Optimization of Finishing Process and Energy Savings in Denim Textile Facility

Denim is widely accepted among exported textile products due to its aesthetics, appearance, and fashion. Practitioners employed several physical or chemical treatments to improve denim qualities in denim finishing operations. So, several treatment processes, including enzymatic, bleaching, singeing, heat set, and ozone finish, are used, which made this processing more energy consumption and time-consuming. Therefore, it is significant to investigate how changing the chemicals and raw ingredients could improve the finishing process, which is environmentally and economically beneficial for sustainable production practices in the denim finishing process. This study’s research design comprises an experimental investigation in a denim plant in Bangladesh. Two different fabrics were chosen to analyze, determining the potential savings of finishing on the denim fabrics’ performance characteristics. By deducting singeing and heat-set processes, the researchers ran an experimental process by maintaining the same length of fabric. Then, the impacts of finishing process optimization on the mechanical, thermal, and comfort parameters of drape, stiffness, and tear strength were examined. The study’s findings demonstrated that this experiment increased productivity and reduced the finishing unit’s energy consumption without compromising the denim fabrics’ quality. This study significantly impacts environmental sustainability by preserving limited energy resources and manufacturing denim finishing processes.