This invention relates to a process of producing purified fabric, particularly wool fabric, substantially free of polyolefin contamination. The prior art is replete with various disclosures outlining various methods and apparatus for use in wool scouring operations. For example, in U.S. Patent 3,871,820, there is described a method and apparatus for use in wool scouring operations and the treatment of the aqueous scouring liquids after and during use to extract recoverable lanolin or wool grease and heat from such liquids, and separate solid and extraneous matter from the liquids prior to discharge. The method and apparatus described therein provides for removal of excess liquid from the wool scouring tank, passage of hot liquid and suspended solids from the wool and main scouring tank to a side tank, recycling of liquids from which solids have precipitated and passage of the solids to a heavy solids settling tank via a dump tank, removal of heavy solids precipitated in the settling tank and passage of the remaining liquid through a lanolin extractor; and recycling the remaining liquid or discharging all or part of such remaining liquid to waste via a heat exchanger which recovers heat from the discharged liquid for heating fresh water or liquid. In U.S. Patent No. 4,128,398, there is described a processing aid that is used to improve worsted woolen processes. Examples of processing aids disclosed therein include polyamides, epoxidized polyamides, epoxidized polyamines, polyacrylimides, polyacrylic acid, aminoplast resins, and others. In U.S. Patent No. 4,168,143, there is described a process and apparatus for the purification and re-use of wool-scouring liquors. In U.S. Patent No. 4,288,377,

there is described a process for purification of wool grease. In U.S. Patent No. 4,207,244, there is described a process for separation of wool wax from fats in wool grease or mixtures containing wool grease. As can be seen from the above prior art, there have been no reports regarding what has been a long standing problem in the manufacturing and processing of wool fibers. That is, it is well known that raw stock wool fiber when it is packaged and shipped is bound in bales with polyolefin based yarn, specifically polypropylene, which contaminates the wool in subsequent processing. The cost of manually removing the polypropylene and the quality problems associated with contamination have plagued the wool industry and have added significantly to the cost of providing higher grade wool products. In fact, in May of 1993, the American Sheep Industry Association held a conference entitled "Polypropylene Contaminations Summit". In the proceedings of this meeting, it was confirmed that the contamination with polypropylene has occurred since the advent of its use as a forage packaging material. It was pointed out that polypropylene, owing to its strength, is an ideal material for forage packaging. However, this excellent strength also allowed polypropylene to remain in the environment and its fibrillar nature was found to be ideal for adhering to sheep wool. Accordingly, the universal use of polypropylene for bailing twine has made it a world problem and source of contamination. See, Quantifying Wool-Polypropylene Contamination At The Farm/Ranch, by Dr. Wayne Cunningham, Proceedings of the May, 1993 American Sheep Industry Association, Polypropylene Contamination Summit. Some proposed solutions include the production or purchase of feeds that are packaged with sisal or wire, and removal of polypropylene from facilities and working area. Other suggestions were to assure that no

polypropylene bags or tarps were used to move sheep to shearing facilities, to avoid using polypropylene tarps for handling fleece, and to use burlap wool bale containers. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention, to chemically remove polyolefin from wool or cashmere fabric and not damage or degrade the primary fiber beyond an acceptable level. In particular, it is an object of this invention to produce a purified fabric substantially free of polyolefin contamination wherein the polyolefin contamination is removed by a solvent and under conditions that do not degrade the fabric. Finally, it is a more specific object of this invention to provide a process of producing purified wool fabric which is essentially free of polypropylene contamination by treating the wool with a chlorinated hydrocarbon solvent at temperatures and pressures that do not degrade the wool and which provide a purified wool material for further processing into a high quality wool material. The present invention is directed at a process of producing purified fabric substantially free of polyolefin contamination comprising the steps of supplying a fabric containing polyolefin contamination, selecting a solvent which selectively solubilizes the polyolefin wherein said solvent solubilizes polyolefin at temperatures and pressures that do not degrade the fabric, treating the fabric with said selected solvent to solubilize the polyolefin and removing the solvent containing solubilized polyolefin contamination and recovering purified fabric. Figure 1 is a plot of per-cent polypropylene removal v. temperature, after 20 minutes of exposure to the indicated solvents, in the case of a wool fabric. Figure 2 is a plot of per-cent polypropylene removal v. temperature, after 45 minutes of exposure to the indicated solvents, in the case of a wool fabric.

96/10113 PC17US95/12227

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Figure 3 is a drawing of a device used in the process of producing purified wool fabric in accordance with the invention disclosed herein. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is directed at a process of producing purified wool fabric substantially free of polypropylene contamination comprising the steps of supplying a wool fabric containing polyolefin contamination, selecting a solvent which selectively solubilizes the polyolefin wherein said solvent solubilizes polyolefin at temperatures and pressures that do not degrade the fabric, wherein said solvent is preferably a chlorinated hydrocarbon solvent, most preferably trichloroethane and perchloroethylene. The fabric is then treated with said selected solvent to solubilize the polypropylene. Next, the solvent containing solubilized polyolefin contamination is separated and removed from the fabric, which leaves a purified fabric material. The most preferred solvent for purification has been found to be perchloroethylene. That is, under identical conditions of time and temperature exposure, perchloroethylene has a definite advantage over 1,1,1-trichlorethane. In general, the temperature range for purification was found to be between 79.5-112.8 °C. The time range for purification ranges from 20-40 minutes, in a sealed vessel, thereby producing a small amount of internal pressure, in the neighborhood of 1.72-13.79 bar. Treatment of the wool under the above described conditions does not result in significant degradation to wool, whereby the wool can be purified in a manner that does not result in destruction or degradation of the wool fiber integrity (i.e., the ability of the wool to be employed in a typical end-use application) . With reference to Figure 3, a drawing is provided which illustrates the purification of the wool, in a large

scale process which is made readily available by the process of the instant invention. A large receiving vessel (10) contains a opening door (12) and is designed to receive samples as large as an 363 kilogram roll of fabric. The fabric is placed in the vessel and the door (12) is sealed. The process of continuous extraction is as follows: Solvent is maintained in a chemical reservoir (16). This solvent is pumped into the receiving vessel using the pump shown (19). Once the vessel is filled to the desired level, the same pump is used to circulate the solvent through the cloth. As it circulates, it passes through the heat exchanger (20) where it is heated by steam, the temperature required for the reaction to take place. When the reaction is complete, the same pump is used to drain (21) the vessel and return the solvent to the chemical reservoir. (The same heat exchanger can be used to cool the solvent before draining if this is necessary) . At this point in the process, residual chemicals remain in the cloth. These chemicals are removed by circulating air heated above 71.1 degrees C through the cloth. At this temperature the solvent will vaporize. The blower (22) circulates the air through the heat exchanger (23) and then through the cloth. The hot air exiting the vessel then passes through the condenser (24) where it is cooled. The liquid solvent is collected in the bottom of the separator (25) where it is drained through a separate line (not shown) back to the chemical reservoir. This heating and cooling process insures that all solvent is recaptured before the receiving vessel is opened to remove the cloth. To purify the solvent so that it can be reused, it is periodically circulated through the distillation unit (14) where impurities are removed and collected for proper disposal.

Of course, other solvents may be employed within the broad scope of the present invention, provided one follows the general criterion described herein: i.e. choosing a solvent that can selectively dissolve a polyolefin and which can do so under condition that are not destructive to the wool material. Furthermore, it can be appreciated that the invention described herein can be applied to any fiber stock which contains polyolefin based contamination, and can be applied at any convenient point in a given production/purification process. For example, cashmere, camel hair, alpaca and angora fiber can all be purified in the manner described above, and the chemical purification of such fibers would result in the production of a higher qualify finished fiber, in a manner similar to that mentioned above for the case of wool fibers. The process will also be applicable to raw stock fiber, yarn, griege goods, knits, including woven and non-woven goods. EXAMPLES By way of the following examples, the following data was obtained by operation of the purification method of this invention: Example 1 A known sample of polypropylene was attached mechanically to a 10 gram sample of 100% woven wool and then subjected to various temperatures and times in a sealed vessel placed in an AHIVA-type device, which is a commonly used vessel for controllably heating the contents therein. Specific conditions included a 15:1 solvent to sample weight ratio. Samples were then removed from the solvent bath, extracted and dried in an oven at a temperature not exceeding 93.3 °C. Both 1,1,1-trichloroethane and perchloroethylene were employed. The temperature range was from 79.5-112.8°C. The time of exposure to the solvents was from 20-45 minutes. The sample size was 10 by 20cm wool swatch.

After the samples were thoroughly dried, polypropylene removal was evaluated visually against the original sample and rated as a % dissolution of polypropylene. The results were as follows: in the case of 1,1,1-trichlσroethane and perchloroethylene, under identical conditions of time and temperature exposure conditions, perchloroethylene had a definite advantage over 1,1,1-trichloroethane. In the case of perchloroethylene, the minimum 100% removal of polypropylene was obtained in 45 minutes at 100°C. At a temperature of 110°C, 100% polypropylene removal was achieved in 20 minutes. In the case of 1,1,1-trichloroethane, 100% polypropylene was removed in 45 minutes at a temperature of 104°C. At a temperature of 110 ^β C, 100% polypropylene removal was achieved in 20 minutes. With reference to Figure 1, a plot has been made of polypropylene removal v. temperature for both perchloroethane, and 1,1,1-trichloroethane, at a constant time of exposure of 20 minutes. As can be seen from this figure, perchloroethane provided more efficient removal of polypropylene, over the indicated temperatures. Figure 2 shows a plot of polypropylene removal v. temperature, again for both perchloroethane, and 1,1,1-trichloroethane, at a constant time exposure of 45 minutes. Under these conditions, once again, perchloroethane indicated more rapid removal of polypropylene at the indicated temperature (79.5-112.8°C) . In connection with the above examples, sixteen samples were collected and tested for mechanical strength. The samples are identified as follows:

SOLVENTS CONDITIONS

1. TRICHLOR (79 C/4 5 min)

2. PERCHLOR (79 C/4 5 min)

3. TRICHLOR (96 C/4 5 min)

4. PERCHLOR (96 C/4 5 min)

5. TRICHLOR (99 C/4 5 min)

6. PERCHLOR (99 C/4 5 min)

7. TRICHLOR (102 C/ 45 min)

8. PERCHLOR (102°C/ 45 min)

9. TRICHLOR (104°C/ 45 min)

10. PERCHLOR (104 ^• c/ 45 min)

11. TRICHLOR (104 'C/ 45 min)

12. PERCHLOR (104 ' C l 45 min)

13. TRICHLOR (117 ^• c/ 45 min)

14. PERCHLOR (117 'C/ 45 min)

15. TRICHLOR (110 ' C l 45 min)

16. PERCHLOR (110 ' l 45 min)

The testing procedures for the above identified samples was as follows:

The test conditions were 22.4°C and 63% relative humidity; an Instron CRE Type Tensile Tester was employed; a 2.54cm gauge length between jaws was established; a 2.54cm by 2.54cm serrated face jaw was used; a 2.54cm by 5.08cm smooth back jaw was employed; the sample size was 2.54cm wide by 11.43cm in length; the rate of fabric separation was 30.48cm per minute. Three breaks for each direction of warp and filling were performed to obtain the average fabric strength. The data is reported in the following table:

FABRIC STRENGTH DATA AND AVERAGES

(KILOGRAMS)

SAMPLE WARP STRENGTH- AVERAGE FILLING STRENGTH' ² AVERAGE

1. 20.2 21.6, 20, 20.8 13.1 12.9, 13.4 13.1

2. 20.0 20.7, 20, 20 12.7 12.5, 12.5 12.6

3. 19.6 18.8, 20, 19, 11.9 12.1, 12.3 12.1

4. 17.7 18.7, 18, 18, 11.6 12.3, 12.5 12.1

5. 18.7 20.7, 18.8 19 10.6 , 10.4, 10.8 10.6

6. 20.7 18.3, 20, 19.8 11.6 12.1, 11.9 11.9

7. 20.7 19.0, 20, 19.9 13.1 11.9, 12.9 12.6

8. 19.4 - 18.1, 19.4 19 12.3 11.2, 11.6 11.7

9. 19.6 19.6, 20, 19 11.9 12.3, 11.4 11.9 10. 18.8 , 19.4, 18, 18.8 12.1 13.2, 12.1 12.7 11. 16.8 , 17.9, 19.0 17.9 13.2 12.9, 13.8 13.3 12. 17.4 19.6, 17.4 18.1 13.4 12.3, 12.3 12.7 13. 16.0 16.4, 16, 16.2 12.9 13.4, 13.6 13.3 14. 16.8 16.8, 15, 16.4 16.0 15.1, 15.3 15.5 15. 15.9 15.9, 16.8 16.2 12.5 12.3, 12.1 12.3 16. 15.5 , 15.7, 17.7 16.3 12.7 11.8, 12.1 12.2

A satisfactory warf and fill strength of a wool fabric is normally between 20.5 and 22.4 kilograms, and 13.1-14.2 kilograms, respectively. Unsatisfactory values would be a warp strength under 13.1 kilograms, and a filling strength under 9.3 kilograms. As can be seen from the above, the exposure to the indicated solvents at various temperatures and times in a sealed vessel did not significantly effect the mechanical strength of the wool material, and the wool material was therefore made substantially free of polyolefin contamination.

Finally, it will be appreciated that other variations and modifications of the invention can take place without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Strength in lengthwise direction of fabric.

2. Strength in cross-direction