TITLE:
Application of Enzyme Extracted from Aloe vera Plant in Chemical Pretreatment of Cotton Knitted Textile to Reduce Pollution Load
AUTHORS:
D. Jothi
KEYWORDS:
Bio-Scouring, Lipase, TDS, COD
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Engineering and Technology,
Vol.3 No.3B,
August
25,
2015
ABSTRACT: Nowadays, highly alkaline chemicals like
caustic soda, soda ash, silicate, acetic acid and soaping agents are used for
scouring to remove the non-cellulosic impurities from the cotton. Using 30 - 40
gm/Kg on weight of the fabric results in destruction of cotton structure.
Intensive rinsing and more acid is needed for reutilization of cotton, which
enlarges the volume of effluent. Furthermore, these hazards chemicals result in
increase in COD, BOD and TDS in waste water. These chemicals also attack the
cellulose leading to heavy strength loss and weight loss in the fabric. The net
result is low quality control and polluted environment with high usage of
energy, time, chemical and water. Aloe vera presents the finest commercial opportunity
in various industrial sectors among the various plants. Also, most of the
countries are gifted with the unique geographical features that are essential
for cultivation of Aloe vera. Yet, none of the country has realized and reaped
the full potential of such plants in various industrial applications. The
reason is simple: lack of the requisite expertise in extraction of various enzymes
present in aloe plant. Fortunately, the technology is now accessible to make
use of enzyme in textile application. In this research an attempt has been made
to make use of lipase enzyme extracted from aloe plant in textile chemical pre-
treatment process. In the present research work, an attempt was made to develop
bio scouring of 100% cotton knitted fabric with lipase enzyme extracted from Aloe
deberena plant at various concentration (1%, 2% and 3%) at various temperature
(40?C, 60?C and 70?C) for a period of 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes. The
properties of bio scoured fabrics are compared with these of conventional
scoured one. Encouraging results in terms of dye uptake, dye levelness, wash
fastness, light fastness and rubbing fastness are obtained in case of bio
scouring fabric dyed with dark reactive colors. Further, it reduces volume of
effluent as well as COD, TDS and pH. It saves a substantial thermal energy 50%
and electrical energy 40%. Bio scouring waste water has 40% - 50% less COD and
60% less TDS as compared to conventional scouring waste water.