Ecological Sizing Agents and Desizing Processes
topic
Ecological sizing uses water-soluble synthetic sizes including partially hydrolysed polyvinyl alcohol and carboxymethyl cellulose that are fully removed by hot water washing in desizing, with enzymatic desizing using alpha-amylase enzymes efficiently removing starch-based sizes at 50 to 60 degrees Celsius and pH 6 to 7, reducing desizing effluent BOD load by 60 to 80 percent compared to oxidative desizing with hydrogen peroxide.
Role
Reduces the environmental impact of sizing and desizing operations by specifying size systems that are removed completely and efficiently from fabric by the lowest-impact desizing method, with size reclaim systems recovering polyvinyl alcohol from desizing rinse water for reuse reducing both raw material cost and wastewater treatment load in integrated spinning and weaving operations.