Polyester Staple Fibre (PSF)

Recycled Polyester staple fibre is a synthetic man made fibre made from PET/Polyester waste and post consumed PET bottles. It is used in Non-Woven carpets, wadding, filtration industries, as a polyfill for stuffing cushions, pillows, soft toys, quilts. Its also used for spinning yarns and making geotextiles. Hollow Polyester staple fiber gives good resilience properties and is used to make premium pillows, cushions and quilts.

Recycling of PET/Polyester waste and used PET bottles is essential to maintain cleanliness of environment.

Process of Manufacturing Recycled Polyester Staple Fibre

Worldwide millions of PET bottles are consumed daily and thrown to trash. PET is also called polyester. Polyester is a synthetic polymer made of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) or its dimethyl ester dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and monoethylene glycol (MEG).

Since PET bottles are practically non bio-degradable, it was very difficult to dispose of them. New technology was developed in Europe, Korea and finally China which helped in recycling these post-consumed PET bottles to make man-made fibres like Recycled Polyester Staple Fiber. These fibers are then used to make non-woven carpet for automobiles, quilts, yarns, pillows, etc.

First, bottles arrive in a factory, collected from trash, in bale form. These bales are opened and manually sorted to take out contaminations like iron, PVC, stones, etc. Once cleared, these PET bottles are crushed to make 12-15 mm flakes and are hot washed in a chemical solution containing 2% solution of Sodium Hydroxide. This chemical helps in removing glue from bottles and also in cleaning them. The overall contamination in PET flakes should not be more than 200 ppm.

These flakes are then dried and taken to vacuum driers where surface moisture as well as inherent moisture is removed and flakes become soft/crystallized & dried. Moisture held within the PET flakes itself is known as inherent moisture. The driers help to reduce the inherent moisture to less than 200 PPM.

These dried flakes are then taken to an extruder for spinning. Spinnerets are available to make either hollow or solid PSF of varying denier (1.5Den to 50Den). Filaments coming out of spinning are collected in cans or bobbins. This completes the spinning. Hollow and Solid PSF can be treated to make siliconized, conjugated, polyfill, harsh, bouncy, anti-static, anti-fungal.

In the second step, these cans are taken to the creel area where many cans or bobbins are combined to make tow and stretched several times in a chemical hot bath to make fibre. These fibres are then dried and relaxed in a relaxer and cut in various cut lengths before bale packing.

FR Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF): Type Nirmal PET-FR

Nirmal PET-FR is the new Flame Retardant Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF) developed based on current safety requirements. A special flame retardant non-halogen, antimony-free, phosphorus-based FR additive is added during the extrusion process. Thus, the fibre is inherently flame resistant. Compared with post-processed FR applied products, it is more stable against general washing or dry cleaning.

Due to its fire self-extinguishing features, if Nirmal PET-FR products catch fire, the fire will not spread wildly. The product may get ignited but extinguishes in a short time once the flame is removed. It provides the products an LOI (Limiting Oxygen Index) value of 28.

Burning Nirmal PET-FR based products would pass Indian and international standards of flammability requirements for automotive vehicles (IS 15061) as well as other standards. The fabrics made thereof have flame retardant properties. Burning usually stops when the ignition source is taken away.

In the laboratory vertical flame test, thick polyester fabrics (maximum thickness 12.7mm) do not burn with flaming for 30 seconds or longer after each application of the test flame.

SAFETY OF Nirmal PET-FR Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF):

Nirmal PET-FR products are not intended to be burnt, but if accidentally burnt, they would not emit halogen-based gases. Most of the gas produced after burning is carbon dioxide and, thus, not poisonous.

Being organic material, drips would be formed but would not stick to the skin. The phosphorus-based FR compound added in polyester staple fiber (PSF) does not cause skin allergies when burnt. Thus, Nirmal PET-FR is safe to handle and results in safe end-products.

AVAILABILITY OF Nirmal PET-FR Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF):

Nirmal PET-FR is available in 4, 5, 6, 10 & 15 denier. Minimum order quantity is 5 MT.

UV Stable Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF): Type Nirmal PET-UV

UV Radiation & ITS IMPACT:

The sun radiates energy in a wide range of wavelengths, most of which are invisible to human eyes. The shorter the wavelength, the more energetic the radiation, and the greater the potential for harm. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches the Earth's surface is in wavelengths between 290 and 400 nm (nanometers, or billionths of a meter). This is shorter than wavelengths of visible light, which are 400 to 700 nm.

UV radiation at different wavelengths differs in its effects, and we have to live with the harmful effects as well as the helpful ones. Radiation at the longer UV wavelengths of 320–400 nm, called UV-A, plays a helpful and essential role in formation of Vitamin D by the skin, and plays a harmful role in that it causes sunburn on human skin and cataracts in our eyes. The incoming radiation at shorter wavelengths, 290–320 nm, falls within the UV-B part of the electromagnetic spectrum. (UV-B includes light with wavelengths down to 280 nm). UV radiation below 290 nm does not reach the earth’s surface.

Thus, the order of potency has been decided as UVB > UVA.

UV radiation is one of the major causes of degradation of textile materials. Because of the large surface-to-volume ratio, textile materials are susceptible to influences from light and other environmental factors. Synthetic fibers are subject to photo-oxidative degradation when exposed to sunlight. Sunlight in combination with heat and oxygen induces degradation causing detrimental effects on mechanical, physical, and optical properties of the fiber. The ability of textile fibers to provide UV protection varies depending upon the structure and additives present in the fiber.

Polyester UV absorbers have strong absorption in the UV range of 290–360 nm. The high-energy, short-wave UV radiation excites the UV absorber to a higher energy state; the energy absorbed may then be dissipated as longer wave radiation.

Ultra Violet Radiation Resistance of Polyester

PET has excellent resiliency, high abrasion resistance, and high UV resistance. In order to comply with the user industry standards, the UV-stable polyester staple fibre is produced by adding UV absorbers / light stabilizers to protect against degradation and discoloration of its products.

NIRMAL PET-UV Polyester Staple Fibre (PSF):

Nirmal PET-UV Polyester Staple Fibre (PSF) is produced having adequate dosage of high-quality UV absorbers / light stabilizers in sufficient concentration, imparting stability against UV light. It also contains adequate antioxidant additives to prevent polyester staple fiber (PSF) / fabric yellowing. Nirmal PET-UV meets the requirements for outdoor application textiles like geotextiles and complies with international standards for geotextiles.

Availability of Nirmal PET-UV:

Nirmal PET-UV is available in 4, 5, 6, and 10 denier in white and different colours. Minimum order quantity is 3 MT.

Specifications of Recycled Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF):

Denier Size: 1.5Den, 3Den, 6Den, 10Den, 15Den, 18Den, 22Den, 25Den, 40Den up to 50Den

Cut Length: 44, 51, 64, 76, 102 (As per customer requirement)

Feel: Siliconised or non-siliconised; soft as well as harsh feel

Tensile Strength: 3.5 to 4.5 gm/Denier

Elongation: 40 to 60%

Oil Pickup: Minimum 0.20% to 0.35%

Crimps: 3 to 5 per cm

Shades: All shades available

Color Fastness: 4+

Quality: Hollow Conjugate Siliconised Fiber, Hollow Non-Conjugate Siliconised Fiber, Solid Fiber (Siliconised/Non-Siliconised)

Application of Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF)

Cushions - Pillows - Quilts - Toys - Jacket - Mattress - Non wovens carpet - Automotive felts, speaker felts, geo textiles, polyfill wadding, filter fabrics and other acoustics as well.

We make various dope dyed shades in Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF) and supply to various major automobile companies in India.

We are also manufacturing PP Staple Fiber made from Virgin Polypropylene chips. Information of Polypropylene staple fiber can be found here.

Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF) is also available in Flame Retardant quality. On the basis of continuing Research & Development, we are able to offer the following speciality R-PET Fibres:

FR Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF): Type Nirmal PET-FR

UV Stable Polyester Staple Fiber (PSF): Type Nirmal PET-UV

These have round cross section & are available in different Deniers & cut lengths, nonsiliconised feel.