INNOVATION IN TEXTILE PROCESSING

The Textile Association (India), Mumbai Unit organized a Half Day Seminar on “Innovation in Textile Processing” in Dombivli on October 13, 2011. The Chief Guest was Mr. S. Balaraju, Jt. Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India.

Mr. Rajesh Balakrishnan, Vice President, TAI, Mumbai Unit welcomed the Chief Guest Mr. S. Balaraju, Jt. Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, Guest Mr. Sudhakar Gokhale, speakers and delegates.

Mr. Arun K. Narkar, Jt. Hon. Secretary, TAI, Mumbai Unit & Convener of the Seminar ‘Innovation in Textile Processing’ expressed that inspired by Ministry of Textiles’ Cluster Development Program particularly in Powerloom Sector, The Textile Association (India), Mumbai Unit organized cluster wise Technical Upgradation Program for Textile Processors at Tarapur followed by Vapi, Bhiwandi & now at Dombivli. Keeping in view, up-gradation in field of infrastructure, environment, innovative processes, pollution control, safety etc & after discussion with Sr. Technicians, topics of technical papers relevant to the theme of seminar & respective speakers were selected. Panel Discussion Session on ‘Prospects of Cluster Up-gradation’ moderated by Dr. G. S. Nadiger, Research Advisor, BTRA with other Panel Members as experts from Textile Processing, MIDC, Waste Management & SIDBI (Small Scale Industries Development Bank of India) was organized.

Mr. Sudhakar Gokhale, Sr. Technician, was special invitee in the absence of Guest of Honour, Mr. V. S. Chalke, Managing Director, Oriental Synthetics & Rayon Mills Pvt. Ltd. He has specified in his speech that there is need of innovation in environment protection. According to him, innovation is also essential in field of management in every industry. Cost effectiveness is the need of the hour, but the cost cutting should not be primarily just a cut in labour costs! Contract labour which is now practiced in Textile Processing has some disadvantages like improper training, difficulties in motivating them & production based pay scale which leads to faulty dyeing, steam losses etc. It is the trend of students from technical institutions to prefer white collar, high salaried jobs resulting in non-availability of qualified technicians in Textile Processing. Hence, this is another area where prime innovation is needed.

Mr. S. Balaraju, Jt. Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India in his inaugural address talked about reluctance of processing sector to come forward with proposals. He has mentioned that upgradation in processing sector is not keeping pace with other sectors. He also urged the processors to make suitable proposals for the 12th plan.

In all, there were 5 technical papers presented during the seminar.

Mr. Elliyas Mohammed, Sr. Product Manager (Polyester Dyes) and Mr. G. Ranganath, Asst. Gen. Manager, Marketing (South), Tirupur, Colourtex Industries Ltd., presented the paper on “Cotton & Cotton / Polyester Blends – Exhaust Dyeing – Changing Market Trends”. Mr. G. Rangnath and Mr. Elliyas Mohammed emphasis on changing application techniques of Reactive dyes with advancement of technology and demands. Right First Time Approach & Short Liquor optimizes dyeing process. Exhaust Process take share of 50% in all application techniques. Coralite, Corazol RFT & Corafix F & XL are newly developed products in their Reactive range to meet challenges of Changing Market Trends. Dyeing of Cotton/ Polyester knits demands selection of Disperse dyes on the basis of staining on cotton, pH sensitivity & migration properties of Disperse dyes.

Mr. Amit V. Pathak, Senior Executive Technical Service, Rossari Biotech Ltd. presented the paper on“Low Temperature Bleaching – The New Trend” in absence of Mr. Edward Menezes, Managing Director, Rossari Bio-tech Ltd. Rossari developed suitable metal complex catalyst to incorporate in Hydrogen Peroxide bleaching to reduce bath temperature to 70 to 80 deg. C from conventional 100 to 120 deg C. It helps to adopt eco-friendly processing by reducing carbon dioxide emissions through lesser consumption of fuel required. It imparts smoother surface profile, lesser weight loss & high brilliancy to bleached fabric.

Dr. Ashok Athalye, General Manager – Technical Service, Atul Limited-Colors Division presented the paper on “Challenges and Developments in Reactive dyeing of Cotton”. According to Dr. Athalye 62% of Reactive dyes are used for Cotton dyeing in world scenario. Atul has developed Tulactiv C & CC in Reactive dyes range for excellent compatibility, less water & energy consumption, robust & good for RFT. Tularevs XL are for economical deep shades.

Mr. Anand Apte, Managing Director, Waste Encare (India) Pvt. Ltd. presented the paper on“Pollution Control Systems for Textile Processing Industries – Conserving Natural Resources”. Mr. Anand Apte has talked about 3R’s for Waste Water Management-Reduce, Recycle & Reuse after treatment. He pointed out that for safe disposal, Primary, Secondary & Tertiary treatment of effluent are essential. Disinfection, Reverse Osmosis & Multiple Effect of Evaporation are must for Re-use of water. For Air Management, Industrial Emissions shall be scrabbed. Particular emission system and use of biomass suggested.

Mr. Sateesh Gore, Director, Electron Group presented the paper on “Innovative Printing Inks for Textiles Fabrics”. Mr. Sateesh Gore in his presentation emphasis more on innovative styles of printing on cotton & its blended fabric for value addition & to fulfill increased fashion trend. Some novel effects in pigment printing using different binders were discussed. Foam Printing and Digital Printing are in practice among different styles explained.

The main attraction of the Seminar was the ‘Panel Discussion’ moderated by Dr. G. S. Nadiger, Research Advisor, BTRA with his Panel Members team selected from MIDC, SIDBI, Waste Encare, etc. Dr. Nadiger said that a cluster means an activity having lot of similarity in terms of technical operations and production of end product. In this context, Dombivli could be treated as cluster of textile processing. Although a discussion has been made in addressing issues pertaining to the cluster, it is worthwhile to do a detailed diagnostic study to identify various issues related in the supply chain i.e. Quality related problems, Manpower related issues, Technology related issues, Infrastructure related issues and Marketing issues. While concluding, he suggested making use of training, testing and technical services of BTRA. If industry association collectively approaches BTRA, they may consider a concession for availing these facilities.

Smt. Farogh Mukadam, Deputy Collector & Regional Officer, Thane, MIDC covered background about development of MIDC in Maharashtra, Importance given by MIDC on issues related to safety, particularly fire safety. Each industry should comply with the fire safety norms which are available on MIDC and other websites. She also observed that Dombivli cluster is still in Gram panchayat area and Gram panchayats are financially unsound to tackle waste water disposal & CETP’s issues. Also, Gram panchayats are not included in municipal corporations developmental work.

Mr. S. V. Soudagar, Consultant expressed his views for technical upgradation in Panel Discussion. According to him minimising redyeing, feasible automation and processes to keep low effluent load are important areas to be considered. Analysis of incoming grey fabric as well as dyes chemicals, auxiliaries, tanker water, etc is essential. The standardisation at each stage of processing is must. RFT index should be calculated to monitor performance. Dispensing systems, batch wise process controlled automatically are also needed to avoid human errors. Low liquor ratio, RFT approach, caustic recovery, ultra RGB (DyStar) suggested to reduce COD & TDS in effluents. Enzymes for desizing and scouring help to reduce effluent load.

Mr. Anand Apte, Managing Director, Waste Encare (India) Pvt. Ltd. expressed that ETP’s Should be considered as integral part of overall development and not in isolation. Complying with MPCB norms is essential. He mentioned that there is an absolute need for conserving water as it is being very essential natural resource. For this minimization of consumption of water is to be practised as textile industry uses large amount of water. Due to implementation of waste minimization practices existing waste water treatment facilities can be utilised without any upgradation although there is an expansions at industry level. No extra capital and operating expenditure is required.

Mr. Anil Kulkarni, Dy. General Manager, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), briefed about the benefits & products provided by the SIDBI for the small industries. It’s the nodal agency for TUF’s and other schemes for MSME’s. Cluster based proposals if any, could be considered by SIDBI in terms of technology upgradation or setting up of new enterprises.

The organizers of the seminar were happy to note that the objectives of the seminar were fully achieved.

Dr. (Mrs.) Sujata S. Pariti, Adjunct Professor, Department of Fibers and Textile Processing Technology, UICT compared the whole seminar commendably.

At the end, Mr. A. V. Mantri, Hon. Secretary, TAI, Mumbai Unit proposed a vote of the thanks.

The Seminar was grand success and was attended by over 150 participants.