Systematic Green Manufacturing Emerges & the Chemical Fiber Industry Moves to Conserve Energy & Reduce Emission

China Chemical Fibers Association

Emission reduction advances are made & a green system is initially established

The chemical fiber industry in China restructured and maintained an overall stable and rapid development during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015). It persisted in clean production, conserving energy & reducing emissions as essential means for transformation, upgrading and restructuring, promoted technical progress and vigorously adopted advanced new technologies, new equipment and new products for conserving energy & reducing emissions.
1. Advances were made in conserving energy and reducing emissions: The industry drastic upgraded energy efficiency and water efficiency during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period. Unit product comprehensive energy consumption in the industry in 2015 was 36.3% lower than in 2010, and water intake per ton of fiber was 40.56% lower. Through technical innovation and strengthened metrological management, resource comprehensive utilization and energy comprehensive utilization were both much higher than before, and unit product energy consumption was cut substantially.
2. Technologies for conserving energy & reducing emissions were spread extensively throughout the industry: More than 40 technologies for conserving energy & reducing emissions were disseminated. Technology for producing sodium sulfate through one-step nitrate extraction, technology for making polyester at low temperature and with a short process flow, technology for cleaning waste membranes with scrap bottle chips and technology for recovering acetaldehyde from wastewater from polyester production gained spread fast. Wider use of technology for dope-dyed fibers greatly reduced energy consumption and pollutant emission in dyeing/printing operations downstream. Breakthroughs were made in the development of fiber products and in 16 generic key technologies, including domestically made PBT continuous polymerization units with capacity exceeding 10 kt/a, complete technology for polyester filament yarns with a capacity of 400 kt/a and a number of new products and technology for melt direct-spinning polyester industrial yarns with a capacity of 200 kt/a.
3. Systematic chemical fiber green manufacturing was initially established: New regulatory documents such as the “Assessment Index System for Clean Production in Polyester and Polyester Fiber Industry” and the “Assessment Index System for Clean Production in Recycled Polyester Fiber Industry” promoted standardized management of energy conservation and emission reduction in the industry. Issuance of “Admission Conditions for the Viscose Fiber Sector”, “Regulatory Conditions for the Recycled Chemical Fiber (Polyester Fiber) Sector” and similar documents boosted restructuring, renovation and upgrades in the industry and improved the chemical fiber green manufacturing system.
4. Green fiber product production & consumption accelerated: China Chemical Fibers Association accelerated the spread of green fiber products through activities such as the “Promotion and Release of Products in Fashion Fiber Trends”.

Goals for developing green chemical fibers are defined

During the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) the chemical fiber industry will focus on meeting major green manufacturing goals defined in “Made in China 2025”, accelerate R&D and commercialization of key technologies, speed up development of a greener chemical fiber industry, promote energy conservation and consumption reduction, reduce costs and improve efficiency, urgently develop green fiber labeling and certification systems and upgrade market recognition of green fiber products.
By 2020 green development promotion mechanisms in the industry will generally be complete – green design, green manufacturing, green procurement, green process technologies and green chemical fiber products will become new growth points in the industry and upgrade green development in the industry remarkably.
1. Energy utilization efficiency will be greatly improved: Growth of energy consumption in industry will slow down. Unit product energy consumption will reach the world class.  
2. Production will be much cleaner: Advanced and applicable process technologies and equipment for clean production will be generally popular. Emission of SO2, NOx, COD and NH3-N will be greatly reduced. Emission of high-risk pollutants will be dramatically reduced.
3. Resource utilization will be substantially upgraded: Unit product water consumption will be further reduced. Utilization of large-volume industrial solid wastes will be made more comprehensive and widespread. Recovery and reuse of major recycled resources will expand similarly.
4. The green chemical fiber manufacturing standard system will be initially established: Green design and assessment will be widely embraced. Green procurement and green fiber label products will increase drastically. An initial green supply chain in the chemical fiber industry will be formed.
5. Capabilities to manufacture green chemical fibers will be improved steadily: A backbone group of enterprises with core competitiveness will form. Fifty key technical renovation projects will be completed. Twenty green chemical fiber demonstration plants, two green chemical fiber industry parks, two to five chemical fiber ecological (green) design demonstration enterprises and 10 green fiber product innovation centers will be constructed.
6. Environment-friendly, efficient new development patterns with a drive to innovate and intensive management will be formed: Per-ton consumption of major products in the industry and the emission intensity of major pollutants in key sectors (viscose fiber, acrylic fiber and polyvinyl alcohol fiber) will rise to world class.
7. Elimination of outdated capacity will be strengthened & surplus capacity will be partially mitigated: By 2020 caprolactam (CPL) production lines with the unit product energy consumption 25% higher or processing costs 30% higher than today’s best values will either be optimized or eliminated. Phthalic acid (PTA) production lines with unit product comprehensive energy consumption 50% higher, unit product COD emission 29% higher, unit product solid wastes output 40% higher or processing costs being double today’s best values will either be optimized or eliminated. Recycled polyester bottle chip production lines with unit product comprehensive energy consumption over 20% higher, wastewater emission 40% higher, unit product COD emission over 10% higher or processing costs 30% higher than today’s best values will either be optimized or eliminated.
8. A green chemical fiber standard system will be established and improved. Ten green standards will be formulated and issued.

Grasp green “raw materials + technologies” together

Greatly foster green design ability for chemical fiber products. Employ key technologies for chemical fiber green design more aggressively, enhance awareness of green development and capabilities for ecological (green) design, boost construction of an ecological (green) design system, push technical progress and combine ecological (green) design with innovative product development and modification of technical processes.

1. Green design in raw material sourcing

Tackle key technologies for monomers such as PEF, PTT and bio-based PDT and their polymerization and spinning, highlight technologies that can substitute raw materials, achieve large-scale production and develop low-cost high-quality bio-based fibers and products. Pursue R&D of new pre-treatment technologies such as cellulose resource biological enzymes, technologies for pulp/fiber integration, technologies for efficient even continuous dissolution and de-foaming production of dopes with high concentration, technologies for dry spraying and wet spinning with high speed and great evenness, technologies for coloring dope and dyeing and surface finishing of fibers, and technologies for recovering, concentrating and purifying solvents.

2. Green design of processing

(1) Green process design for high-performance fibers
Achieve processing and production with low cost, low carbon and light weight. Develop technologies for large-volume continuous polymerization and control of raw yarns for making carbon fiber, technologies for high-concentration high-pressure high-density extrusion, high-speed dry spraying and wet spinning and steam stretching, technologies for controllable homogenized efficient low-temperature pre-oxidization and carbonization and technologies for efficient recovery and treatment of solvents. Take conserving energy & reducing emissions throughout a fiber’s manufacture as a goal and achieve green production of high-performance fibers such as carbon fiber.
Use new green environment-friendly solvents to replace white oil and decalin in making green, environment-friendly, high-strength and high-modulus polyethylene fiber to meet objectives for shortening process flow, expanding automation and unattended workshops. Develop cyclic economy within the system to meet requirements of green production, environmental protection and zero emissions. Increase spinning efficiency and greatly reduce the production costs of fibers.

(2) Green processing design for nanoscale fibers

Develop manufacturing technologies with low energy consumption and high efficiency. Develop technologies for multi-component phase-separation spinning and high-speed centrifugal spinning, technologies for efficient biological manufacturing, technologies for electrostatic spinning and efficient net spraying, technologies for multiple structure adjustment and control and efficient homogenized large-scale engineering technologies.

(3) Green process design for general-purpose polyamide and polyester fiber

Develop technologies for efficient catalysts and polymerization units, technologies to control dimers, technologies for liquor-phase viscosity adjustment and monomer removal and technologies for efficient recovery and reuse of polymerization monomers. Control the generation of dimers and monomers through research on whole-process reaction kinetics, and make breakthroughs in technologies for commercial melt direct spinning of polyamide fiber. Develop technologies for flexible production of differential functional polyester fiber. Develop complete engineering technologies to make flame-retarding, molten-drop resistant and highly cotton-like isomeric fibers, develop applications, and achieve large-volume large-scale flexible production of polyester.

(4) Green design for recycling & reuse

Develop technologies for efficient continuous classification of fabrics, technologies for high-density drying, conveying and melting, technologies for continuous quality/viscosity adjustment of melts, technologies for using mixed raw materials as resources and technologies for the content control of VOCs and heavy metals. Increase the recovery rate of polyester fiber to enable recycled fiber to become a third major fiber source for making textile materials.
Upgrade the green production level overall. Improve energy utilization efficiency by using energy-saving equipment and developing processes for conserving energy and using green energy sources. Use green processes and equipment technologies that cause little or no pollution and reduce or eliminate generation and emission of waste and filth. Treat emitted pollutants comprehensively. Recycle raw materials and minimize the impact of production on the environment.

3. Increase energy efficiency

Renovate energy-saving technologies in the industry in an all-round way, and accelerate adoption of technologies that recover and reuse waste heat, technologies for single-position multiple spinning of polyester fiber, polyamide fiber and polyurethane fiber, technologies for electromagnetic heating of screw extruders, integrated technologies for conserving energy & reducing emissions in the production of recycled polyester staple fiber through physical processes, technologies for the recovery of polyamide 6 monomer through MVR mechanical steam recompression, and technologies for new polyurethane fiber heat-transfer media. Boost projects for improving the energy efficiency of general-purpose equipment such as boilers, motors, transformers and air conditioners, and organize the implementation of plans for smart compressed air energy-saving.

4. Promote clean production

Renovate for clean production, coping with major pollutants in the industry. Promote green manufacturing processes. Reduce the emission intensity of pollutants, and minimize use of toxic and hazardous auxiliary materials. Boost implementation of technologies for green production of pulps and technologies for production of new solvent-process recycled cellulose fiber in the viscose fiber sector and spread implementation step by step.
Push clean production technical renovation. Reduce the emission intensity of SO2, NOx and smog (dust) and reduce the total emission of wastewater and the emission intensity of pollutants such as COD and NH3-N. Actively promote use of technologies for efficient recycling of ethylene glycol and acetaldehyde in polyester wastewater, technologies for making sodium sulfate through flash crystallization in viscose fiber production wastewater, technologies for recycling caprolactam in large nylon polymerization units and technologies for dope coloring and pipeline on-line addition. Renovate to achieve super low emissions from coal-fired boilers.
Strengthen water-saving and sewage-reducing process technologies and equipment. Vigorously promote water-saving technical renovation and disseminate industrial water-saving processes, technologies and equipment in sectors with high water consumption such as viscose fiber, recycled polyester fiber and polyvinyl alcohol fiber. Intensify water use management throughout the production course and different production sections in sectors with high water consumption, and strictly implement national water intake quotas. Recycle water resources and treat and reuse industrial wastewater.
Accelerate improvements in standards for clean production, energy efficiency, water efficiency, emissions, comprehensive resource utilization and green fiber products. Push clean production assessment, energy efficiency benchmarking and water efficiency benchmarking, and exercise green supervision by law.

5. Recycle resources efficiently

Accelerate development of a cyclic industrial system in the chemical fiber industry, promote linked symbiosis and coordinated sharing among enterprises, industrial parks, sectors and regions and greatly increase resource utilization efficiency.
Highlight high-value, large-scale and intensive utilization, strengthen research on recovery and reuse of scrap chemical fibers and scrap textiles, tackle technologies for high-value recovery and reuse of scrap textiles, disseminate advanced and applicable technologies and equipment for high-value reuse of scrap polyester textiles through chemical processes and boost intensive resource utilization.
Develop green chemical fiber products. Minimize consumption of energy and resources and minimize environmental impact according to the green management concept throughout the product life cycle. Take bio-based chemical fibers, recycled chemical fibers and dope dyed chemical fibers as the starting point to develop and disseminate green fiber products through technical innovation and design optimization.
Construct green plants with intensive use of land, organization of clean production, utilization of wastes as resources, and low-carbon energy sources. Optimize manufacturing process flows, use green low-carbon technologies to build and renovate factory buildings and make intensive use of factory compounds. Use nontoxic and hazard-free raw materials to replace toxic and hazardous raw materials, use advanced and applicable clean production process technologies and efficient terminal treatment equipment, reduce the emission of pollutants and promote the resource and harmless utilization of wastewater, waste gases and waste solids. Use advanced water-saving technologies and divert clean water and sewage, recycle of water, sequentially use water, and recover and reuse wastewater. Use advanced energy-saving technologies and equipment, increase the use of clean energy sources and renewable energy and construct smart micro grids and energy management centers. Implement digital and smart management systems for resources, energy and environmental protection. Achieve dynamic monitoring and management of resources, energy and pollutants.
Boost green procurement in the chemical fiber industry. Let the influential enterprises which supply raw materials and auxiliary materials lead in establishing a chemical fiber green supply chain management system according to standards for the green supply of chemical fibers and standards for green procurement in chemical fiber enterprises. Achieve the environment-friendly, low-carbon and sustainable development of the entire production chain.
Construct green manufacturing service platforms. Establish basic databases for the entire life cycle of chemical fiber products, set up chemical fiber green manufacturing centers and chemical fiber green manufacturing industry alliances, actively unfold services such as green manufacturing consulting, recognition and training by third party service agencies and provide turnkey solutions for chemical fiber green manufacturing.
Give enterprises the principal role in establishing a green fiber manufacturing system with the market as the guide and with a combination of producers, universities, research institutes and users.