U.S. patent number 3,663,160 [Application Number 04/690,387] was granted by the patent office on 1972-05-16 for treatment of textile materials.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Imperial Chemical Industries Limited. Invention is credited to Eric William Stone, Wilfred Arthur Stephen White.
United States Patent |
3,663,160 |
Stone , et al. |
May 16, 1972 |
TREATMENT OF TEXTILE MATERIALS
Abstract
Solvent laden textile materials are passed through a steam
chamber and thereafter a hot water bath to remove the solvent
therefrom. The combination of steam and hot water, in that sequence
of steps, mitigates difficulties heretofore experienced in the art
and improves the efficiency of processes for removing solvents from
textiles.
Inventors: |
Stone; Eric William (Runcorn,
EN), White; Wilfred Arthur Stephen (Runcorn,
EN) |
Assignee: |
Imperial Chemical Industries
Limited (London, EN)
|
Family
ID: |
10480906 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/690,387 |
Filed: |
December 14, 1967 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Dec 29, 1966 [GB] |
|
|
58,159/66 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
8/137; 8/137.5;
8/149.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
D06L
1/02 (20130101); D06F 43/007 (20130101); D06B
9/06 (20130101); D06M 11/05 (20130101); Y02P
70/62 (20151101); Y02P 70/641 (20151101) |
Current International
Class: |
D06B
9/00 (20060101); D06B 9/06 (20060101); D06L
1/02 (20060101); D06M 11/05 (20060101); D06F
43/00 (20060101); D06M 11/00 (20060101); D06L
1/00 (20060101); B08b 003/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;8/137,137.5,138,142,149.1 ;34/23 ;68/5C,5O |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
747,481 |
|
Apr 1956 |
|
UK |
|
825,402 |
|
Dec 1959 |
|
UK |
|
812,894 |
|
May 1959 |
|
GB |
|
916,338 |
|
Jan 1963 |
|
GB |
|
Primary Examiner: Rosdol; Leon D.
Assistant Examiner: Rady; Arnold I.
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A process for removing an organic halogenated hydrocarbon
textile cleaning solvent from a textile material which steps
consist essentially of passing the textile material first through a
steam chamber for a period of between 2 and 8 seconds and
thereafter through a hot water bath for a period of between 5 and
20 seconds whereby the said solvent is removed from the textile
material during the treatment with steam and during the treatment
with hot water.
2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the organic solvent is a
chlorinated hydrocarbon solvent.
3. A process as claimed in claim 2, wherein the chlorinated
hydrocarbon solvent is trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene,
1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane or mixtures thereof.
4. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the textile material is
a woven cloth.
5. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein a major proportion of
the organic solvent is removed by the treatment with steam and a
minor proportion of the organic solvent is removed by the treatment
with hot water.
6. A process as claimed in claim 5, wherein more than 90 percent by
weight of the organic solvent is removed from the textile material
during the treatment with steam.
7. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the period of the steam
treatment is between 3 and 6 seconds.
8. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the period of the
treatment in the hot water is between 8 and 15 seconds.
Description
This invention relates to the treatment of textile materials and
more particularly to processes for the removal of solvent from
textile materials.
It has been known for some time that textile materials may be
treated with organic solvents such as trichloroethylene and
perchloroethylene to remove grease and like impurities and that the
organic solvent may in turn be removed from the textile materials
by passage of the material through a chamber in which it is
contacted with steam. Removal of the solvent with steam has the
considerable advantage that a fairly short treatment period (about
12 seconds) is in general required, but the steam treatment process
also has the disadvantage, particularly when used in machines
treating grey woven cloth at very high speeds, that size and
sometimes lint may collect on rollers used to transport the textile
material through the steam chamber and so cause creasing of the
textile and sometimes, by making the squeeze rollers slimy, cause
loss of traction between such rollers and the textile material.
This problem becomes more marked when a complex system of rollers
is used to get an adequate treatment time in a suitably small steam
chamber. The problem of the deposition of size on rollers in the
steam chamber may be overcome by desizing the material before it is
passed through the organic solvent, but as is well-known in the art
it is generally economically advantageous to carry out the desizing
step after, and not before, the use of organic solvent.
It has also been known for some time that organic solvent may be
removed from textile materials by passage of the material through a
bath of hot water. However, this process has the disadvantage that
it takes a comparatively long time (generally about 30 seconds) to
remove all of the organic solvent and a treatment time of this
duration when using very high rates of throughput of textile
material necessitates a large and expensive piece of apparatus.
Furthermore a copious evolution of the vapor of the organic solvent
takes place at or near the point of entry of the material laden
with organic solvent into the hot water bath. The turbulence
created by this evolution of vapor is of advantage in a scouring
process by promoting dislodgement of contaminants but is
disadvantageous where dislodgement of a finish must be avoided.
Furthermore when using very high rates of throughput a turbulence
created by copious evolution of solvent vapor into a hot water bath
can lead to the hot water surging into and overloading the
condensing system for the solvent vapors if the cloth contains any
substances having a tendency to produce foam.
We have now found surprisingly that a combination of both steam and
water treatments permits of rapid removal of solvent from the
textile material while mitigating some of the disadvantages
associated with the use on their own of either a hot water or a
steam "flash-off" system. Our process is particularly useful for
the removal of solvent from cloth which has been treated by a
solvent-scouring process to remove grease and wax.
Thus according to our invention we provide a process for removing
an organic solvent from a textile material which comprises treating
the textile material with steam and then with hot water whereby
solvent is removed from the textile material during the treatment
with steam and during the treatment with hot water.
The organic solvent may be any solvent used in the scouring of
textile materials and in particular may be a chlorinated
hydrocarbon solvent for example trichloroethylene,
perchloroethylene, 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane or
mixtures thereof.
The textile material may be of natural or man-made fiber and may be
in any convenient form, for example, loose fiber, yarn, knitted
fabric, woven cloth, carpets or lace but is most advantageously a
woven cloth particularly one that contains water and/or
solvent-insoluble sizing agents, for example starch, cellulose
ethers, or polyvinyl alcohol applied to the yarn to facilitate
weaving.
In the process of our invention a major proportion of the organic
solvent may be removed rapidly in the steam chamber leaving only a
minor proportion of the organic solvent to be removed by the hot
water bath.
Indeed a very short treatment time of about 3 seconds in the steam
is generally sufficient to remove well over 90 percent by weight of
the organic solvent from the textile material, the remaining
solvent being removed by the treatment with hot water. The most
convenient steam treatment time will obviously vary with the
process conditions and in particular with the type of cloth to be
treated, for example a heavy cloth will in general require a longer
treatment to remove a given proportion of solvent than will a light
cloth. Likewise the most convenient time of treatment in the hot
water bath will depend on the duration of the steam treatment and
on the other process conditions, in particular the weight of the
cloth to be treated. In general however we have found that suitable
residence times in the steam treatment zone are between about 2 and
8 seconds and preferably between about 3 and 6 seconds, and in the
hot water treatment zone are between about 5 and 20 seconds and
preferably between about 8 and 15 seconds, but shorter or longer
times may be used if desired.
The process of our invention helps avoid the formation of a foam of
organic solvent and water at high rates of throughput, can enable
fewer rollers to be used in the steam "flash-off" chamber (and
therefore leaves less chance of the fouling of such rollers) and
incorporates the advantages of a hot water bath in the loosening of
size deposits on the textile material without incorporating the
disadvantages of prolonged treatment and bulky apparatus normally
associated with removal of solvent by hot water.
Apparatus suitable for carrying out our invention will be very
similar to existing apparatus for removal of solvent from the
textile material, in which a steam chamber is followed by an open
water bath. However, the existing apparatus will have to be
modified slightly, for example by enclosure of the water bath to
prevent escape of organic solvent and by provision of cooling coils
situated above the hot water bath on which volatilized solvent may
condense and be collected. Also the path of the cloth through the
steam chamber may be considerably reduced in length with
corresponding reduction in the number of rollers in the
chamber.
In general the times, temperatures and process conditions used in
the scouring process associated with our invention will be
essentially those well known in the art, for example those more
fully described in U. K. Specification Nos. 812,894 and
916,338.
The invention is illustrated, but not limited, by reference to the
following Example in which the percentages are by weight.
EXAMPLE
A plain woven grey cotton cloth weighing 5 ounces per square yard
(air dry) containing approximately 100 percent of its own dry
weight of trichloroethylene was treated with steam and/or water.
The periods of treatment and the percentage residual
trichloroethylene based on the dry weight of the cloth are shown
below, in Table 1.
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TABLE 1
% Residual Method of Removal of Solvent Trichloroethylene Steam at
100.degree. C. for 3 sec. 0.54 Steam at 100.degree. C. for 6 sec.
0.28 Steam at 100.degree. C. for 9 sec. 0.15 Steam at 100.degree.
C. for 12 sec. 0.15 Water at 95.degree. C. for 5 sec. 0.62 Water at
95.degree. C. for 8 sec. 0.47 Water at 95.degree. C. for 12 sec.
0.32 Water at 95.degree. C. for 20 sec. 0.16 Water at 95.degree. C.
for 30 sec. 0.17 Steam at 100.degree. C. for 3 sec. followed by
water at 95.degree. C. for 5 sec. 0.31 Steam at 100.degree. C. for
3 sec. followed by water at 95.degree. C. for 8 sec. 0.16 Steam at
100.degree. C. for 3 sec. followed by water at 95.degree. C. for 12
sec. 0.13 Steam at 100.degree. C. for 3 sec. followed by water at
95.degree. C. for 20 sec. 0.082 Steam at 100.degree. C. for 6 sec.
followed by water at 95.degree. C. for 5 sec. 0.17 Steam at
100.degree. C. for 6 sec. followed by water at 95.degree. C. for 8
sec. 0.084 Steam at 100.degree. C. for 6 sec. followed by water at
95.degree. C. for 12 sec. 0.070 Steam at 100.degree. C. for 6 sec.
followed by water at 95.degree. C. for 20 sec. 0.039
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