Apparatus and process for recycling cotton and cotton/polyester containing textiles
Assignee14787285 Canada Inc. dba Nuria Scientific
InventorsNicholas Leroy Ledra, Wankei Wan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for recycling of used textile. The process includes the incorporation of textile into a bioreactor containing at least one enzyme with a solvent for incubation, wherein: the textile includes at least cotton. The at least one enzyme biochemically reacts with cellulose in the cotton and converts the cotton into cotton yarn for reuse in textile manufacturing. The process feed may include cotton containing blends, such as those containing cotton and polyester, whereby the process includes an additional step of separating the polyester from the cotton by dissolution for recovery. The recovered polyester is reprocessed for textile use.
Claims20
A process for recycling a textile, comprising:
- combining at least one enzyme with an aqueous solvent, their combination resulting in a creation of a solution;
- depositing the solution within a bioreactor;
- suspending the textile in the solution within the bioreactor for an incubation period, wherein:
- the textile comprises at least cotton;
- during the incubation period the at least one enzyme biochemically reacts with cellulose of the cotton in the textile, thereby breaking down the cellulose and producing other products;
- and
- cotton yarn, the solution, and the other products are output from the bioreactor after the incubation period;
- filtering the cotton yarn, the solution, and the other products output from the bioreactor after the incubation period through a first filter, separating at least the other products from the cotton yarn and at least some of the solution;
- recovering at least a first portion of the cotton yarn filtered through the first filter;
- and
- returning any portion of the cotton yarn and the at least some of the solution filtered through the first filter back to the bioreactor when further processing of the any portion of the cotton yarn is required.
An apparatus for recycling a textile, comprising:
- a bioreactor configured for incubation of the textile and a solution comprising at least one enzyme and an aqueous solvent within which the textile is suspended for an incubation period at a temperature and a pressure, wherein:
- the textile comprises at least cotton;
- during the incubation period the at least one enzyme biochemically reacts with cellulose of the cotton in the textile, thereby breaking down the cellulose and producing other products;
- and
- cotton yarn, the solution, and the other products are output from the bioreactor after the incubation period;
- a first filter configured to filter the cotton yarn, the solution, and the other products output from the bioreactor after the incubation period, separating at least the other products from the cotton yarn and at least some of the solution;
- wherein:
- at least a first portion of the cotton yarn filtered through the first filter are recovered;
- and
- any portion of the cotton yarn and the at least some of the solution filtered through the first filter are returned to the bioreactor when further processing of the any portion of the cotton yarn is required.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.