Testing time: mini lab monitors textile process.

Global warming, sustainable manufacturing and environment-friendly production are the hottest topics in industry - including the dyeing and finishing sector. Dyeing and finishing production is among the largest energy, water consuming and polluting activities in the entire textile manufacturing chain. So it has the highest potential for energy, water conservation and other efficiencies.

Hong Kong-based Fong's Industries Group is leading the charge to clean up the dyeing and finishing sector. Founder and Chairman Sou Lam Fong explored eco-friendly aspects in the firm's dyeing and finishing textile machinery manufacturing for a number of years.

Taking up the role of a global sector leader, the firm is now showing the way on how eco-friendly production can bring economic benefits. It's also encouraging and challenging other firms in the sector to manufacture dyeing machines with low liquor ratios and higher energy efficiencies. Executive Director, Bill Fong, son of the founder, is a leading voice in the industry on the effects of global warming.

Says Fong: "we're seeing great demand from our customers for more environment-friendly solutions for the industry. In order to maintain a leading position, we have to provide innovative products and solutions to our customers. Due to ever rising costs of various commodities from energy to base metals and to water, by being an 'environmentally conscious company' also means being a profitable company."

Bill Fong at ITMA Asia: encouraging green ways.

At ITMA Asia + CITME 2008 in Shanghai, for example, Fong's Industries took the lead in offering such solutions.

A year earlier the firm founded Fong's Water Technology (FWT) to provide the technology, equipment and know-how for waste treatment and water reuse - effectively introducing an effluent treatment solution provider based on integrated, advanced technologies.

The FWT solution is aimed at textile factories, installing waste water treatment equipment at factories so that the water is already half treated when production starts. FWT is connected to the downstream of manufacturers' existing waste water treatment systems, requiring no modification.

Water discharged by production is channeled to go through the FWT system, including a reverse osmosis process which also pumps back water into the factory for reuse in the ensuing dyeing process instead of releasing the used water, leading to a waste of this valuable resource.

Tubes to filter out water impurities.

Online monitoring system.

FWT is a technology which is supplemented by features tailored to the dyeing and finishing industry. After passing through the reverse osmosis system, water of very high quality emerges, containing no impurities, germs, or viruses. The company claims the water is often of better quality than the fresh water supplied through a city's permanent system.

Usually it takes 40 litres of water to dye one kg of fabric. Some 70% (28 litres) of the waste water can be recaptured for processing through the FWT solution and can be recycled for factory use again. Only 30% (or 12 litres) will be discharged out of the system, the company says. This is designed to translate into less water wastage and increased cost savings.

To help potential customers, FWT built 10 mobile pilot test units assembled into 40 ft container trailers on wheels, each containing water tanks, management software and an online monitoring system. The reverse osmosis tubes feature membranes using nanotechnology, while a test laboratory is also housed in a container that can be transported to any location. The pilot unit is similar to that of the version which treats a smaller amount of waste water.

Three engineers are engaged to monitor the unit's operation around the clock during a month-long trial period offered to potential customers.

Process geared for individual factories

Inside the mobile test unit.

Based on the water output by the customer, the engineers can analyse the data and better understand the quality of the waste water discharge by the factory in order to design a solution that best suit the needs of that factory operation. From the data they can also help customers to better understand their operations in terms of effluent discharge, as well as help them improve their production processes by reducing dyestuff and chemical wastage wherever possible, again reducing costs and running a greener operation.

The pilot mobile unit costs US$128,000 to develop and build. FWT charges the customer US$8,974 for the month-long trial, which covers administration costs. Should the customer decide to install the full system, then this amount is waived. It takes less than one week to set up the pilot unit and another month for the actual trial for recording and analyses.

The entire water-reuse system takes about six to 12 months for design, manufacturing and installation. Each FWT solution is custom-designed and built to meet the needs of individual factories, so the cost varies greatly, depending on the water quality and volume of the effluents discharged, including any fluctuations, as well as the availability of space for the equipment, and chemicals used.

"The FWT solution is an engineering process not a product," says Dr William Tsui, Chief Executive Officer of FWT and Director of Engineering Technology for Fong's.

Tsui with mobile unit: a process not a product.

Fong's factory in Shenzhen: among diversified units.

Over the past year, 12 local and foreign-owned factories in various parts of China have successfully carried out trial runs with the pilot units. Some have already signed on for the full system while others are waiting for economic uncertainties to clear to make the commitment.

Besides the textile industry, the FWT system can be adapted for use in metal-plating, paper and pulp production and in food industries. "For the time being, we are concentrating in helping the dyeing and finishing industry as Fong's is specialised in the textile industry," Tsui comments.

The cost of running the FWT solution is estimated at US$0.2 per ton of water (minus the installation cost). At locations where the cost of fresh water is much higher than this figure, installation is well worth considering. The cost of fresh water in Guangdong is marginally higher, for example.

With the trend towards protecting the environment picking up traction and soaring water costs, FWT seems to make sense to manufacturers both in terms of cost and protecting resources.

Fong's Industries Group, listed in Hong Kong, has the diversified activities needed to promote the eco-friendly solution across a broad area of the textile business, with subsidiaries that include Fong's National Engineering, the German wet processing manufacturer Goller, machinery producer Monforts Fong's Textile Machinery Co Ltd, vacuum steam treatment specialist XORELLA and advanced dyeing technology expert, THEN.

from special correspondent Vicky Sung, Hong Kong