Textile Industry Modified by Jon Konen April 28, 2008 Originally by Denise Ford

Overview  Natural Fibers  Cotton  Silk  Wool  Synthetic Fibers  History  Types  Properties  Production Methods  Fiber Processing Concerns

Natural Fibers  Plant  Animal  Mineral  Bamboo  Cotton  Grass  Hemp  Sisal  Straw  Silk  Wool  Glass  Metal

Natural Fibers - Cotton  History  Used in textiles as early as 3000BC  Came to Europe in 800  First machine produced in England in 1730  Production  Used for clothing, batting, furniture  $120 billion business revenue

Cotton Properties Material is said to breathe Fiber absorbs and releases perspiration Tendency to wrinkle Blended with polyester to combat this issue Takes dyes and can withstand high temps “Principal clothing fiber of the world”

Natural Fibers - Silk  History  Silk worm rearing began in 2640BC in China  Silk Road in 300BC brought silk to the west  Production  Used for clothing, fishing line, light armor, musical instruments, rag paper  Contested by animal rights activists because larva must be boiled alive

Natural Fibers-Wool History Used since ~1500 BC in Europe Leading textile cloth before cotton revolution Production Sheared from sheep, camels, llamas, goats Approx. 1.3M tons/year produced Lanolin that is “grease” from coat is used in cosmetics Leading producers are Australia, China and New Zealand

Synthetic Fibers  Nylon  Polyester  Olefin  Rayon*  Spandex  Acrylic  Lurex

Synthetic Fibers - History  Rayon developed in 1890s in France  Most synthetic fibers began mass production in mid 20th century in the U.S.  Polyester mass produced in 1953  Synthetic fiber production ~ natural fiber production by 2000

Synthetic Fibers – Properties of Polymers  Properties are strongly correlated to size of chain  Important properties for fibers  Diameter  Elasticity  Surface energy  Compressive strength  Tensile strength

Polyester Made from reacting ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid at high temps Forms PET which is melt spun to polyester Characteristics Strong Resists stretching/shrinking Wrinkle resistant Abrasion resistant

Nylon Polyamide formed by acids and amides reacting Produced by melt spun proccess Properties Strong Elastic Oil/chemical resistant Additional uses during WWII

Spandex Polymer chain containing long, soft liquid chains that stretches and reforms using entropy states Characteristics Can be stretched to 500% and not break Stronger, more durable than rubber Lightweight, smooth, soft Shrinks and expands readily

Melt Spun Process

Synthetic Fibers – Production Methods Electrospinning

Synthetic Fibers – Production Methods T. Grafe, 2002

Textile Industry – Fiber Processing Concerns  BOD and TSS emitted in waste water from processing of fibers  265 m 3 waste/metric ton cotton  115 kg/metric ton BOD  70 kg/metric ton TSS  Less waste volume produced from the processing of synthetic fibers, but often more BOD and TSS

Environmental Concerns Cotton Use of pesticides (11% of all) and insecticides (25% of all) 7,000-29,000 kg water/kg cotton produced Nylon Produces NO X Polyester Uses large amounts of water

Typical Wastes and Costs Most hazardous waste from solvents Dry cleaning Dyeing Specialty operations (finishing) Insecticides Bleaches China dumping waste water directly into streams Cost to treat water $0.13/metric ton

Waste Minimization Can reduce cost, liabilities, regulatory burden Plan production ahead of time Processing/equipment modifications Recycling waste Organic Cotton No pesticides, herbicides, insecticides Wal-Mart world’s largest buyer

Conclusion  Natural Fibers  Cotton  Silk  Wool  Synthetic Fibers  History  Properties  Production Methods  Fiber Processing Concerns

References      hetic%20fiber%20production%22  FILE/textile_PPAH.pdf#search=%22textile%20production%22    manufacture.pdf#search=%22meltblown%20process%22  