In early 2018, a plant operator from Dhaka, Bangladesh, approached Körting Hannover AG. The Bangladeshi business has been a provider of dyeing, printing and finishing services for woven and knitted fabrics since 1987 and its goal is to make extensive improvements to its caustic recovery process. Many internationally renowned fashion and home textile brands, such as C&A, H&M, Zara, Matalan, Lindex, Tesco, K-Mart, M&S, Charles Vögele, Decathlon, KIK, NKD and Avon, are impressed by the superior quality the operator offers.

All these first class fashion and home textile brands are united in the top quality they demand from their suppliers. The plant operator realises this and knows how to respond. Exceptional machinery throughout the entire production process is pivotal to the quality of the final product. This sort of production machinery is vital for the company to compete on the international stage and ensure the sought-after top quality of its own products.

Indian machinery replaced

This was why the plant operator replaced a Caustic Recovery Plant (CRP) made by an Indian manufacturer with pioneering, German-made caustic recovery technology. Caustic recovery plants are used to recover caustic soda from the mercerisation process, which in turn is used to refine textile fibres using caustic soda. The advantages of the new Caustic Recovery Plant (CRP), supplied by Körting Hannover AG, quickly made themselves felt. The Körting CRP’s considerably lower operating costs were already obvious shortly after commissioning. What’s more, the Körting plant is fully developed, based on extensive experience from over 60 years of caustic recovery and operates without any problems.

An increasing number of plant operators are no longer just looking at the investment costs when they purchase new machinery. If an investment in a Caustic Recovery Plant (CRP) is analysed based on the total costs of ownership, European technology is quickly the number one choice. When this approach is applied, alongside the investment costs, the costs of operating the plant (energy costs, repairs, maintenance) are logged over several years. This makes it very easy to spot which manufacturer actually offers the more cost-effective solution.

No need to replace the caustic soda

Körting Caustic Recovery Plants (CRPs) can be operated without the need to exchange the caustic soda regularly. Thanks to advanced lye cleaning with hydrogen peroxide, the lye can be run in a continuous cycle without any drop in quality. Consequently, the Körting concept for cleaning the lye reduces operating costs, as plant operators can use the existing lye again and again once it’s been cleaned. Körting machinery therefore offers true caustic soda recovery.

On the other hand, other manufacturers’ CRPs often require the caustic soda to be replaced after just a few weeks or months in operation at the latest. To do so, the entire caustic solution cycle from the thin caustic solution tank via the Caustic Recovery Plant (CRP) and the thick caustic solution tank to the mercerising machinery needs to be brought to a standstill, emptied, cleaned and refilled at regular intervals. Plant downtime costs time, the workflow is complex and, last but not least, the preparation of new caustic solution costly. The fact that the caustic solution has to be exchanged begs the question as to whether other manufacturers’ Caustic Recovery Plants can be described as such. After all, the quality of the thick caustic solution recovered drops each time and therefore has a detrimental effect on the mercerisation process.

Another key advantage of Körting Caustic Recovery Plants (CRP) is that the heating steam condensate can be re-used. After it’s been used in the CRP, it’s a pure condensate with a temperature of over 100°C and can be re-used directly in the boiler house.

The quality of the condensate produced in the CRP is also excellent and can be used in other processes such as washing in the mercerising machinery or for bleaching. The substantial energy recovery on the part of the Körting Caustic Recovery Plant (CRP) has a positive impact on operating costs and ensures a quick return on investment. Because of the fully automatic and smooth way it operates, the Körting Caustic Recovery Plant (CRP) also cuts personnel costs.

As a result, the Bangladesh-based plant operator can produce much more cost effectively thanks to the new Körting Caustic Recovery Plant (CRP). And the operator’s own products retain their first-class quality too.

Further information

Learn more about Körting Caustic Recovery Plants (CRP)

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