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2022 (English)In: Sustainability, E-ISSN 2071-1050, Vol. 14, no 12, article id 7272Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Material recycling requires solutions that are technically, as well as economically and ecologically, viable. In this work, the technical feasibility to separate textile blends of viscose and polyester using alkaline hydrolysis is demonstrated. Polyester is depolymerized into the monomer terephthalic acid at high yields, while viscose is recovered in a polymeric form. After the alkaline treatment, the intrinsic viscosity of cellulose is decreased by up to 35%, which means it may not be suitable for conventional fiber-to-fiber recycling; however, it might be attractive in other technologies, such as emerging fiber processes, or as raw material for sugar platforms. Further, we present an upscaled industrial process layout, which is used to pinpoint the areas of the proposed process that require further optimization. The NaOH economy is identified as the key to an economically viable process, and several recommendations are given to decrease the consumption of NaOH. To further enhance the ecological end economic feasibility of the process, an increased hydrolysis rate and integration with a pulp mill are suggested.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI, 2022
Keywords
industrial process layout, polyester, textile blend, textile recycling, viscose, cellulose, feasibility study, hydrolysis, recycling, textile industry
National Category
Other Materials Engineering
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-59842 (URN)10.3390/su14127272 (DOI)2-s2.0-85132547021 (Scopus ID)
Note
Correspondence Address: de la Motte, H.; RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Argongatan 30, Box 104, Sweden; email: hanna.delamotte@ri.se; Funding details: Södra Skogsägarnas Stiftelse för Forskning, Utveckling och Utbildning, 2019-106; Funding text 1: Funding: This research was funded by Södra Skogsägarnas stiftelse för Forskning, Utveckling och Utbildning, grant number 2019-106.
2022-08-032022-08-032024-06-26Bibliographically approved