Technology to reduce water use in textile sector

Ropar, February 5

The Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, has developed an innovative green technology — air nano bubble — that can reduce the use of water up to 90 per cent in textile industry. Nearly 200 litres of water is required to process 1 kg of cotton fabric.

The laboratory reports suggest the air nano bubble dispersed in water could reduce the water consumption and chemical dosage by 90-95 per cent.

This ultimately also saves 90 per cent of the energy consumption, said Dr Neelkanth Nirmalkar, who has developed the technology.

IIT Ropar director Rajeev Ahuja said, “eco-friendly technology has been developed at the IIT, Ropar, under a startup which is also working towards cleaning the environment and is expanding in developing new applications ranging from water treatment to healthcare.”

In the textile industry, the water is used at many steps, including for dyeing, finishing chemicals in the textile substrates, desizing (process of removal of sizing material from yarn), scouring, bleaching, and mercerizing (chemical treatment of fabric to enhance affinity towards dye).

At the same time, the textile industry also produces the highest volume of waste water.

Dr Nirmalkar said the technology was based on nano bubbles of air and ozone.