engleski

Environmental Friendly Cotton Scouring

Raw cotton fiber is highly hydrophobic. Standard procedures for cotton scouring involve alkali treatment accomplishing high effects in textile cleaning of all impurities. During harsh scouring conditions waxes, proteins, pectin and other are removed form fiber, resulting in hydrophilic fiber. Unfortunately, treatment with NaOH results in partial damages to the cellulose causing a high weight loss, decreasing the strength and degree of polymerization (DP). This alkali scouring is ecologically and economically unfavorable, because huge quantities of water are necessary, high energy is required for rinsing process after scouring, and NaOH polluted waste waters. It is well known that 75 % of organic pollutants from textile mills are from cotton pretreatment, mainly scouring. Therefore, in last few years the new procedures of enzymatic scouring with pectinases have been investigated. In this paper raw cotton woven fabric was scoured in three different ways – alkali, and enzymatic with two pectinases - BioPrep 3000L (Novoenzymes) and Beisol PRO (Bezema). Textile properties of cotton fabrics after scouring such are strength and DP, hydrophilicity, whiteness and yellowness were compared. COD, BOD and pH in wastewaters were determined as well. Alkali scouring, compared with enzymatic scouring needs less energy, half of the amount of necessary water, and there is no pollution of waste water because enzymes are non toxic and biodegradable. Therefore, enzymatic scouring of cotton is called environmental friendly process.

cotton; scouring; bioscouring; pectinase

nije evidentirano