‘Automise, Optimise OR Perish’ is all about taking the initiative to create awareness about water among the colouration and fashion industry for now and in the future. To take this further a half day seminar was organized by The Society of Dyers & Colourists EC in Bhiwandi recently..
Padmabhushan late Prof K. Venkataraman advocated “Publish or Perish”; Padma Vibhushan Prof M. M. Sharma called for linkage of fundamental work by reflecting publications in learned journals and delivering in market place and industry; Dr. R. A. Mashelkar promoted Patent-Publish-Prosper and more from less with affordable excellence.
Presentations and panel discussion on the usage of processing technologies, innovation and water in the textile industry were held on 7th December 2017 at Satkar Hotel attended by 130 people comprising textile processors; production managers; research students and fashion designers. Deliberations led to Automise, Optimise and Succeed with change in mindset for innovative processes, use of appropriate machinery and effluent treatment besides economy, profitability and sustainability.
V R Sai Ganesh welcomed the audience and remarked about the challenges like demonetisation, GST compliance, increasing yarn prices, pressure on effluent treatment faced by the Bhiwandi cluster and weavers that prompted this seminar to discuss viable solutions. Sachin Pulsay spoke about various activities of SDC EC.
Chief Guest Inder B Ram, Managing Director, Invil Consultants & Traders Private Ltd had obtained diploma from VJTI followed by his own business and mentoring textile professionals. He said that industry is facing hardships, and everything has to be done in a better way at cheaper cost with greener quality. He suggested ‘Automise, Optimise and Succeed’ with positive attitude so that it invigorates the work culture.
Guest of Honour Subhash Bhargava, FSDC, Technocrat-Founder, Colorant Ltd, a B.Tech from TIT had worked with DCM besides various colourant companies. They have received several awards for excellent performance in the manufacture of ‘Colrorn’ reactive dyes for domestic and export markets. He spoke about the Bhiwandi weavers and their progress with appropriate technology, looms (Ruti B and C) besides weaving of blended PEs fabric and the units working for textile units and brands. He hoped that the deliberations be disseminated for the benefit of industrialists and technicians.
Talks by the speakers were given as under
E. D. Rajeev, Technical Director, Rajeshwari Industrial Marketing, has over 28 years’ experience in textile processing industry and wastewater management. He expressed one should optimise and automise or else perish. To automise, you need logic and a goal and keen interest on the subject of planning and optimise system, use available resources. Processors want more production with less cost and low maintenance and limitations of concern about machines and their maintenance since trained people are required to operate them. No one is interested in investing for such provisions and hence we need change of mindset and initiative to have such facilities synchronised to get optimum production. Further, there are problems of effluent treatment system besides pressure over EPC machines and here again good experienced people are required. Rajeev concluded that scope exists for automated machines in processing industry to effect optimised production besides facilitating the usage of less chemicals, power, water and manpower.
Dr. N. N. Mahapatra, President, Colorant Limited had obtained PhD from UDCT and has over 30 years of experience in various textile processing houses. He spoke on “Reactive dyes –Past, Present and Future” complemented by Bhargava. They are an SME company with 650 users and have joint venture with Colourhood, China for fluorine based reactive dyes with high light/ perspiration fastness. They have different trichromatic components for various shades, Coloron range consists of SF dyes for overall fastness, printing colours, Vinyl Sulphone dyes; hetero bifunctional (MCT and VS), bifunctional, polyfunctional types for high fixation. CES (Cost Effective Sustainable) dyes: New generation of reactive dyes are used instead of vat dyes for dyeing cellulosic component of its blend with PEs; they meet post mercerisation fastness requirements. Sustainability: Robustness for obtaining same shade and repeatability -RFT percentage. CS dyes (concentrated salt free reactive dyes, chemically modified polyfunctional dyes) used for knit and woven fabrics instead of VS and bifunctional dyes for shade depth and tone, conserving processing time, water, energy and load on ETP besides lustre (brightness).Next generation VS (GLX series) –dischargeable dyes; P & H dyes for printing. Future: Reducing salt consumption; dyes with no salt; low alkali additives, 100 per cent fixation and unused dye in the effluent. Dyeing methods –waterless dyeing (DyeCoo at Thialand and Taiwan): Super Critical Carbon dioxide medium; salt free reactive dyes –cationising cotton fabric with a suitable cationising agent (e.g. DuPont CR 2000) followed by reactive dyeing with no salt, machine modification is on the anvil(cotton or viscose dyeing with reactive dyes in SCC medium) besides modifying structure of reactive dyes. ColorGen is yet another technology in this context.
Panel discussion
Showcased Automation and Optimisation in the textile processing industry. Prasad Pant, CEO, Nimkar Technical Services Private Ltd, was the moderator who gave introductory remarks that automation increases productivity, quality, and performance indicator. Automation warrants consideration of factors like ease of programming besides flexibility and reliability in operating; Payback period and scale up. Automation is prevalent in yarn spinning and winding and wet processing industry and one can reduce the number of workers besides, saving cost on chemical wastage. Optimisation is making the best and effective use of resource to reduce cost, waste, environmental impact and conserve resources like water, chemicals, waste generated there bypath to sustainability. RFT dyeing and optimized process can increase productivity since redyeing entails loss. Optimisation is based on the principle of Measure, Monitor, Target and Control (MMTC). For instance, consumption of water per kilo of fabric in exhaust dyeing is 70-80 ltr with Best Available Technology and 40-45 ltr in continuous dyeing. Cost of water and effluent treatment together is about 4.5 and hence optimisation of water consumption assumes importance. Pad-box denim process where 90 per cent water is used and 30 per cent energy. Optimisation encounters manpower utilisation and hence challenges and opportunities.
Panellists
Entrepreneurs and end users – Kalpesh Jain, Director, Silkon Group remarked that Bhiwandi segment is not automised since end product is not profitable and also no new process or development and consequently they are unable to realise the right price from the consumers. Any kind of automation comes with price and difficult to sustain it. Companies will sustain with focus on innovation, R&D for product and quality. Secondly economy of scale and in both cases company needs atomisation process. For best quality, optimise the process and reduce the cost. Looms here are the best and the process houses equipped with best machinery and investments are made on continuous dyeing. In yarn dyeing they have mere dispensing system though viability is not adequate and it will incur cost to the consumer. Since no other automation could be considered they are investing in R&D. A time will come when consumer would ask that their unit should be atomised to enable them work with. Consumer drive would make them automise.
Process machinery -Deepak S Karade, Senior Manager, A.T.E. Enterprises Private Ltd said that spinning and weaving are modernised unlike processing which is undergoing change and hence automation of the machinery and optimisation are need of the hour as well as chemicals used for yarn dyeing in the dispensing system.
Dyes & Chemicals – Ashish Chitre, Head -Business Development, DyStar India Private Ltd said that textile industry is labour intensive, polluting with effluents besides issue of cost. Automisation will help to produce more in less time and optimisation in reducing chemicals and dyes and secondly quality aspect. Ecology calls for change of environment and hence there is need to automise and optimise. International buyers audit our process houses, plants and stores and ratings are given accordingly followed by deciding their business. Therefore we need to automise and optimise for survival.
Wastewater treatment – Vikas Rathi, General Manager, Sales and Product Management, A.T.E. Enterprises Private Ltd said dyeing with propensity for pollution has shifted from Europe, USA to India, China Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. From 80-90 ltr of water per kg, it is now 70 ltr and optimised to 60 ltr that goes to CETP. Major units have their own effluent treatment plants. Earlier petro chemical effluent treatment plants added lime, ferrous salts and polluted further converting liquid pollutants to solid pollutants thereby producing heaps of solid waste. The other step is biological water treatment plants which are running successfully in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. There is need to protect environment and we have no choice but to do it here in India for the future generations so that they get water which is a limited resource; need ecology or environment sustained, which warrants proper effluent treatment. Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) is not talked much about in Maharashtra but in Tamil Nadu, the industry was closed for some time in the recent past. We must adapt ZLD to reuse water (95 per cent) wisely since it is a scarce resource. Invest in effluent treatment plant followed by ZLD.
Pant fielded the interactive discussions with the panelists besides throwing open the floor to the audience for their questions answered, doubts cleared and advice offered. The Event was supported by Colorant Ltd., Sivira Organiks Pvt Ltd & Vishal Trading Company Sandeep Singh, Hon. Vice Chairman, Mumbai Chapter proposed vote of thanks.
