Obiettivo
Liquid ammonia treatment is a specific and innovative pre-finishing technique ; it responds to the need for high-quality cellulosic fabrics which fulfil modern consumer's demands. However, successful industrial application of this technique can only be achieved if the process is fully integrated into the complete production-line (from woven fabric to the finished end-product). Liquid ammonia treatments can only be realised on special equipment ; at the moment, only two firms in the EEC can perform the treatment. On the other hand, weavers and finishers, mostly SME's, are spread all over Europe. Consequently, integration of liquid ammonia treatments into the total process forms an important challenge, taking into account the small batches, and the need for flexibility, just-in-time response, high quality requirements and various demands for the finished end-products. In order to obtain optimum results, it is essential that the interaction between raw fabric parameters, pre-treatments, liquid ammonia treatments, post-finishing operations, and end-product quality are fully understood and controlled (process-modelling). For cotton it was shown that liquid ammonia treatments introduce major modifications in the fine-structure of the fibres.
For more complex fibres, such as flax, little is known about the influence of liquid ammonia treatments on the supra-molecular- and crystallographic structure of the cellulose, and on the consequences for subsequent finishing. In this project, the interactions between the different stages in the global finishing-operation will be studied : changes in the fundamental properties and in the physico-chemical properties will be examined, and methods for the evaluation of the quality of the materials will be established.
The results clearly indicate to what extent and in what direction the properties of linen fabrics can be modified by the application of liquid ammonia treatments. In particular it has been demonstrated that liquid ammonia treatments, combined with suitable finishing procedures, allow a considerable improvement of the easy-care properties of linen. The companies are now fully aware of the potential of both types of liquid ammonia treatments for easy-care finishing of linen; and have also acquired knowledge about the integration of such treatments in the total finishing line.
The industrial participants are now able to make immediate use of the results and integrate liquid ammonia treatments into their own production line:
- Veramtex for the application of liquid ammonia treatments on linen fabrics;
- linen finishers (Pietro Gay, Masureel Veredeling) for the finishing of liquid ammonia treated linen fabrics;
- linen weavers (Telene, Lagae) for the adequate choice of fabrics to be treated in liquid ammonia and for the definition of quality requirements for specific market segments (clothing).
Campo scientifico
Argomento(i)
Data not availableInvito a presentare proposte
Data not availableMeccanismo di finanziamento
Data not availableCoordinatore
10046 Poirino Torino
Italia