Closed cycle apparatus for the rapid, continuous and waterless dyeing of

Abstract

The present invention relates to a closed cycle apparatus for the rapid, continuous and waterless dyeing of a textile or plastic material with a dyestuff dissolved or suspended or dispersed in a high boiling solvent (such as glycol or glycol ether or other members of the alcohol family) for carrying out the dyeing step, after which the dyed textile or plastic material subsequent to cooling is washed with a low boiling liquid (such as methanol or ethanol) and then dried. The apparatus is constructed so as to operate under non-aqueous or substantially non-aqueous conditions with the complete or substantially complete recovery and recycling of the used dyestuff, the used high boiling solvent and the used low boiling wash liquid. In this way, the apparatus can be operated at a relatively low cost and in a completely or substantially completely closed cyclic system with essentially complete recovery and reuse of the treating fluids so as to greatly minimize the cost of operating the dyeing apparatus and also without any pollution of our natural water resources. Pollution of many of our rivers and wells has taken place in the past where effluents of a substantially aqueous nature containing serious amounts of polluting substances were discharged into rivers and the like thereby creating environmental problems.