An abundant number of factories have been operating with Belly type dyeing-washing machine with a plentiful amount of water consumption and inconsequent of dyes, chemicals, energy and other consumptions. Somehow, the drives for ‘leaning’ got stuck in the areas of sewing floor in the apparel and textile industry.
In the wet processing, we see ample opportunity to go lean in practice and most importantly in mindset. As buyers are concerned about the excessive consumption of water and others in the belly dyeing machines, factory owners are getting pushed to throw out their machines.
Leaning these machines is possible with machine modification and with the process of operations. It is proven that the same belly will take significantly less food! We cannot throw our belly out; we cannot cut it off. What we can do is to reduce the hunger and thrust technically.
APS Group has gone through a wonderful innovation in belly type of dyeing-washing machine under the leadership of Hasib Uddin, Chairman, APS Group.
They could efficiently modify the existing machine to bring forth positive results in water consumption and overall machine performance.
In this tight situation of textile business, factories cannot come across such a luxury to outmode the belly dyeing machines they already procured earlier.
Water-saving
Water consumption has been significantly reduced as a result of mechanical innovation and process optimization (see Table 1).
“We could successfully renovate the Belly type Dyeing Machine that significantly reduced water consumption. We are now saving a lot after modification of machine, applying different wet processing techniques adding with skillsets of people. As we could reduce water consumption; dyes, chemicals, energy and other inputs are consequently reduced,” said Hasib Uddin, Chairman, APS Group.
“We can neither throw these machines out nor operate with these machines with the high consumption of water in this critical time of industry,” Hasib Uddin added.
| Table 1: Dyeing process water-saving chart in belly type dyeing-washing machine. | ||||||||
| Total Production (kg/Day) | Water Consumption (Conventional Process) | Water Consumption
APS Apparels (Dyeing Unit) Ltd |
Water Savings (Per Machine) | |||||
| (ltr/day) | (m3/day) | (m3/year) | ||||||
| (ltr/kg Fabrics) | (ltr/day) | (ltr/kg Fabrics) | (ltr/day) | |||||
| 560 | 101 | 56560 | 33 | 18480 | 38080 | 38.08 | 11424 | |
- Considering 70 kg of fabrics loading
- Process time 3hr/batch and 08 batches/day
- 300 Operational days per year
We renovated the machine and process altogether to use these hungry machines so that both resource utilization and efficiency can be achieved. Now the belly dyeing machines eat less; drink less.
| When the liquor ratio is 1:5 & 9 bathes
1st bath = (1:5) = 5 Ltrs 2nd-11th bath = (1:3.5) =3.5*8 Ltrs =28 Ltrs Total = (5+28)Ltrs =33 Liters |
When the liquor ratio is 1:5 & 7 bathes
1st bath = (1:5) = 5 Ltrs 2nd-7th bath = (1:3.5) =3.5*6 Ltrs =21 Ltrs Total = (5+21) Ltrs =26 Liters |
Drilling down the same machine we are consuming 68 liters less per kg fabric dyeing.
Due to less water consumption, we are saving approximately 15% of costs on the recipe (dyes & chemicals) comparing to the conventional process, he added.
Moreover, the whole process can be completed in 7 bathes and in that case, 26 liters of water is required per kg fabric dyeing. This will open up an opportunity to save even 75 liters per kg of fabric dyeing.
At APS, they are dyeing of the durable and sturdy like twill and canvas fabric as well with the renovated processes and no significant quality issues have been marked.
Energy saving
The new mechanical process increases the solubility of dyes and chemicals in the water. Furthermore, it does not let dyes and chemicals amass as a residue beneath the main vessel or chamber of the machine. It continuously spreads and sprinkles the mixtures all over the dying and washing process in the machine. Water along with dyes and chemicals does not stick anywhere in the chamber.
| Table 2: Heat saving from the dyeing process in belly type dyeing-washing machine | |
| Total Heat Saving (kJ) per day | 142743 |
| Natural gas required (m3) | 4.57 |
| Cost Saving Per day (BDT) | 107.23 |
| Monthly saving (BDT) | 2680.71 |
| Yearly saving (BDT) | 32168.47 |
* 1KJ (Kilojoule): 0.000032 m3 gas, Fuel is considered as Natural Gas (Titas supply and CNG), the average price of Gas: 23.475bdt/m3 gas, * 25 Operational days per month & 300 Operational days per year
Since less water is poured into the machine it takes less heat to reach the desired temperature for dyeing. (Table-2)
| Table:3 Electricity saving chart from water consumptions reduction in washing process | |||||||||||
| Water-Saving Areas | Quantities are saved | Pump Specification | Saving in Operational Hour | Electricity | |||||||
| (m3/day) | Capacity (m3/hr) | Power (KW) | (Hr) | KWH
/day |
Saving/Day in BDT | MWH/
month |
Saving/Month in BDT | MWH
/year |
Saving/Year in BDT | ||
| Underground water | 38 | 90 | 37 | 0.42 | 15.6 | 88.1 | 0.4 | 2202.7 | 4.7 | 26432.8 | |
| WTP | 38 | 80 | 22 | 0.48 | 10.5 | 58.9 | 0.3 | 1473.5 | 3.1 | 17681.4 | |
| Feeding in production process | 38 | 100 | 30 | 0.38 | 11.4 | 64.3 | 0.3 | 1607.4 | 3.4 | 19288.8 | |
| ETP inlet pump | 38 | 60 | 7.5 | 0.63 | 4.8 | 26.8 | 0.1 | 669.8 | 1.4 | 8037.0 | |
| Filter Pump | 38 | 60 | 7.5 | 0.63 | 4.8 | 26.8 | 0.1 | 669.8 | 1.4 | 8037.0 | |
| ETP Outlet pump | 38 | 60 | 7.5 | 0.63 | 4.8 | 26.8 | 0.1 | 669.8 | 1.4 | 8037.0 | |
| Electricity Saving due to less water use in the production process | 51.7 | 291.7 | 7292.8 | 15.5 | 87514.0 | ||||||
*Cost for producing unit KWH electricity is BDT 5.64, considering fuel as Natural Gas (Titas supply, CNG, Diesel & REB)
Energy saving by reducing friction:
Friction creates a resistance of rotation of chamber which intensifies by the RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) of operation of a machine. Less energy is required to rotate the machine as it does not friction that much with water likely the traditional or existing process of dyeing and washing in the belly type machine (see Table 2 & 3).
The dyeing chamber normally operates with both the rolling friction and fluid friction which oppose the motions of substances in particular. In general, the more friction a process experiences, the greater it requires the consumption of energy.
The mechanical reengineering and the wet process reengineering together with the mindset of concerned people could fetch a wonderful result in belly type dyeing machine at APS Group which can be implemented in other factories successfully as well.
Trial and result found by a team of experts from Dyna wash, Sri Lanka
A team of experts from Dyna Wash (one of the top dyeing-washing factories), Sri Lanka has undergone a trial to testify ‘Low Liquor Ratio Garment Dyeing in Belly Machines’ at APS dyeing in February 2020. Though APS has developed further to ensure resource efficiency in dying-washing in belly machines. They end up with the following conclusion:
“The APS trial was successful as completed garments were in acceptable quality. However, few crush marks were observed which can be corrected with minor adjustments to the recipe. Water-saving per garment was identified as 181 liters per 01 kg of garments and total time for the dyeing process is reduced by 18%. Considering the reduced cycle time and doubled a lot of quantity output per machine can be increased by 167%”.
Finally, it can be said that existing belly type dyeing-washing machines are in a critical paradoxical situation. Neither the factory owners can through them out nor can they tolerate the high level of consumption in the existing built-in machine design. APS group had come up with a wonderful innovation that benefits them financially.
They could attain a significant milestone in water consumption and other interconnected resources. They are also eager to spread this successful innovation to the factories that are in a dilemma with these machines. Surely, these machines can be truly efficient with both the mechanical renovation, dying process and the skill efforts as an integration together.
