NIFT-TEA Knitwear Fashion Institute in Tirupur, India, is developing a new water-free dyeing technology and starting its first agro textiles curriculum in collaboration with the Synthetic and Arts Silk Mills Research (SASMIRA) organization.
NIFT-TEA Institute and SASMIRA recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support new product development, research activities and new technology information exchange, The Hindu reported. Together, they will engage in eco-labeling, while continuing to help the Tirupur knitwear industry with technical textiles production and sourcing information.
The new water-free dyeing technology that will be used for cotton fabrics will be similar to SASMIRA’s dyeing polyester machines.
“The equipment which SASMIRA developed for dyeing polyester fabrics used liquefied carbon dioxide instead of water,” said R.R. Shrinivasan, chairman of the institute’s academic committee, noting that NIFT-TEA will continue developing solutions for faster dyeing segment treatment. “At present, it takes almost 72 hours for the effluent to come out through the pre-treatment stage. We plan to reduce the duration to 12 hours.”
NIFT-TEA Institute’s new agro textile curriculum will be coordinated with the Centre of Excellence for Agrotextiles under SASMIRA and it will be introduced to other universities in the future.