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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Conservation of water, chemicals, and energy in dyeing nylon carpet. Completion report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6512799
Reduction in the requirements for water, energy, and chemicals have been achieved by changes in carpet beck dyeing procedures. Instead of discharging the dyebath following each dye cycle, in the new procedure the spent bath is analyzed, reconstituted to the desired concentration of dyes and auxillary chemicals, and reused. Bench scale dyeings were conducted initially to define operational parameters for coloring commercial nylon carpet a variety of shades with both acid and disperse dyes. The procedures developed were employed in pilot scale equipment for dyeing carpets with reuse of the dye bath for up to 5 dyeings before dumping. Within-sample end-to-end variations and between-sample variations in color were assessed by instrumental techniques. Results suggest that commercially acceptable carpet dyeings can be achieved in recycled dyebaths. Compared with conventional carpet beck dyeing, the modified procedures make possible savings of 65% in chemical costs, 65% in water requirements, and 20% in energy requirements. Reduction in quantities of chemicals required by dyeing in recycled dye baths will give a significant reduction in the quantities of materials that must be removed from the plant effluent in waste treatment facilities. This new dyeing technique has been extended to dyeing of nylon hosiery and polyester yarn. In-plant demonstrations on commercial scale equipment are planned.
Research Organization:
Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta (USA). Environmental Resources Center
OSTI ID:
6512799
Report Number(s):
PB-277988; ERC-07-77
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English