INTERNATIONAL CLEANER PRODUCTION INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE

CASE STUDY #222

1. Headline: Reduction of COD and water consumption in a

textile slant.

2. Background: The company process about 850 tons of textiles

per year. The main operations are coloring, washing, peroxide

bleaching, apperature treatment, drying and calendaring. The

raw materials are mainly woven textiles, but also some yarn.

The company have 54 employees and have yearly turnover of 50

mill NOK. The case study was performed from January to November

1993.

3. Cleaner Production Principle: internal recycling, material

substitution, process modification

4. Description of Cleaner Production Application: The project

was aimed at generating and implementing cleaner production

options. An overall control group ran the project. The groups

were directed and assisted from the control group. The

employees were informed through a meeting before the project

started and when the project was finished.

The working groups made mass balances and evaluated and

proposed improvements. The proposals were then evaluated by the

control group. Proposed process changes or improved process

control with improvements for the environment and the economy

include:

1. Take care of the rest-bath from Rollenkufe, and in addition

calculate the smallest possible volume of the bath.

2. Improved monitoring of the water consumption by installing a

fully automated system. Replaced a machine with a machine which

is more water conserving.

3. Exact calculation of bath consumption on Babcock have given

savings and smaller effluents.

4. Run cotton- and polyester/cotton textiles on KKV instead of

on jigs, resulted in a savings of about 158 with respect to the

pigments effluent.

5. Use of pigment which gives improved absorption and lower

effluents. The company have already started to use Remasole

pigments.

6. Improvements in the recipes resulted in inexpensive recipes

and improved absorption of pigments on fur till example. The

company is continuously working on improvements with respect to

price and quality of their products.

7. The use of carriers in the production have been reduced

considerably and results in a more environmentally friendly.

8. The company got a recipe for a paste which they wish to test

to see if it is possible to use less chemicals in the

pretreatment.

9. A product register was compiled with possible replacements

for each of the chemicals in use.

10. Registration of loss on finished product, gross/net meters.

11. Remainders and end cut-offs are sewed together and sold, or

sold as pieces.

12. Investment in a new Air-flow machine which could take over

the production of two machines results in savings in pigment

consumption and chemicals. In addition, the cooling water can

be recycled in the fur department. A such new machinery can

also result in savings in labor and give a higher capacity in

the production.

13. Investments in expanding the wash installation results in

savings in labor, water and energy. This will also increase the

production capacity.

14. Work to get a lower COD-value, with smaller variations in

the waste water.

(Options to improve water and energy economy:)

15. Before drying on Famatex the textiles are centrifuged.

16. A new business agreement regarding purchasing of fuel was

worked out.

17. Recovering of cooling water from the jet machine results in

a lower water consumption and lower effluent stream. In

addition, there are savings in energy to heat the water when it

is used in other machines.

(Options for reduction of waste)

18. They are working with a recycling system for barrels, to

reduce waste costs.

19. They want to change to packaging which can be recycled.

20. They have ordered buckets to collect dry-cell batteries.

21. They want to start to recycle office paper, which reduces

waste costs and conserves the resources.

Work to reach a lower COD-value, with lower variations in the

effluent water, option 14. The main source of organic

substances, which causes COD in the effluent water are from the

pretreatment of the raw materials. The raw materials they buy

contain some soluble organic substances. This paste is added in

the textile factory, and partly natural substances from the

cotton fibers outer wall. Paste added in the textile factory

can be of many kinds, like starch, polyvinyl alcohol,

polyacrylate or carboxymethyl cellulose. The substances from

the cotton fibers are mainly wax and pectin. At the

pretreatment when the textiles are washed and colored, some of

the added substances will dissolve into the water. This is the

reason for the organic substances in the effluent water, which

gives the COD-values. There are two ways to reduce the organic

substances in the effluent.

The first way is to remove the substances from the effluent

water. That can be done by either ultrafiltration or

electro-flocculation. For a company like Seierborg, this

equipment will be costly. Another problem is that there are

many different substances in use, each textile are treated with

a different substance.

The other way to solve the problem is to collaborate with the

supplier of raw materials. Raw material with low contents of

soluble organic substances can be found, however this may take

time as the factories are located in India.

The options 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20

and 21 are carried out or close to be carried out. The options

12, 13, 14 and 17 are under consideration financially. When it

comes to option 12 and 17 there are a choice between one or the

other. Option 12 gives is the best for the environment and the

production quantum, but is the one with the highest investment

cost. Option 2 is evaluated to be non profitable and is

recommended not carried out.

Level of Commercialization: Option 5 is dependent on the

suppliers. They have developed and produced some pigments.

Which have been taken into use at Seiersborg tekstil. New

pigments will even be produced in the future.

The option which involve the largest degree of uncertainty is

option 14. It demands testing of the raw materials together

with the supplier which is located in China, and there exist

cultural and linguistic problems. They have taken the first

step by visiting the supplier.

Material/Energy Balances and Substitutions:

The following are estimates of waste and pollution after the

options are carried through

Quantity

Before Quantity

After

Amount of waste water, m3/yr 80,750 71,100

COD, tons/year 58.2 N/A

COD max. measured value mg O/L 1000 800

Consumption of fuel oil,

tons/year

606 515

Emission to air, SO2 tons/year 1.55 1.32

Emission to air, C02 tons/Year 1, 909 1. 623

Waste , tons/year 66.5 57

The other data for effluents and emissions will hardly be

affected. The pH in the waste water will be kept within the

specified limits. Phosphorus and sulphur in the waste water

will be reduced some.

There is hardly possible to reduce the consumption of raw

material, but there are possible to reduce the pigment and

chemical consumption by about 10 percent.

The options 12, 13, 15 and 17 will decrease the energy

consumption with about 17 percent. The options 2, 12, 13 and 17

could reduce the water consumption with about 11 percent. It is

specially option 12 and 13 which can give a chance for an

increased production volume.

The waste streams will decrease if the options 18, 19, 20 and

21 are implemented. The streams can be reduced with about 15

percent.

Option 14 will decrease COD, and it is supposed that after 3-4

years would the waste water have a stable COD value below

today's value.

The options 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 will reduce the

pigment and chemical consumption totally with about 10 percent.

The options 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 will all decrease the fuel

consumption. This will give a reduced C02 and S02 emission, a

reduction of about 15 percent. Besides it will give a

corresponding lower heat energy to the recipient.

5. Economics:

Investment Costs:

In the list of 21 options, the typical investment options, are

options 12, 13 and 17. It is possible to carry out option 12 or

17. The investments for option 12 are 2.5 mill. NOK, for option

17 are 0.1 mill. NOK and for option are 13 1.6 mill. NOK.

The investment projects have the following calculated yearly

payback

Option no. 12 535,000 NOK/year

Option no. 13 417,000 NOK/year

Option no. 17 100,000 NOK/year

For the following investments will the operational revenue

increase with the following amount the first year after the

investment

Option no. 12 34,762 NOK

Option no. 13 97,000 NOK

Option no. 17 80,000 NOK

The following options are the ones which do not have any

essential investments, but have the following positive effect

on the operational revenue.

Option no. 3 5,000 NOK

Option no. 4 23,000 NOK

Option no. 5 0 NOK

Option no. 6 0 NOK

Option no. 7 5,000 NOK

Option no. 8 65,000 NOK

Option no. 9 0 NOK

Option no. 10 0 NOK

Option no. 11 0 NOK

Option no. 15 95,000 NOK

Option no. 16 250,000 NOK

Option no. 18 1,000 NOK

Option no. 19 5,000 NOK

Option no. 20 0 NOK

Option no. 21 0 NOK

____________________________________________

SUM 449,000 NOK/year

Payback Time

The payback time for the three options with some investment

cost, are as follows:

Option no. 12 4.7 years

Option no. 13 3.8 years

Option no. 17 3.0 years

6. Advantages

The proposed options will not have any essential effect on the

market or the product quality, apart from a possible public

relation effect, because the company has a less environmental

harmful production.

7. Constraints: See Description of Cleaner Production

Application.

8. Contacts:

State Pollution Authority,

Att: Uno Abrahamsen

Postboks 8100 Dep.,

0032 OSLO, Norway

TEL: + 47 22 57 34 00

Oestfold Research Foundation

Att: Mie Vold

P.O.Box 276

N-1601 Fredrikstad

TEL.- +47 69341900

Seiersborg tekstil a.s

Att: Head of Laboratory Lise Marie Grindal

Postboks 23, 1601 FREDRIKSTAD,

Norway

TEL: + 47 69 31 12 65

9. Keywords: ISIC Codes 3211, spinning, weaving and after

treatment of textiles, 32111, production of yarn, 32112,

Production of woven textiles textile pretreatment, mercerizing,

COD, wastewater, pigments, cotton