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Textile & Dyes Industry

At Synder Filtration, we aim to help our customers improve the quality of their products through cost effective ways that are compliant with regulatory standards and have low environmental impact. Our membranes have gained notoriety over the past few decades in the textile and dye industry because of their ability to purify, extract, and concentrate many of the detergents, chemicals, and oils used throughout the manufacturing process to remove dirt, improve knitting, and bind dyes to fabrics. With a wide spectrum of pore sizes available, these membranes have been particularly useful in applications such as the desalting of dye to stabilize products during storage, concentrating dye, and effluent treatment for product recovery and reuse in textile manufacturing processes.


Challenge

Polyvinyl Alcohol Recovery

Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) is used in the textile industry during sizing to help smooth and strengthen fibers. PVA is highly valuable, but also highly toxic. Recovery and reuse of PVA from wastewater is valuable both financially and environmentally. By treating the wastewater using Synder’s NFX Nanofiltration membrane PVA can be concentrated and recovered for reuse saving money and the environment.

Dye Effluent Recovery & Concentration

Dyes are used heavily within the textile industry. The effluent wastewater that is produced from the dying process can contain salt, sulfites and of course unused dye. Synder’s wide range of Ultrafiltration membranes, like the XT, VT, ST, & MK membranes, can be used to treat the effluent and concentrate and recover the costly dyes. Also, Synder’s NFX Nanofiltration membrane can be implemented for the removal of salts and sulfites and further concentration of dyes.

Wastewater Processing in Paper Mills

Synder’s NFX Nanofiltration membrane can be used throughout the pulp and paper industry to purify water used to process wood shavings necessary to convert pulp into paper. With small pore size ranges, NF membranes can be used to remove excess chemicals used to treat the wood and allow manufacturers to reuse the water for more processes.

Solution

Synder offers a wide range of Ultrafiltration and Nanofiltration membranes suitable for various textile & dye applications.

In the process of adding dye to textile materials, large quantities of water, salts, and chemicals are used for the pretreatment and binding of the dye. Much of that passes through and forms the effluent wastewater which must be treated before discharge into the environment or reuse for manufacturing processes. Among those dyes, the reactive dyes for cotton has posed the most ecological concern because the effluent produced has high level of BOD/COD and is typically heavily colored.

Synder Filtration’s wide range of nanofiltration membranes can be used to treat the effluent wastewater and to aid in the concentration and recovery of unused synthetic dyes. Synder’s NFX nanofiltration membranes can be also be used in conjunction with ultrafiltration membranes to remove excess salts and sulfites in the effluent before reuse. Desalting and dye concentration via nanofiltration membrane technology has become increasingly popular among manufacturers looking to improve the quality of their products and reduce manufacturing costs. Typically, it is desired to reduce the salinity of the dye and it can be achieved through diafiltration, before concentration the dye to the required value.

In addition, the pulp and paper industry requires the use of large volumes of clean water in order to process the wood shavings used to convert pulp into paper. The harsh chemicals used to treat the wood post a hazard to the environment, if the toxic waste is discharged. With the use of membrane technology, the wastewater is able to be purified into water that is suitable for reuse in the paper-making process which minimizes the environmental impact and can save manufacturers both time and money

Case Study

The manufacturing of dyes in the textile industry requires the use of high concentrations of salts, such as NaCl. However, the removal of these salts is necessary in the preparation and purification of the final dye product. In such cases, dye desalting and concentration using nanofiltration is an effective means of improving dye strength, purity, and value. The concentration capacity of nanofiltration membranes also plays an important role in textile wastewater treatment by increasing both product recovery and reuse. In this case study, the performance of Synder’s new NDX membrane was evaluated in a dye desalting and concentration application.

Synder NDX for Dye Desalting & Concentration

Optical brightening agents are special dyes that absorb ultraviolet light and re‐emit light in the blue region, usually at 420-470nm. This application is called the “whitening effect”, which is commonly used to enhance the appearance of certain colors without the damaging effects of bleaching. By increasing the amount of blue light reflected, yellow tones appear whiter. Membrane technology can be applied to capture and concentrate the optical brightening agent for reuse to lower the operating cost in textile and paper industries. Membrane technology provides a process of simultaneous concentrating and desalinating dye solution and thus obtaining concentrated dye with low salt content.

Recovery of Optical Brightening Agents

The goal of the study is to determine if Synder’s NFX membraneis capable of handling five different dye products (different MW, strength/concentration, salt content) with minimum product loss during the desalination and concentration process.

Dye Concentration Process

For all manufacturers, freight costs for shipping their products can significantly affect their company’s competitiveness on pricing. In this case, the current product of optical brightening agent (OBA) had more than 50% water in each container, which resulted in high freight costs. The OBA manufacturer had used competitor’s NF spiral wound elements that offered only in 28mil spacer, for the desalting and concentration of optical brightening agent (OBA), however, the small spacer led to difficulty in concentrating this specific OBA when the OBA is concentrated to certain point.

After learning about Synder’s wide variety of membrane spacers available for the spiral wound elements, they requested that Synder conduct a feasibility test on their existing OBA product. Based on the solid content, Synder made an NFX element with a 46 mil spacer to conduct this experiment.

Concentration & Desalination of Optical Brightening Agents

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Synder also offers a comprehensive application development program including feasibility testing for newer specialty process applications. Please contact us for more information. You will receive a personal response from one of our experienced team members within 24 hours.

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