IIT Ropar to unveil air nano bubble process at DyeChem World Ludhiana

The inventor of this system, Neelkanth Nirmalkar, stated that roughly 200–250 litres of water are needed to prepare just one kilogramme of cotton fabric. According to experimental findings, the air nano bubble dispersed in water can cut water use and chemical dosage by 90-95 per cent, saving 90 per cent of energy usage in the process, event organisers DyeChem World and Textile Excellence said in a joint press release.

Water is used in the textile industry at many steps that are necessary for fabric preparation, such as dyeing, finishing chemicals in textile substrates, desizing, scouring, bleaching, and mercerising. The textile industry also generates the most wastewater overall with pre-treatment, dyeing, printing, and finishing of textile products being the main causes of water contamination.

The method is based on ozone and nanosized air bubbles. Nirmalkar, an assistant professor at the chemical engineering department of IIT Ropar, said: “The bubbles’ hydrophobic nature makes them interact with the cloth better than water does and distribute chemicals and dyes in the fabric considerably more effectively. These bubbles are one-tenth the width of a human hair in size. Ozone nano bubbles effectively remove excess colour during cloth washing and destroy the colour in the water.”

Water that has been processed by a nano bubble machine can be reused in addition to reducing water use. According to him, Nano bubbles act as carriers for the processing chemical and lowers the amount of additional chemical needed, explained Nirmalkar. “The treatment of garments through this patented technology helps in maintaining its real colour for outdoor usage. It helps in obtaining 2-D effects, easy care, water repelling, and softening of fabric,” said Nirmalkar.

“Textile is one of the most water-intensive industries and there is an escalating need to address the problem of managing water usage in the textile industry associated with contamination of water. At IIT Ropar, we are inventing and incorporating new-age processing methods to conserve water for our future generations,” said Rajeev Ahuja, director, IIT Ropar,

The eco-friendly technology has been developed by NanoKriti Pvt Limited, a start-up founded by IIT Ropar, which is also striving to clean up the environment and expanding in developing new applications ranging from water treatment to healthcare.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)