle derivatives.
The reactivity of the chlorine atoms decreases greatly as they are successively substituted. Thus
the dichloride derivative (M) is more reactive than the mono chloro reactive (H) dyes. This is
shown by the fact that "M" dyes will react readily with cellulose at room temperatire in the
presence of mild alkalies such as sodium carbonate, whwere as "H" dyes need to be heated at
least to 60C and require more strongly alkalines before reaction will take place at a reasonable
rate.
The other popular systems are based on Vinyl suplhones (Remazols) and trichloro pyrimidyl.

The Remazols are very popular for discharge printing and can given excellant white discharge
from a dark base.
Reference: Textile Processing Guide
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Color Fastness - What does it mean?

In order to clarify what fastness means, we shall examine various fastness properties that a thread
or yarn may be required to have. We shall study how grades of fastness are established and what
they signify and finally we should take a look at what fastness you can expect from various
classes of dyestuff on the major substrates of interest to us.
Fastness Properties:
The most desirable fastness properties in any thread or yarn is arguably of wash fastness.
In general, the dyers used to carry out two main wash fastness tests, viz.,
Test-1: A length of coloured thread is plaited with a white partner and treated at 95C in an
alkaline soap solution for 30 minutes. The degree of staining on to the adjacent white thread
( which can be of one or more white substrates) is assessed as in the change of shade of the
original colour. The test is commonly known as ISO4.
Test-2: As in Test-1 above but treatment is only at 60C. The test is called ISO3.
Another popular fastness demand is to rubbing both wet and dry with the sample being hand or
machine rubbed. Only the staining on the white calico test fabric is recorded.
Fastness to light is either carried out in sunlight ( a low method) or in an artificial Xenon lamp
tester (much faster). Along with the test sample are eight blues of known light fastness which
fades to the same degree as the sample gives the light fastness grading of the sample, only
change of the shade is recorded.
Fastness to bleach, either peroxide or hypochlorite are severe tests where normally only change
of shade need be recorded.
A less severe bleach type test is fastness to chlorinated water which is meant to represent the
effect of swimming pool waters on textiles; usually for swim and beach wear garments.
Fastness to hot pressing at a wide range of temperatures with both change of shade and staining
being relevant. Disperse dyes on polyester can sublime ( literally evaporate) on some severe
permanent pleating processes and even at low iron heats many classes of dye will stain ( but may
not do so on ISO3 wash tests) white fabric on contact.

There are some exotic fastness requirements like fastness to vulcanizing , a process used to cure
rubber footwear or fastness to stone washing, a fickle process used to fade cotton denim jeans.
Fastness Grades:
Nearly all fastness properties are assessed on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the best rating and 1
the worst. The Grey Scale I can be used to assess the change in shade. Staining scales are slightly
different but the same usage principle applies.
Exceptionally, light fastness is measured on a scale of 1 to 8 with 8 being the best and 1 the
worst.
Reference:
Textile testing procedures
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April 18, 2008

Package Dyeing (HT HP) - Cheese Yarn Dyeing-I
Machinery details:
In its simplest form a package-dyeing machine is a vessel capable of containing packages of
textile material through which heated dye liquor is passed by means of a circulation pump. Later
developments accelerated by the need to dye polyester at temperatures above the boil lead to
enclosing and strengthening such vessels so that they could operate upto 140 c at pressures
around 70 psi (4.95 kgs per/ sq. cm.)
Accessories were added to allow samples to the extracted without depressurizing the whole
system and to inject dyes and chemicals from out with the main circulation circuit. Later still,
simple controls of time and temperature were replaced with fully automatic programmes based
on sophisticated microprocessors that reduced operator involvement in the dyeing process to a
minimum and elevated LOA (Limits Of Accuracy) sophistication previously unattainable levels.
Liquor flow:
We expect a main circulating pump to deliver 30 litres of liquor per kg of thread at 1.26 kgs per
sq.cm. pressure which usually means the bath is pumped through the thread load upto four to five
times per minute.
Exceptionally, cheese-bleaching machines need only deliver half of the discharge tobe effective.
Many of us, when faced with an unlevel cheese dye lot, blame our troubles on poor liquor flow
which, because the dyeing process, by necessarily, is unobservable and because there is no
instrument to read out the flow. Is hard to prove one way or another.

But a small one, however, can interpret the evidence available to him e,g,, here are a few tips on
how to ascertain whether or not abnormal liquor flow is the source of Unlevelness.
1. Check the in-out and out-in pressure gauges and compare the readings with your past
experience. Your Dalal and Staffi machines with their modest pumps should register a pressure
differential of around 0.5 kg per sq.cm. If the differential is significantly lower than this value,
liquor may be freewheeling or channeling through a badly seated carrier, a sprung cap or a
loosely loaded column of cheeses.
2. Likewise pressure differential higher than 0.5 kgs per sq.cm could indicate that something is
causing unduly high back pressure e.g. very dense cheeses.
3. Unlevelness on a number of cheeses which represent one spindle or multiples of one spindle
might indicate poor sealing of the number(s) of spindles involved.
4. Unlevelness on a number of cheeses that represent one complete layer as horizontal cross
section of a carrier load of cheeses may mean that the machine has (leveled out) for sampling or
during a power failure exposing the top most layer of cheeses to oxidation or differential dye
uptake.
5. Loss of air pad pressure in one way low liquor dyeing can cause reduced liquor flow.
Open expansion tank:
This tank is sized so that the top row of cheeses is exposed when liquor is leveled bag to the
expansion tank from the kier by gravity.
The tank feeds the suction side of the secondary pump, which normally discharges into the main
pump housing via the non-return valve.
The expansion tank is an invaluable aid to level dyeing as it allows controlled additions of
chemicals and redip dyes, when pressurized.
Extraction rate from the expansion tank is usually 5 to 25 litres per minute with the pump
running at a pressure of around 3.6 kgs. per sq. cm.
It is important that the right balance between expanding main kier liquor and expansion tank
injection rate is struck otherwise liquor flow may be affected. This balance is obtained by drilling
out the orifice plate on the cooled liquor return from the main kier to the expansion tank.
The efficiency of the back cooler or condenser is also important since if the temperature in the
expansion tank is allowed to rise about 80 to 85C, the adversely secondary pump may cavitate
thus affecting the flow characteristics of the dyeing system. If the liquor is over cooled, energy is
wasted in reheating it in the main kier and of course cooling water volumes are unnecessarily
high.
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April 12, 2008

One bath dyeing of cellulosic blends
A number of one bath methods have been developed for cellulosic blend dyeing. Disperse/direct
dyeing of cotton/nylon or polyester is well known although of little practiced use because of the
poor wet fastness, except in the pale shades.
Disperse/Reactive:
Methods based on hot dyeing reactive dyes in which the disperse and reactive dyes are added to
the bath with 5 gram/liter of Resist salt L (m-nitro-sodium-benzene-sulphuric acid) which
prevents hydrolysis of reactive group. Dyeing of polyester is first carried out at 120C. Then the
bath is cooled to 80C. Electrolyte is added and dyeing of the cotton proceeds in the usual way.
Disperse/Vat:
Disperse and vat (pigment) dyes are added to the bath plus a large quantity of dispersing agent.
Dyeing at 100 to 130C proceeds. Then the bath is cooled to 80C and caustic soda and hydros
are added and dyeing of the cotton carried out. There are several Union dyes (Cottestren) on the
market using this principle. These commercial blends have to be formulated for a predetermined
fibre mix and may turn out to be uneconomic for a customer's particular end use and further
more may not give solid shade dyeing under adverse conditions of applications.
Nylon/Cotton:
A Hoechst patent for single bath application reactive/metal complex dyes has the following
method. A dyestuff and alkali to give a pH of 8 to 12 and raise temperature to 80C to dye the
cotton. The pH is then reduced to 6.5 to 7 by the addition acid. The temperature is raised to 95C
and the nylon portion is dyed. Acid dyes will precipitate under these conditions, metal complex
dyes will not.
Posted by thesmarttime at 11:31 PM 0 comments

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Azoic Dyeing of cotton yarn

Naphthol dyestuff have traditionally been applied by the multi stage route of impregnation,
hydro extraction/rinsing and development.
German and Swiss manufacturers have now developed a one bath application process which
offers a real rationalization of the dyeing process. This one bath process is cotton in hank in open
becks and spray dyeing units and cotton piece on the winch.
The basis of the method is to retain the bath after impregnation and maintain the color pigment
which is formed during development in highly dispersed form, by means of a special auxiliary.
The one bath method consist of
1. impregnation for about 20 minutes. at 20 to 30C.
2. addition of acid and dizao solution without letting off the bath.

3. coupling the dyestuff of about 30 minutes

4. cleansing after treatment.
A fairly wide selection of naphthol/base combinations are suitable for this process.
Posted by thesmarttime at 11:19 PM 0 comments

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April 03, 2008

Liquid Ammonia Treatment of textile yarn
Liquid ammonia can be regarded simply as a new medium for tailoring the dimensions and
properties of cellulosic materials to shrink, swell, stretch and relax and can therefore be used to
obtain a variety of effects on many materials.
The economics of cotton yarn manufacture hinge on the price of raw material comprising it, e.g.
more than 25% of the cost of a cotton sewing thread is accounted for by the raw cotton price. An
accepted yardstick of a cotton is the strength it produces in yarn and thread forms and it was to
this end that much of the development work of the liquid ammonia process was designed.
Properties of Liquid Ammonia Treated yarn:
The following properties have been established for liquid ammonia treated yarns:
1. Tensile strength significantly increases.
2. The elongation at break is only about 2/3 that of untreated yarn.
3. Loop strength and knot strength increases slightly.
4. Abrasion resistance is reduced but this decrease is less than caustic soda mercerising.
5. After bleaching or dyeing, treated yarns have virtually zero shrinkage when treated in
boiling water.
6. A pleasing lustre is imparted to the treated yarns albeit slightly less than for caustic
mercerising.
7. Dye affinity is increased by 3/4 of the amount attained by caustic soda mercerising.
8. Moisture absorption is increased but again to some what lesser degree than for caustic
mercerising.
9. The heat resistance is substantially increased.
Liquid ammonia treated yarns are significantly cheaper in price than caustic mercerised yarns.

The elimination of hank winding is possible, due to the high speed reaction in liquid ammonia
which permits package to package processing.
Maximum strength increases, require maximum stretch in the ammonia moving zone but this is
difficult to apply without breakage to yarns. However, if the stretch is reduced and more modest
strength increases accepted ( of the order of 20% - 30%) is readily possible to liquid ammonia
treat singles yarn. This is a sharp contrast to the difficulties in processing singles yarn by
mercerising.
It is therefore possible to produce this means a lustrous singles yarn for use in weaving and
knitting applications.
From ecological view point also, ammonia is more readily and cheaply recoverable than caustic
soda mercerising liquors which produce effluent and which has to be disposed of. The problem
of caustic liquor discharge to rivers is so acute in some countries that permission to erect
mercerising plants is difficult to obtain.
Early difficulties of dye affinity variations between packages of liquor ammonia treated yarns
have now been eliminated by improved control of the treatment process.
The technological difficulties of converting pressurised liquid ammonia and recovering
pressurised liquid ammonia from the gas evolved during the process, have been successfully
overcome.