PolyOne has introduced a new fiber-colorant technology for polyester that incorporates proprietary high-pressure metering equipment with the company’s Color Matrix liquid concentrates. The technology enables the color-injection step to take place further downstream than in conventional colorant processes.
In the Color Matrix process, liquid color is injected into the polyester melt-flow between the end of the extruder and the spin head. This later-stage injection minimizes color contamination and reduces the time required for cleaning and color changeout. Further, several injection points can be added to run multiple colors or additives simultaneously on a single extruder line. This flexibility is especially beneficial to small-batch production, as manufacturers can use the same process to make a wide range of volumes and the process can be rapidly scaled onsite. Also, the new technology enables facilities that use reactor spinning lines to produce standard white polyester fibers to produce colored products inline, eliminating the need for a secondary aqueous dyeing process.
Traditional aqueous dyeing processes can use up to ten liters of water to color a single kilogram of fiber, but this new spin-coloring technology reportedly requires no water and consumes less energy and fewer chemicals.
It also eliminates the secondary treatment operations typically required to discharge wastewater safely into the environment. The technology’s precise mixing elements are crucial to harnessing the full benefits of flexibility and efficiency.
