I n t e r n a t I o n a l

Fiber JournalSINCE 1986

WORLDWIDE REPORTER FOR THE MANMADE FIBER, TECHNICAL TEXTILE AND NONWOVENS INDUSTRY February 2013

Pall Corporation:Turning PET to Textiles

China’s Fiber IndustryLooking Westward

Overjacketing ExtrusionTechnology forBicomponent Fibers

Textile Technology CenterKeeps Fiber Industry atForefront of Development

China’s Fiber IndustryLooking Westward

Overjacketing ExtrusionTechnology forBicomponent Fibers

Textile Technology CenterKeeps Fiber Industry atForefront of Development

Pall Corporation:Turning PET to Textiles

he 2012 London OlympicGames were as much aboutthe “green” as they were

about the “gold,” and described bysome as being the greenest Olympicsto date. Not only did the Olympicorganizing committee and sponsors dotheir parts in ensuring a greenapproach to constructing and operat-ing the Olympic venues, but theapparel companies designed sustain-able clothing and accessories, whichwere worn by the athletes.

According to the website of a majorapparel company, each uniform that theUSA men’s basketball team wore wasmade from 22 recycled plastic bottles.Several countries and teams proudlywore uniforms featuring material thatwas largely made from recycled content.This was a major accomplishment con-sidering the importance given to thefunction of the athletic wear.

Polyester fiber is the most commonbuilding block for sustainable clothingand delivers high performance for flex-ible, light-weight, reduced-wind, anddrag-resistant fabrics. However, inorder to produce such athletic garmentsfrom recycled materials, the quality of

the recycled polyester fiber needs to beon par with that of virgin material.

Pall Corporation is a leader in filtra-tion, separation and purification and hasbeen providing filtration solutions to thetextile industry since the 1960s. Inrecent years, Pall’s technology hasextended into the recycling industry andhas enabled the production of high-qual-ity fibers from recycled feed stock. Pallhelps its customers to enable a greener,safer future and has once again beennamed one of the greenest companies inAmerica by Newsweek magazine.

Chung Shing Textile Company wasfounded in Taiwan in 1949. It is afully integrated, large-scale textilemanufacturer engaged in chemicalfiber manufacturing, yarn spinning,weaving, dying & printing, and gar-ment manufacturing. Chung ShingTextile operates an 850-ton per daymanufacturing site at Yang-MeiChemical Fiber factory in Taiwan,where it produces virgin-grade poly-ester fibers and chips for textile use.

Synthetic fiber production and pro-cessing is a chemically intensive processthat is costly and draws on limited natu-ral resources. As an eco-conscious cor-

poration, Chung Shing Textile believesin contributing to environmental sus-tainability and operates under the 3Rwaste management principle (Reduce,Reuse, and Recycle). In fact, in 2005 itstarted manufacturing high-quality PETtextile fiber from recycled plastic bottlewaste. These fibers are currently market-ed under the “GreenPlus” brand and areused in a wide variety of textile applica-tions by leading manufacturers of popu-lar brands. GreenPlus fibers are certifiedby Oeko Tex Standard 100 (CertificateNumber: TPYO 055042) andGreenmark (Certificate Number: 3159).

GREENPLUS FIBER PRODUCTION Post-consumer PET bottles are col-

lected at communities and recyclingcenters throughout the world. Thebottles are baled and brought to a pro-cessing facility, where they are sortedby type (PET, HDPE, LDPE, etc.) andcolor. The PET bottles are thenstripped of their labels and caps andwashed multiple times to remove anyadhesives and other possible contami-nants. Next, the bottles are crushedand chopped into flakes. The smallflakes are fed into an extruder, filtered,

Reprinted with permission of International Fiber Journal www.fiberjournal.com

T

RECYCLINGRECYCLING

Advanced Filtration Technology Enables the Production ofHigh-Quality Recycled PET Fibers for the Textile Industry

By RAj SHAH, PAll CoRPoRATIon

and spun through spinnerets to pro-duce recycled PET fiber. The fiber iscrimped, cut, drawn, and stretchedinto required lengths for baling. Baledfiber can be processed into fabric for avariety of textile products.

CHALLENGE OF QUALITY FIBERSPolyester fibers made from post-con-

sumer bottles are expected to be of equalquality to those produced from virginraw materials. These fibers should pos-sess the same desirable properties includ-ing strength, abrasion resistance, flexibil-ity, and moisture absorption. While goodfor the environment, recycled fibers pres-ent a real challenge to manufacturers, asthe primary feed stock (recycled PETflakes) can vary considerably in quality.

There are several reasons why thequality of recycled fibers may vary:

•The feed stock is from different sources (water bottles, soft drinks, detergents, and other packaging containers).

•Washing and other technologies used for converting the bottles intoflakes can differ substantially between processors.

•Recycled flakes may contain impurities such as paper, metal, foil,other polymers, sand, or dirt.

As a result, melt filtration must playan important role in the recyclingprocess by removing contaminantsand ensuring consistent, high-qualityfeed stock. This crucial step is neces-sary to eliminate variance in the feedstock quality, which ultimately willimpact the end fiber quality.

Two technologies are typically usedduring the melt filtration process:

1) Screen changers2) High-area duplex-style

continuous melt filter systems

Screen changers allow operators tocollect hard contaminants on wovenwire screens during the extrusionprocess. They are easy to use, but offerlimited filter area and thus plug upvery rapidly, resulting in undesirablepolymer shearing and high differentialpressure. They also require multipledaily interventions, resulting in anunstable operation that lasts a fewhours on-stream at best. Even the

most expensive and sophisticatedscreen changers result in discontinu-ous operation. In general, screenchangers are considered basic tech-nology and are hardly ever preferredby any fiber producer.

High-area continuous melt filtersystems allow operators to run sub-stantially longer with less downtimethan screen changers. These systemsoffer clear advantages when processingrecycled materials, as well as materialsthat require long run cycles.Continuous melt filter systems areoften the technology of choice.

Chung Shing Textile had beenrunning a duplex-style filter systemfor processing its recycled fibers. AEuropean textile company suppliedthe duplex filter system, which useda plug-style diverter valve thatcaused polymer degradation andrapid plugging of the filter elements.The on-stream life of the filter wasonly 1-2 days, requiring expensivechangeovers and considerable downtime. More importantly, the qualityof the resulting fibers was not com-parable to that of fibers made fromvirgin material.

Advanced Filtration Technology Enables the Production ofHigh-Quality Recycled PET Fibers for the Textile Industry

By RAj SHAH, PAll CoRPoRATIon

Large photo shows used plastic bottles of various kinds, and after they are turned into bales(insert) from Chung Shing Textile.

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RECYCLING

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RECYCLING

PALL’S ADVANCED TECHNOLOGYAfter reviewing the polymer feed

stock and operating conditions, Palloffered its duplex-style ContinuousPolymer Filter (CPF system®) cus-tomized to suit process requirements.Pall’s CPF technology uses a patented,contoured spool-type diverter valveand is designed for use in various poly-mer melt filtration processes. To date,Pall has sold over 2600 CPF systems,many of them in polyester fiber pro-duction processes.

Chung Shing Textile has adoptedPall’s model 100 CPF system across its11 chip spinning lines. Currently, fiveof the lines are used to produceGreenPlus fiber. The system wasdesigned to use filter elements madewith Pall’s Dynalloy® filter media – apremium nonwoven type sinteredmetal fiber media suitable for removinghard and soft gelatinous contentthrough its tapered pore geometry. Theresults were immediately noticeable –the operation became stable and on-stream filter life increased to 7-8 days.

“Pall’s CPF technology enabled us toachieve the high-quality recycled poly-ester fiber that is comparable to virginfiber,” said Mr. Dai, Chung Shing Textile

plant manager. “The CPF system is acompact and proven design ideally suitedfor such fiber processes. The system pro-vides consistent fiber quality andimproved on-stream filter life with mini-mal operator intervention. This was fun-damental in lowering our cost of produc-tion. We are proud of our GreenPlus fiberproduct and its widespread use at the2012 London Olympic Games.”

RESULTSSince its beginning in 2011,

GreenPlus fiber capacity has expanded tofive production lines totaling 56 MTD.Each production line is now retrofittedwith Pall’s CPF technology for high-qual-ity continuous fiber production. Thenext step is to extend the on-stream lifeof the filters by introducing Pall’s innova-tive Ultipleat® Polymer Candle elementsinto the existing systems.

PALL CORPORATIONPall Corporation is a filtration, sep-

aration and purification leader provid-ing solutions to meet the critical fluidmanagement needs of customers acrossthe broad spectrum of life sciences andindustry. Pall works with customers toadvance health, safety and environ-

mentally responsible technologies. Thecompany’s engineered products enableprocess and product innovation andminimize emissions and waste. PallCorporation is an S&P 500 company,serving customers worldwide. Pall hasbeen named by Newsweek magazine “atop green company.” To see how Pall ishelping enable a greener, safer, moresustainable future, follow them onTwitter @PallCorporation or visitwww.pall.com/green.

CHUNG SHING TEXTILE CO.Chung Shing Textile, founded in

1949, is a fully integrated, large-scaletextile manufacturer based in Taiwan.It includes five operating divisions:chemical fiber manufacturing, yarnspinning, weaving, dying & printing,and garment manufacturing. All arevertically integrated through a com-prehensive coverage of the upstream,midstream and downstream opera-tions. Its capital has skyrocketed fromthe initial NT$40,000 to today’sNT$8.4 billion.

The company markets its productsboth at home and abroad under brandnames, which have become synonymouswith quality.

CPF System from Pall Inside of Chung Shing Textile plant.

IFJ

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