DYEING BATH REUSE - Direct reutilization of dye baths and self-monitoring of the process'on line'

Project activities, aimed at textile finishing industries, were successfully completed, and consisted of: (i) design and characterisation of a process for the direct reutilization of dye baths, by building a trial prototype on an industrial scale that permits the automatic “on line” control of the whole dyeing processes; (ii) setting up of a self-monitoring system of processes “on line”, based on the application of laser RAMAN spectroscopy as a measurement technique; (iii) identification of the exact composition of the residual bath, in order to determine the “residual formula to apply” for subsequent dyeing; (iv) facilitation of the direct reutilization of practically all the residual dye baths, with a high reduction both in water consumption and in the pollutant loads of the effluent; (v) monitoring the exact evolution of the residual content of pigment in the bath throughout the whole dyeing cycle.