Combining cost cutting with environmental protection

Textile manufacturers can use Caustic Recovery Plants (CRP) by Körting Hannover AG to lower the quantity of caustic soda used in mercerising by impressive 85 per cent. In this way, the plants do not only reduce operating costs substantially but also pollution. The senior sales engineer Karl Hesse is responsible for the Körting Caustic Recovery Plants (CRP). In an interview, he explains how his company meets the changing demands of textile manufacturers for sustainable production.

Hesse, as a member of the VDMA, what aspects of sustainability are most important to your company?
Our company was founded 140 years ago, and is now led by the fifth generation of the founder’s family, and in all that time, sustainability has been a way of life for us.

As a midsize enterprise, we are proud to be able to say that we have employees who have been remaining loyal to us for over 40 years. So many years of service are important for us as a basis for continuous, constant progress.

How is Körting helping the textile companies that are beginning to pay attention to sustainability in their production process without increasing operating costs?
Especially the caustic recovery plants (CRP) help Körting not only to make production processes in the textile industry more sustainable, but also to decrease the operating costs significantly. The CRP complement the existing production machines, which means the mercerising machines. Their only purpose is to recover the caustic soda used for mercerising at the end of the process. This recovered lye can then be returned to the process and no costly disposal is necessary, which results in a much-improved eco footprint. In addition, as these plants use the hot water generated by the process itself, they are extremely energy-efficient.

The company is the global market leader in CRP for the textile industry, and you are responsible for them? Our system cleans the recovered lye, so that it can be reused in the process without any loss of quality. When it is used together with another Körting product, the swirl droplet separator, the resulting vapour condensate is of excellent quality. Due to its low pH value, it can be used in other processes, e.g. for washing in the mercerisation machine and for bleaching. This means that we offer a closed circuit for lye and water, called ?zero drain?. Körting is highly diversified in these fields, so the customer can also benefit from our experience in exhaust gas treatment.

Körting has to fund its development of environmentally compatible machines and plants in advance. How do you justify your extra costs in comparison with your competitors in the market?
No other company in the world has been developing and manufacturing CRP for nearly 60 years. The experience we have gained in recovering weak lye from textile processes and converting a very substantial percentage of it back into usable, strong lye ? caustic soda ? finds its way into every project. Consequently, our more than 200 operational plants are customised solutions, not off-the-peg products. Körting engineers oversee every stage of construction, including commissioning. We value customer feedback highly and harness it to enhance operational availability of the plant, user friendliness and many other aspects.

Is it possible to estimate the financial savings due to caustic soda recovery?
Since we offer customised solutions, we are able to point out the financial savings at an early stage of the process. The most important fIs it possible to estimate the financial savings due to caustic soda recovery?actor is to reduce the plant operator?s lye consumption by 85 per cent. As a consequence, hardly any waste water is generated any more,<