Utilization of the Acrylic (PAN) fiber waste

Proposal submitted by Ing. Rehan Abbasi (rehan.abbasi@tul.cz)

Under the project of Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic

1.Introduction
The term "waste" is a collective expression usually meaning surplus or substandard left over
from spinning of fibers and tufting of carpets. In fact, waste occurs at all levels of production and
increases exponentially along the entire manufacturing route.
There is more than 2000 kg of the total waste being produced by Grund bath carpet
manufacturing company. This waste consists of two types of contents; one includes pure fibrous
waste which is obtained from spinning process and other contains left overs and residuals of
tufting process of bath carpets. Both types of waste are collected separately during each
individual process. In order to dispose of this waste material, management pays 4 per kg of the
waste. In this way company losses lot of money just to discard the waste each year.
The objectives of this proposal are to suggest some processes to utilize all types of waste
material and produce valuable products by which company can earn money instead of losing.

2.Types of waste material

2.1.

Waste from spinning of PAN

Since man-made fiber production is a continuous process, incorrect machine settings by the
operator could lead to inferior quality fibers which would have to be discarded as waste. Partial
or full breakdown of the spinning equipment due to wear and tear results in stoppages and more
fiber wastage before smooth running conditions can be resumed. Power failures may ruin a
whole series of the production sequence and create excessive cleaning work as well as fiber
wastage. Further waste could result from end of runs and change-overs from one specified
condition to another.

2.2.

Waste from tufting of carpet

In the actual tufting process, the piles are created on a fine nonwoven flat scrim which may also
include a secondary backing. The processed carpet is eventually cut and trimmed along all edges.
The waste, by this stage has considerably increased both in terms of size and value. Whether
colored yarn or pile printing methods are used, such faults as stripes and streaks and similar
defects caused by faulty needles or knives are picked up during inspection and subsequently
discarded as yet more waste.

3.Proposed utilization of waste

Since there are two kinds of waste from bath carpet manufacturing company, both should be
collected and treated separately.

Waste from the spinning process of PAN fibers consists of long PAN staple fibers only and since
these fibers are already carded so there is no need for further cleaning. This fiber waste could be
of different colors which can be collected separately or can be mixed together in later stages.

3.1.

Production of non-woven web

One of the low cost utilization of the staple PAN fiber waste could be non-woven felts as shown
in figure 1. Needle felts are produced by mechanically interlocking fibers in a process called
needle punching on a needle loom machine as shown in figure 2. Needle felts are a homogeneous
structure of fibers constructed by entanglement. This is achieved by interlocking the fibers with
barbed needles during the manufacturing process. The result is a uniformly dense, flexible
product having excellent mechanical characteristics as illustrated in figure 1.

Figure1: Acrylic needle punched non-woven

The resulting felts will be stronger due to large staple length of PAN fibers but further strength
can be introduced by adding bi-component fiber in small proportion which upon heating at 100150C melts and bound rest of the structure.

3.1.1.

Cost of machine involved

There are numerous producers of needle punching machines, worldwide. The cost of the machine
depends upon working width of the machine as well as set of punching needles which ultimately
influence the production of non-woven webs. Features of one of the machine including the price
of machine are given below; [1]
Manufactured by:

China

Machine width:

2500-8600mm

Fabric moving speed: 0.6-6m/min

General Power:

9-31 KW

Price per set:

US $ 5000 20000
Figure 2: Manufacturing process of needle punched fabric

3.1.2.

Application of the product

There are various applications of the needle punched acrylic felts but some are listed here.

Filter bags (dust filters): The major application of needle punched acrylic felt is production of
filter bags. The weight ranges from 400 to 600 g/sqm of thickness of about 1.6 mm. Market price
of this felt ranges between US $ 1 to 16 per sq. meter. [1]
Another practical application of these felts could be agricultural soil separation webs. In this case
surface of the non-woven felt must be smooth that can be achieved by singeing of felts as well as
by applying water repellent finishes. Market price of these felts ranges from US $ 1.5 to 30 g/sq.
meter [1] and also carpet underlay 3 x 5 yards roll prices US $ 40.

3.2.

Production of textile composite

Composites are combinations of two materials in which one of the materials, called the
reinforcing phase, is in the form of fibers, sheets, or particles, and are embedded in the other
materials called the matrix phase as shown in figure 3. The reinforcing material and the matrix
material can be metal, ceramic, or polymer. Composites are used because overall properties of
the composites are superior to those of the individual components. Fibers increase the modulus
of the matrix material. The strong covalent bonds along the fibers length give them a very high
modulus in this direction because to break or extend the fiber the bonds must also be broken or
moved. High value added utilization of the waste PAN fibers can be used for the production of
fiber reinforced composite materials.
Many commercially produced composites use a polymer matrix material often called a resin
solution. There are many different polymers available depending upon the starting raw
ingredients. There are several broad categories, each with numerous variations. The most
common are known as polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, phenolic, polyimide, polyamide,
polypropylene, PEEK, and others. The strength of the composite depends primarily on the
amount, arrangement and type of fiber (or particle) reinforcement in the resin.

Figure 3: General layout of fiber orientations in composites

As a rule of thumb, lay up results in a product containing 60% resin and 40% fiber, whereas
vacuum infusion gives a final product with 40% resin and 60% fiber content. The strength of the
product is greatly dependent on this ratio. The short and long fibers are typically employed in
compression molding and sheet molding operations.
A variety of molding methods can be used according to the end-item design requirements. The
principal factors impacting the methodology are the natures of the chosen matrix and
reinforcement materials.

3.2.1.

Compression molding

There are lot of machine are being used to prepare the fiber reinforced composites but here we
will suggest compression molding because it is one of the lowest cost molding methods
compared with other methods such as transfer molding and injection molding; moreover it
wastes relatively little material, giving it an advantage when working with expensive
compounds.
Compression molding is a method of molding in which the molding material, generally
preheated, is first placed in an open, heated mold cavity. The mold is closed with a top force or
plug member, pressure is applied to force the material into contact with all mold areas, while heat
and pressure are maintained until the molding material has cured. The process employs
thermosetting resins in a partially cured stage, either in the form of granules, putty-like masses,
or preforms. Compression molding is a high-volume, high-pressure method suitable for molding
complex, high-strength fiber reinforcements. Advanced composite thermoplastics can also be
compression molded with unidirectional tapes, woven fabrics, randomly oriented fiber mat or
chopped strand. The advantage of compression molding is its ability to mold large, fairly
complex parts.

Figure 4: Compression molding machine for fiber reinforced composites

3.2.2.

Cost of machine involved

Several compression molding machines are available with customizable features and ranges
between US $ 12000 to 16000 per set. [1]

3.2.3.

Application of the product

Acrylic Board is widely used as interior decoration material and is the best material for
cupboard; wardrobe door, sliding doors, furniture inner doors, bathroom decoration, kitchen
cabinet and other indoor decoration. Market price ranges from US $ 10 - 30 / sheet of dimension
1220x2440x18mm (5-25mm). [1]

3.3.

Utilization of tufted waste

Other major waste from the carpet manufacturing factory is tufted loops of PAN yarn embedded
in backing cloth. This waste requires additional process of garnetting in order utilize this waste
material.

3.3.1.

Garnetting

The process of recovery of fibers from hard twisted thread waste, rags, clippings, etc. The object
is to thoroughly break up the material and return it to a fluffy fibrous condition so that it may be
reused in blends or in some cases alone
The garnetting/ carding machines are thus basically used for the purpose of disentangling the
waste of filaments/ waste of staple fibers as shown in the figure 5.
The principle of the process is to grind and pull the fabrics apart into a fibrous state as quickly as
possible while preventing the breakage of too many of the individual fibers. If too many of the
fibers break then the resulting yarn will be too weak. The faster the garnetting equipment runs,
the lower the cost of the operation, and the more breakage of fibers.
This is a type of carding machine, equipped with rollers and cylinders covered with metallic
teeth, which is used to open up hard and soft waste textile products with a view to recycling
them.

Figure 5 Garnetting machine for separating the fibers from bound structure

3.3.2.

Cost of machine involved

Price of garnetting machine ranges from USD 2000~7000 / Set [1]

3.3.3.

Application of the product

Once the fibrous web from garnetting process is achieved, it can be used to prepare textile
composite as described in section 3.2.

3.4.

Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC)

Fibers can be considered as an alternative to the use of an air entraining agent, in that they
provide freeze thaw protection. The mechanism by which the fibers produce resistance to
freezing and thawing is:

Introduction of fibers reduces water absorption of the concrete increasing penetration

resistance to de-icing salts.
Reduced water absorption is a function of the fibers ability to reduce plastic shrinkage
cracking, reducing the ability of water to permeate into the bleed in a concrete. Reducing
another possible entry by water into the concrete in its hardened state.
Introduction of fibers improves the toughness of the concrete, with improvements in
impact and abrasion resistance. Coupled with the above, helps make the concrete less
susceptible to freeze thaw damage.

The characteristics of the fiber reinforced concrete depend on the fiber material, amount,
geometry, distribution, orientation, and densities of the fibers used. Fibers are added to fresh
concrete during the batching and mixing process to allow them to be equally distributed
throughout the concrete.
Fibrillated fibers are introduced into the concrete mix at a rate of 0.9kg/m. No adjustment to the
mix design is required. Fiber reinforced concrete requires no special precautions and can be
power floated, pumped and trowelled like other concretes.

Figure 6: Example of fiber reinforced concrete products

The need to strengthen and retrofit existing concrete structures will increase dramatically in the
near future. Textile-reinforced concrete will open new opportunities by offering higher
performance, better handling in use and lower overall cost. Fibers are not a substitute for
structural steel reinforcement. [2]

3.5.

Re-use in alternative forms

Short and un-processable fibers resulting from different stages of manufacture already find use in
soft furniture fillings, mattresses and pillows. This is likely to continue as a feeder to an already
established manufacturing practice. Other utilization schemes include shredding, granulation and
mixing of the waste with binders to produce sheets or panels suitable for thermal and sound
insulation materials in the building industry. Outdoor and more demanding applications of these
panels would require further stabilization treatments and thus increase their costs.
Finely fragmented carpet waste is often used as passive fillers to increase bulk in concrete and
similar building and plastic materials. Currently, attempts are being made to utilize selected
range of carpet wastes in a more positive way where overall load-bearing abilities of such
matrices are enhanced [3].

4.Conclusion
In the coming years, waste of all types will be one of the biggest challenges facing man.
Synthetic carpets will only account for a small but significant portion of this waste. If today's
standards of living are to be maintained and even improved, delay tactics and half-hearted
measures to tackle waste will only postpone rather than solve the problem. What needs to be
done is collective long-term planning, supported by serious investment commitments that would
turn waste into a valuable commodity essential for sustainable development and ultimately
preservation of balance in nature.
This proposal demonstrates that recycling carpet waste to produce quality composites is
technically feasible and a viable alternative to incinerate.

Reference
[1] http://www.alibaba.com/
[2] Textile-reinforced concrete with high-performance carbon fiber grids JEC Magazine 44
October 2008
[3] Herlihy, J (Ed.), 'Carpet Recycling Update, Carpet and Rug Industry', January, 1994. p 25.