Textile Insight

Kathlyn Swantko, president of the FabricLink Network, created TheTechnicalCenter. com for Industry networking and marketing of specialty textiles, and FabricLink.com for consumer education involving everything fabric. Clemson MSE Extrusion Crew. olyester now represents the majority of fiber consumption in the world, and its usage is projected to increase substantially in the future," says Dr. Christine Cole, Professor Emerita, MSE, Clemson Textiles and co-leader of Clemson's "Polyester Fiber Eco- Dyeing" project. "Therefore, energy and environmental concerns over polyester are growing!" Environmental issues associated with polyester are being addressed by the increased use of PET recycled polyester to reduce the energy required in fiber production; the development of commercially scalable "closed-loop" textile recycling technol- ogy; and an increased effort to divert unwanted clothing out of the waste stream. Ironically, these positive ecological developments are also partially responsible for the fiber's increased usage. Supported by a $1M award from the Walmart Foundation and its U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund, Clemson University is currently developing technologies that will make the dyeing of polyester fiber more economical and more environmentally friendly. Polyester is one of the more difficult fibers to dye. Due to the chemical and physical structure of the fibers, small dye molecules, high temperature/pressures required during the dye process, and the use of potentially hazardous chemicals needed to achieve satisfactory colors in polyester fabrics, a lot of dye is required to dye polyester. The process also produces significant amounts of colored effluent (liquid waste from the dyeing process). "It is estimated that 200,000 tons of dyestuff are lost each year in the effluent from commercial dyeing operations," explains Cole. "Perhaps 20 percent of this dyestuff effluent can be attributed to dyeing polyester." Eco-Dyeing Research Team Dr. Phil Brown, Professor of Material Science & Engineering, joins Cole as co-leader for the project. There are also six undergraduate students, two post doctorate engineers, along with industry partners: Hills Inc., an international leader in the development/production of equipment for extruding multi-component fibers, is designing and fabricating special spin packs for fiber extrusion; Burlington Worldwide, an ITG company, is working to scale-up commercial production for 100 percent polyester fabrics; Mt. Vernon Mills is working to scale-up polyester blended fabrics to commercial production levels; and A&E is involved in package dyeing. The project has three major tasks: Task 1) Polyester Fiber Development; Task 2) Lab Scale Polyester Dyeing; and 3) Scale up Polyester Dyeing. The project proposes to: 1) Reduce the amount of dyestuff required to color polyester; 2) Reduce the energy required to color polyester; and 3) Reduce the amount of colored effluent from the dyeing processes. The dye baths will be analyzed at the end of each dye cycle to quantify the amount of dye left at the end of dyeing. The goal is to achieve a standardized dyeing process that is deemed commercially feasible for both PET fibers and the project's new bi-component fiber. According to Cole, Tasks 1 and 2 are well underway. Task 1 includes the development of a new medium-scale melt extruder for producing a bicomponent polyester fiber that will dye more easily, but have the wash fastness and light fastness that the commercial market requires. In Task 2, the setup and conditions for lab scale dyeing have been established for PET and PETG films. Cole explains, "Our strategy is to build on commercially available components, and assemble them in innovative ways. Our processes will readily fit within current U.S. textile manufacturing processes." O EDUCATION | CLEMSON UNIVERSITY Scaling Up Sustainability Research on Eco-Dyeing Polyester as Environmental Concerns Grow. By Kathlyn Swantko 38 • Textile Insight ~ March/April 2017 textileinsight.com For More Information Christine Cole cwjrv@clemson.edu 864-646-8454.

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