Textile Processing Industries Research Articles

ELECTROCHEMICAL DEGRADATION OF REMAZOL RED RB 133 USING SACRIFICIAL ELECTRODES

Textile industries generate various types of wastewater depending on the industrial process and the raw materials used such as jute, cotton and animal fibers (wool and silk) and synthetic materials (nylon, polyester and acrylic). Dyeing and printing unit in textile processing industries use large volume of water (ranging from 200 to 250 kilo liter per ton of textiles) and different chemicals, dyes, and complex organic compounds make the textile wastewater very complicated to treat. In recent years, an alternative method to the conventional ones is the Electrochemical Treatment based on the generation of very reactive species such as hydroxyl radicals that oxidize a broad range of organic pollutants non-selectivity and quickly. The study aimed at the degradation of reactive dye by electro-coagulation using iron and aluminium electrodes.The results showed maximum color removal of 90.59% and COD removal of 54.36% operating at a current density of 176 A/m 2 after electrolysis duration of 10 minutes at optimum pH 7 for iron electrode. Aluminum electrodes showed maximum color removal of 72.33% and COD removal of 56% after an electrolysis duration of 60 minutes, pH 7 at a current density of 216 A/m 2 . At the optimum conditions, the energy consumption, electrode consumption and operating cost to treat a cubic meter of sample found to be less for iron than aluminium electrode. The study concluded that, electro-coagulation proved to be an efficient method for the degradation of reactive red dye using iron electrode. Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/mijst.2018.41.106128 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Studies on detection and analysis of proteases in leaf extract of medicinally important plants

Ethno-pharmacological relevanceThe whole plant or the extracts obtained from them have long been used as medicine to treat various human diseases and disorders. Notably, those plants endowed with protease activity have been traditionally used as the agents for treating tumors, digestion disorders, swelling, blood coagulation, fibrinolysis and also for immune-modulation. Aim of the studyProteases occupy a pivotal position in enzyme based industries. Plant proteases have been increasingly exploited for pharmaceutical, food, leather and textile processing industries. Earlier investigations have focused on the occurrence of proteases in medicinally unimportant plants. Therefore it has been aimed to study the occurrence of proteolytic enzymes from medicinally important plants establish any correlation exists between protease activity and medicinal use of individual plants. MethodsCrude extract were obtained from the leaves of 80 different medicinal plants. Tris–HCl buffer was used as the extraction buffer and the supernatants obtained were used for determination of total protein and protease activity using spectrophotometric methods. Qualitative screening for the presence of protease was carried out with agar diffusion method by incorporating the substrate. SDS-PAGE was used to analyse the isoforms of protease and for determination of relative molecular mass. ResultsRelatively higher protease activities were observed in the extracts of leaves of Pongamia pinnata (Fabaceae), Wrightia tinctoria (Apocyanaceae) Acalypha indica (Euphorbiaceae), Adhatoda vasica (Acanthaceae) and Curcuma longa (Zingiberaceae). No correlation was found between the total protein content and protease activity in individual plant species. SDS-PAGE analysis indicated the presence of multiple forms of protease of higher molecular weight range in several plant species. We found a strong correlation between the protease activity and medicinal application of the plant ConclusionThe present study has unequivocally revealed that the leaves of medicinal plants could serve as excellent sources of proteases which could be exploited for various industrial, food and pharmaceutical applications.

Review of high temperature piezoelectric materials, devices, and applications

Piezoelectric functional materials have been extensively studied and employed in numerous devices. With the rapid development of modern industries, such as power plants, aerospace, automotive, renewable energy and material processing industries, the high temperature piezoelectric materials that can work in extreme environments are in great demand. Piezoelectric materials including piezoelectric single crystals, ceramics and films, are at the heart of electromechanical actuation and sensing devices. A variety of applications where piezoelectric actuators and sensors operate at elevated temperatures (T 200℃) would be extremely desired. The actuators need to work efficiently with high strokes, torques, and forces while operating under relatively harsh conditions. These include high-temperature fans and turbines, motors for valves or natural gas industries, kiln automation, and actuators for automotive engines such as fuel injectors and cooling system elements. Yet, the majority of industrial actuator applications are at or below the 250℃ temperature limit. In addition to the increase in operational temperatures of piezoelectric motors and actuators, a future area of interest is high-temperature MEMS research, which can be used for high-temperature valving. On the other hand, the piezoelectric sensors have been widely used for structural health monitoring applications. This is due to their wide bandwidth, versatility, simplicity, high rigidity, high stability, high reproducibility, fast response time, wide operating temperature range, insensitivity to electric and magnetic fields, the capacity for miniaturization and minimal dependence on moving parts and low power consumption, and wide piezoelectric materials and mechanisms selections, which will greatly benefit the sensing applications. In addition to the temperature usage range, the piezoelectric sensors must withstand the harsh environments encountered in space, engine, power plants, and also need to possess high sensitivity, resistivity, reliability, stability and robustness. In order to use the piezoelectric materials for a specific high temperature application, many aspects need to be considered together with piezoelectric properties, such as phase transition, thermal aging, thermal expansion, chemical stability, electrical resistivity, and the stability of properties at elevated temperature. In this paper, ferroelectric materials with high Curie point, including perovskite-type ferroelectrics, bismuth layer structured ferroelectrics, tungsten-bronze structured ferroelectrics, together with non-ferroelectric piezoelectric single crystals, are surveyed. The crystal structure characteristics, high temperature piezoelectric properties, and recent research progress are discussed. A series of high temperature piezoelectric devices and their applications are reviewed, including high temperature piezoelectric detectors, sensors, transducers, actuators, etc. Finally, recent important research topics, the future development of high temperature piezoelectric materials and the potential new applications are summarized.

Preparation, Characterization and Application of Nano ZnO - Blended Polymeric Membrane

Effluents from dyeing and finishing processes of textile industry contain strong colour and possible heavy metals. Conventional treatments are applied to treat dyes but the secondary pollution problem not addressed. Consequently, the heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation process is of special interest. In this work a cellulose acetate-polyethylene glycol-polyurethane membrane impregnated with nano ZnO as a photocatalyst was prepared. The prepared membranes characterized by IR, SEM with EDAX and pure water flux (PWF). The photocatalytic degradation of dyes using prepared membrane was investigated towards the removal of Reactive red and Reactive orange. The kinetic model of Langmuir-Hinshelwood well describes the photodegradation capacity.

Aluminum based Composites by Severe Plastic Deformation Process as New Methods of Manufacturing Technology

Composites a material was developed to replace metal and alloys, because of the properties such as light weight and unique mechanical properties. Processing of aluminum-based composites has been developing by new manufacturing technology, namely severe plastic deformation (SPD), to produce unique of mechanical properties. Some of the methods used are; equal channel angular pressing (ECAP), accumulative roll bonding (ARB) and multi-axial forging (MAF). The results of some of these methods were compared with the latest method of new SPD, namely: repetitive press roll forming (RPRF). Based on grain morphology and mechanical properties, the result of RPRF has superior to another method. The properties produced by SPD technology was varies, the highest of hardness produced by RPRF process was 88 HV10, ECAP produced 65 HV10, MAF was 46 HV10 and ARB reached 50 HV10. While the highest of tensile strength produced by MAF was 237 MPa while the RPRF process just only around 147 MPa, but the ultrafine grains just only produced by RPRF method which is 0.9 μm, compared to other methods: MAF 1.2 μm, ECAP 5.7 μm and ARB is not so far with MAF that is equal to 1.4 μm. The RPRF process can be recommended for the interest of the aluminum-based composite materials processing industry. Because currently some component product by industries have been substituted from metal alloy materials to metal-based composites.

An overview of groundwater quality in Tamil nadu

Ground water is considered to be very clean and safe in past days but in recent decades rapid industrialization causes severe environmental problems in most of the countries, due to the discharge of effluents into groundwater by industries like textile, dyeing, leather, tannery, pulp and paper processing industries etc., The effluent discharged by these industries leads to serious pollution which altered the geochemical parameters of surface water and ground water. Since the quality of public health depends to a greater extent on the quality of drinking water. Safe drinking water is primary need of every human being. Pollution of groundwater has been growing increasingly in several parts of India, particularly in areas of industrial development. Over burden of population pressure, unplanned urbanization, over exploitation of groundwater resources, dumping of polluted water at inappropriate place enhance the infiltration of harmful compounds to the groundwater. With the increasing demand for groundwater resources caused by an acute shortage of surface water, there is a noteworthy depletion of groundwater levels and quality due to geogenic as well as anthropogenic activities. The tanning industry is one of the oldest and fastest growing industries in south and south-east Asia. The states of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh together have 88% of the tannery units of the country. About 55% of total leather processed in the county is from Tamil Nadu and tannery units mainly spreads over Ranipet, Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Pernambut of Vellore district, Pallavaram and Chrompet in Chennai, Dindigul, parts of Erode district and Sembattu in Trichy district (CLRI, 1990). Water, due to its great solvent power, is constantly threatened to get polluted easily.

Decolourisation and degradation of azo dyes by mixed fungal culture consisted of Dichotomomyces cejpii MRCH 1-2 and Phoma tropica MRCH 1-3

Azo dyes are extensively used in textile processing industry, which are resistant to degradation and persist in soil for long time due to its fused aromatic structure. Aim of this study was to identify the azo dye compound accumulated in soil and screening of native azo dye degrading microorganisms. Azo dyes present in the soil sample were identified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Selective isolation of azo dye degrading microorganism was done using the minimal medium supplemented with azo dye (50 mg/L). The isolates were identified and tested as individual and as mixed cultures for azo dye decolourisation and degradation. Azo dye degradation pathway by the fungal cultures were assessed through GC–MS. HPLC analysis of soil samples indicated the presence of various azo dyes such as congored, methylred and reactive dyes. Dichotomomyces cejpii MRCH 1-2 plus Phoma tropica MRCH 1-3 exhibited maximum congored (48.7 ± 0.66 mg/L out of 50 mg/L), methylred (43.57 ± 1.07 mg/L out of 50 mg/L) and reactive blue (45.3 ± 2.7 mg/L out of 50 mg/L) degradation compared to other treatments. Response surface methodology analysis was used to optimise the culture condition for effective azo dye degradation. The possible azo dye degradation pathway by the fungal mixed culture and enzyme involved was illustrated in this study. Fungal mixed culture Dichotomomyces cejpii MRCH 1-2 and Phoma tropica MRCH 1-3 may be recommended for azo dye decolourisation as well as degradation in the textile industrial effluent.

High-Temperature Friction and Wear of Boron Steel and Tool Steel in Open and Closed Tribosystems

ABSTRACTMore and more components in automotive, material processing, and mining industries are operating under harsh conditions involving high temperatures and high contact pressures. Tribotesting for such applications is done using both open (one surface meeting a fresh countersurface) and closed (one surface follows the same track on the countersurface) test configurations. In order to enable development of new materials and processes intended for such conditions, there is a need for better understanding pertaining to tribological phenomena occurring under these different test configurations.In this work, friction and wear characteristics of quenched and tempered tool steel sliding against boron steel (22MnB5) have been studied. The experiments were conducted using a specially designed hot strip tribometer (HST) under dry conditions at room temperature and 400°C in open as well as closed configurations. Scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray techniques were carried out to analyze the worn surfaces. Additionally, the results from the closed test configuration were compared to previous tests carried out with the same materials and parameters using a pin-on-disk (POD) test rig. The results have shown that wear was reduced at higher temperatures as well as with repeated sliding on the same contacting surfaces (i.e., closed configuration) compared to those with an open configuration. A good correlation of wear mechanisms and coefficient of friction between closed configuration tests and those carried out with the POD test rig were observed especially at 400°C.

MHD Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics in a Casson Liquid Film Towards an Unsteady Stretching Sheet with Temperature-Dependent Thermal Conductivity

Theoretical and numerical outcomes of the non-Newtonian Casson liquid thin film fluid flow owing to an unsteady stretching sheet which exposed to a magnetic field, Ohmic heating and slip velocity phenomena is reported here. The non-Newtonian thermal conductivity is imposed and treated as it vary with temperature. The nonlinear partial differential equations governing the non-Newtonian Casson thin film fluid are simplified into a group of highly nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using an adequate dimensionless transformations. With this in mind, the numerical solutions for the ordinary conservation equations are found using an accurate shooting iteration technique together with the Runge-Kutta algorithm. The lineaments of the thin film flow and the heat transfer characteristics for the pertinent parameters are discussed through graphs. The results obtained here detect many concern for the local Nusselt number and the local skin-friction coefficient in which they may be beneficial for the material processing industries. Furthermore, in some special conditions, the present problem has an excellent agreement with previously published work.

Biological treatment of model dyes and textile wastewaters

Previous works conducted in our laboratory, reveled that Bacillus aryabhattai DC100 produce ligninolytic enzymes such as laccases and/or peroxidases, opening new applications in different bioprocesses, including the treatment of disposal residues such as dyestuffs from textile processing industries. This work described the degradation of three commercial model dyes Coomassie Brilliant Blue G-250 (CBB), Indigo Carmine (IC) and Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) under different culture media and operational conditions. The process was optimized using a Central Composite Rotatable Design, and the desirability predicted complete decolorization of 150 mg/L CBB at 37 °C, 304.09 rpm and salt concentration of 19.204 g/L. The model was validated with concentrations up to 180 mg/L CBB and IC, not being able to remove high amount of RBBR. The procedure here developed also allowed Chemical Oxygen Demands (COD) reductions in CBB of about 42%, meanwhile tests on real effluents from a local textile industry involved COD reductions of 50% in a liquid wastewater and 14% in semi-liquid sludge. Thus, allow the authorized discharge of wastewater into the corresponding treatment plant. Decolorization efficiencies and COD reductions open on the potential application of B. aryabhattai DC100 on the bioremediation of real effluents from textile industries.

Design and experimental study on the freeform fabrication with polymer melt droplet deposition

Purpose3D printing based on additive manufacturing has advantages in manufacturing products with high geometrical complexity. However, there are many limitations to print plastic products with the existing commercial 3D printers. The polymer materials processing industry needs new devices which can satisfy the trend of processing individual units and small batch sizes of plastic parts.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a freeform fabrication system with the method of polymer melt droplet deposition is proposed. The performance of this system under different conditions was studied by changing the operating parameters. Furthermore, the dimensional uniformity of droplets and their deposition process are analyzed, and a plastic sample was fabricated with this system as an example.FindingsThe results show a clear correlation between the processing parameters and the droplet diameter. In the experiment for examining the dimensional uniformity of the droplet, the droplets become spindles, and there appears a melt filament between the droplets. The variation of the droplet’s diameters is within 5 per cent. Furthermore, a successfully processed rectangular plastic sample verified the feasibility of this technology for the printing of plastic products.Originality/valueA freeform fabrication system with polymer melt droplet deposition is proposed, which can process a wide variety of materials in the form of standard granulates like injection molding or extrusion. Based on the principle of droplet deposition, multi-component or colorful materials can be printed.

(Economic Development Strategy of Major Central Asian Countries and Its Policy Implications for Korea)

Korean Abstract: 이 연구는 중앙아시아 주요국 경제발전전략의 기본 방향과 핵심 특성을 분석하고 경제협력 확대방안을 제시하려는 목적으로 수행되었다. 세계경제의 불확실성이 한층 증대되는 상황 속에서 중앙아시아 주요국 정부의 최대 관심사는 에너지 및 광물자원 의존도 축소, 산업다각화와 경제현대화를 통한 미래지향적이고 지속가능한 경제성장에 있었다. 따라서 한국은 중앙아 주요국의 신경제발전정책에 부합하는 상생 경제협력 방안 마련에 나서야 할 것이다. 본고에서는 고위급 회감의 정례화, 한ㆍ중앙아 경제협력위원회 구성, 한ㆍ중앙아 산업협력 펀드 조성, 산업다각화에 필요한 전문인력 양성 지원 등을 경제 협력 확대방안으로 제안했다. English Abstract: Uncertainties in the global economic environment are increasing due to prolonged low oil prices, China’s low economic growth, the possibilities of strengthened protectionist trade policies after the U.S. presidential election, and the emergence of neo-isolationism due to Brexit. In this situation, the Central Asian governments are developing and pursuing individual economic strategies which reflect their own socio-economic characteristics and core policy goals. Kazakhstan is shifting its policy direction from maximizing exports of raw materials to qualitative economic development. The country has pursued an open foreign policy and trade liberalization to overcome its geographical limitations as a small landlocked country. The open economy originally focused on exporting energy resources and attracting foreign capital, but with some control by the government in energy resources management. However, as the structural changes in the external economic environment occurred after the global financial crisis in 2008, the government started to focus on improving the structure of the economy, which remained dependent on energy resources. The key tasks for Kazakhstan were to upgrade its competitiveness, improve the investment climate, build infrastructure, diversify its industries through technological innovation, expand the role of private sectors, improve the efficiency of national asset management and develop human resources. Accordingly, the government adopted the State Program of Industrial-Innovative Development for 2015-2019 and announced the Nurly Zhol plan for promoting infrastructure development in 2014, followed by the 100 Concrete Steps to Implement Five Institutional Reforms in 2015. This was a strategic attempt to build a foundation for sustainable economic growth by responding to changes in the external economic sector, through securing new growth engines in the economic sector, promoting industrial diversification and implementing structural reform. Uzbekistan has been pursuing an import substitution policy while maintaining a closed economy since independence. Uzbekistan’s government-led closed-economy essentially followed policy goals which prioritized the protection of its domestic market and economic stability from external volatility. Thereby, the country concentrated its efforts in developing domestic industries among the five Central Asian countries. Thanks to this, the country has been able to accomplish considerable achievements in the manufacturing sector, but still has many limitations in cultivating its export competitiveness, as its main export items are weighted towards raw materials (cotton, gold, gas, etc.) and its manufacturing sector is mostly composed of labor-intensive industries. Recently, the Uzbek government is putting the highest emphasis on enhancing competitiveness and efficiency in import substitution while promoting export-oriented industrialization. Through these efforts it aims to pursue stable economic growth based on strategic cultivation of the export industry and to drive a shift from labor-intensive industries to technology-intensive business. The government set key initiatives in reducing excessive governmental involvement in the economic sector, expanding the role of the private sector, deregulating trade activities and exchange rates, etc. In this context, the government formulated a comprehensive global financial crisis recovery plan in 2009, and such initiatives as the Priorities for Economic Policy and the Short-term and Long-term Action Plan of the Uzbekistan Cabinet were presented in 2015. At present, the government is preparing long-term programs for economic development up to 2030, which are expected to include more details on improving the nation's industrial structure, such as the development of raw materials processing and high value-added industries.

Au-decorated sodium titanate nanotubes as high-performance selective photocatalysts for pollutant degradation

The bioaccumulation of polycyclic aromatic compounds originating from textile processing industries is nowadays a major environmental problem worldwide. In order to tackle this situation, several inorganic semiconductors have been tested as photocatalysts for the degradation of these harmful pollutants in the search of sustainable and cost-effective solutions. Nevertheless, these semiconductor materials often involve important limitations, such as poor efficiency and selectivity, which, in the end, substantially restrict their implementation at the industrial scale. As an alternative, we herein report the fabrication and application of Au-decorated titanate nanotubes (TNTs) as high-performance architectures for the selective degradation of organic contaminants. This synthetic strategy is intended to establish a synergetic integration of the physicochemical and photocatalytic features of these hybrid nanostructures, by combining the remarkable adsorption capabilities of TNTs with the enhanced light-harvesting efficiency provided by the incorporation of a noble metal component. The obtained results evidence the great potential that rationally designed plasmonic composites may have for the development of selective environmental remediation technologies and in particular on the current challenges faced by the wastewater treatment sector.

Development of a Procedure for Low-Temperature Testing of Wire Materials and Basic Research into the Behaviour of Materials in the Temperature Range of -50 to -80 °C

New technical applications and the ongoing infrastructural and industrial development of regions with extreme climatic conditions place ever greater demands on the properties of the materials used. On the one hand conventional materials can often meet such demands only to a limited extent whilst, on the other, a lack of experience means that sometimes no solid conclusions can be drawn regarding their suitability under extreme conditions. The examination of the influence of extreme environmental conditions on the behaviour of the material and the development of innovative materials with a tailored profile of properties is therefore one of the main tasks of modern material research as well as the material manufacturing and processing industry.

Dye wastewater treatment by vertical-flow constructed wetlands

Wetlands have long played an important role as natural purification systems. Textile industry processes are among the most environmentally unsustainable industrial processes, because they produce coloured effluents in large quantities polluting water resources. In this study, two different azo dyes (Acid Blue 113 (AB113) and Basic Red 46 (BR46)) have been fed as part of synthetic wastewater recipes to a laboratory-scale vertical-flow construction wetland set-up comprising wetlands with gravel media as controls and wetlands planted with Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. (Common Reed) for each dye. Two different concentrations (7mg/l and 215mg/l) were used for each dye at two different hydraulic retention times (48h and 96h). According to results for the low concentration of BR46, there is no significant (p>0.05) difference between wetlands (unplanted and planted) in terms of dye removal. The use of plants concerning the short contact time scenario for ammonia-nitrogen (NH4-N) and a low concentration of AB113 is linked to good removal. In case of low dye concentrations, the presence of plants for the long contact time scenario impacted significantly (p<0.05) positive on the removal efficiencies of nutrients. For chemical oxygen demand (COD), the removal percentages were 50%, 59% and 67% for the control and for the wetlands with short and long retention times, respectively. All reductions were statistically significant (p<0.05). For the high concentration of BR46, the removal percentages for this dye and COD were 94% and 82%, and 89% and 74% for the long and short retention times, respectively. For the low concentration of AB113, the percentage corresponding removals for the dye were 71%, 68% and 80%. The COD removals were 4%, 7% and 15% for the control, and the short and long retention times, respectively. Finally, for the high concentration of AB113, the percentage removals for the dye and COD were 71% and 73%, and 50% and 52% for the 48-h and 96-h retention times in this order.

Preparation, characterization of nano ZnO-blended cellulose acetate-polyurethane membrane for photocatalytic degradation of dyes from water

Effluents from dyeing and finishing processes of textile industry contain strong colour, dissolved solids, high pH and possibly heavy metals. Conventional treatments are applied to treat dyes but the secondary pollution problem is not addressed. Consequently, one of the novel advanced oxidation processes, the heterogeneous photocatalytic oxidation process has a special interest especially when solar light is used. In this work a cellulose acetate-polyureathane (CA-PU) membrane impregnated with nano ZnO as a photocatalyst was prepared by blending technique. The structure and morphology of the prepared CA-PU membrane impregnated with ZnO were analyzed by FTIR, SEM with EDAX, TG-DTA, AFM and pure water flux (PWF). The photocatalytic degradation of dyes using this CA-PU/ZnO membrane was investigated towards the removal of Reactive Red (RR 11) and Reactive Orange (RO 84) using UV-light with different parameters. The maximum degradation of dyes was achieved at 40min with an optimum pH 7. The kinetic model of Langmuir-Hinshelwood well describes the photodegradation capacity. The photocatalytic degradation of dyes RR 11 and RO 84 exhibited pseudo-first order kinetics. ZnO impregnated CA-PU membrane inherited not only the photocatalytic ability of nano-ZnO, but also good thermal stability and mechanical property.

Microwave Measurement System for Detection of Dielectric Objects in Powders

Detection and removal of undesirable objects is an important issue in many material processing industries. This paper presents a microwave-based measurement technique for detection of dielectric objects in powder materials flowing through metal pipes. A nonintrusive microwave sensor is developed, which uses multiple resonant modes to obtain high sensitivity with respect to permittivity variations inside the pipe. Undesirable objects are detected based on the scattering parameters of the sensor, which are measured using a fast-sampling microwave transmitter and receiver unit. We present a detection algorithm derived from the likelihood-ratio test, which includes a parametric model of the local statistical distribution of the measured scattering parameter data. The model involves a set of Mobius transformations that map the measured scattering parameters to a domain where the data are Gaussian distributed. All unknown parameters in the model are estimated from data using maximum likelihood. Based on measurement results from a gravity-fall experimental setup, we conclude that small dielectric objects can be reliably detected in heterogeneous flows of dielectric powder.

Interdisciplinary Care of Employees with Mental Disorders: A Fact Check Using the Salzgitter-Model as an Example

Mental disorders are quite common among employees, and cause enormous economic costs. The Salzgitter-Model aims at an early recognition of mental disorders in employees of raw material processing industries by rendering a diagnostic examination (DE), so that appropriate health-care services may be provided promptly. Data of a consecutive sample consisting of 133 mentally ill employees (61% men) were analyzed. Mental disorders were diagnosed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Moreover, routine data of company health insurance funds collected in the 6 months preceding the DE were evaluated. On average, the DE was conducted 14 days after application. Half the diagnoses were of mood disorders, while almost one third consisted of neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders. For 63% of diagnoses from the DE, a correspondence was found with diagnoses made by practitioners during standard care over the previous 6 months. Of these employees, 42% received drug therapy. However more than one fifth did not receive guideline-based psychopharmacological treatment. Psychological symptoms and work-related factors were the main reasons for utilization of the DE. No employee had received psychotherapeutic treatment prior to the DE; more than 90% accepted the recommendation of treatment after the DE. Strengthened interdisciplinary cooperation can improve the utilization of an employee group that usually does not seek out specific diagnostic examinations and psychotherapeutic treatment.

Recycling of textile wastewater with a membrane bioreactor and reverse osmosis plant for sustainable and cleaner production

AbstractDue to increasing industrial and human water consumption, as well as increasing water and wastewater disposal costs, recycling of industrial wastewater is of growing importance. The textile wet processing industry discharges a significant volume of wastewater with considerable organic contamination and residuals. In Yunus Textile Mills (YTM) in Pakistan, we successfully recycled textile wastewater using a membrane bioreactor (ultrafiltration) followed by reverse osmosis (RO). This textile wastewater recycling plant is the first of its kind in Pakistan and is an important benchmark for all future developments in textile wastewater treatment (WWT). In YTM, wastewater was treated with a series of environmentally friendly processes including heat recovery from hot wastewater using a custom-designed heat exchanger with an operating efficiency of 65.9% and reducing the wastewater temperature from 70 to 43°C. Neutralization of wastewater was achieved by mixing power plant exhaust emissions, thereby reduc...

A Study on Environmental Sustainability in Textile Processing Industries of South India

Background/Objectives: This paper is concerned with the analysis of various factors which are involved in assessing the performance of processing houses located in Tiruppur and Karur. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The methodology involved collection of data from 10 industries and from each 11 respondents were considered. Thus 110 data which were collected by using a questionnaire were processed to elicit the impact of various factors on stakeholders. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to find out the overall performance of these industries. Findings: The results show that multiple correlation coefficient obtained is highly significant in that 82% of the variables account for ineffective performance of the industries. Parameters such as TNPCB (Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board), Financial Management, Government Support, Higher TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) Content and failure in assessing the environmental impact account for the major factors impacting the stakeholders performance. Of these, TNPCB (Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board) show a highly significant factor followed by Government Support, Higher TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) Content and failure in assessing the environmental impact. Financial Management has the least impact on stakeholders' business efficiency and its significance is noticed at 5% level. Applications/Improvements: The findings of the study will, doubtless be of use to processing industries located in Tamil Nadu to take appropriate action.