Application of Gamma Irradiated Textile Wastewater for the Pretreatment of Cotton Fabric

Abstract

The paper presents a method for reducing the amount of freshwater used in the textile industry, by using gamma irradiated textile wastewater for scouring and bleaching in the pretreatment process of knitted cotton fabric. The wastewater samples were irradiated by gamma radiation doses between 3-12 kGy that resulted in a reduced pH value of 9 to nearly neutral 7-7.5, and color reduction percentage of 57-90%. Thus, the water becomes appropriate for replacing freshwater in the scouring-bleaching stage of cotton fabric. The performance of the cotton fabric samples were also evaluated after scouring & bleaching with irradiated wastewater and found similar to those samples processed with freshwater in respect of whiteness, absorbency and weight loss.