Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology – Process of utilizing an enzyme or micro-organism to destroy... – Textile treating
Patent
1994-06-01
1996-11-26
Hunter, Jeanette
Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology
Process of utilizing an enzyme or micro-organism to destroy...
Textile treating
435264, 435198, 510303, 510321, C12S 1100
Patent
active
055784895
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a process for removing hydrophobic esters from fabric in the textile industry.
BACKGROUND ART
It is in many cases required to remove fatty matter containing hydrophobic esters (especially triglycerides) during the finishing of textiles. Thus, most natural fibres contain some triglyceride in the form of oil, fat or wax that must be removed to obtain good water absorbency properties in the finished textile. Also, oil is in some cases added to textile to act as a lubricant during processing and must later be removed.
Fatty matter is commonly removed from textile by so-called caustic scouring, where the textile is treated with high amounts of alkali and wetting agent and held at a high pH and temperature (usually about 100.degree. C. ).
It is well known to add a lipase to detergent to improve the removal of oily stains from soiled garments (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,414). However, D. Aaslyng et al.: Mechanistic Studies of Proteases and Lipases for the Detergent Industry, presented at SCI, Recent Advances in the Detergent Industry, 26-28 Mar. 1990, University of Cambridge, England states that only very little effect of the enzyme is seen after the first wash, and that more than one wash cycle (each consisting of washing, rinsing and drying) is typically required to obtain pronounced effects with lipases.
Such an additional drying step is considered economically prohibitive for textile processing, and the use of lipases for removal of fatty material in the textile industry did therefore not seem economically practicable.
It is the object of this invention to provide an improved method of removing fatty material during textile processing.
STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
We have developed a process whereby hydrophobic esters are effectively removed from fabric by use of lipase without the need for an expensive intermediate drying step. The process can be practised batch-wise or continuously using equipment commonly used in the textile industry, and it avoids the need for high pH and temperature in conventional caustic scouring.
Accordingly, the invention provides a process for removing hydrophobic esters from fabric, characterized by comprising the sequential steps of: pick-up ratio of 50-200%, hours, and
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The process of the invention can be applied to any fabric containing hydrophobic esters (e.g. triglycerides or ester coatings) that need to be removed from the finished textile. Examples are natural fibers with a residual content of naturally occurring triglycerides, e.g. native cotton (typically containing 0.5-1.0% of oils and waxes) and flax (linen) and wool. The process can also be used to remove oil or ester coatings that has been added during processing e.g. to make the fabric softer and smoother.
Lipases of plant or animal origin (e.g. pancreas lipase) can be used in the invention, but microbial lipases are preferred for reasons of economy. Lipases already known to be active in detergents can be used in the invention, but since the conditions of the process can be adapted to the lipase, many other lipases can also be used.
Examples are lipases derived from the following microorganisms. The indicated patent publications are incorporated herein by reference: H. insolens (U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,414) (WO 89/04361), 88/02775).
An example of a commercial lipase is Lipolase.RTM. (product of Novo Nordisk A/S).
The lipase activity present in the impregnation solution is preferably 100-10,000 KLU/g (KLU unit for lipase activity defined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,898). A buffer may be added to the impregnation to maintain a suitable pH for the lipase used. For Humicola lipase, a pH of 7-10 is suitable.
A conventional wetting agent may be used to improve contact between ester substrate and the lipase solution. The wetting agent may be a nonionic surfactant, e.g. an ethoxylated fatty alcohol. An example is the Berol Wash (product of Berol Nobel AB, Sweden), a linear primary C.sub.16 -C.sub.18 fatty alcohol with an average of 12 ethoxylate group
REFERENCES:
patent: 3950277 (1976-04-01), Stewart et al.
patent: 4810414 (1989-03-01), Huge-Jensen et al.
patent: 5069810 (1991-12-01), Holmes et al.
patent: 5223169 (1993-06-01), El-Sayed et al.
Agris, Esq. Cheryl H.
Hunter Jeanette
Novo Nordisk A S
Zelson Esq. Steve T.
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