Research on to help textile firms save energy

In a move aimed at helping textile companies cut costs, the Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA), an autonomous non-profit association for textile research, is working on a research project which could help these companies bring down energy consumption by 15-20 per cent.

The project revolves around reducing heat loss by converting oil into steam and then using it in textile processing which could ease production costs of textile manufacturers and exporters who are battling the rupee appreciation of around 12 per cent over the last one year.

It has been awarded to ATIRA by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA).

RM Sankar, principal scientific officer of ATIRA, said the association would look at preparing products requiring less consumption of fuel.

Speaking about the commercial aspect of the project, he said being a non- profit organisation, ATIRA would transfer the derived technology to interested entrepreneurs and get a transfer fee once it is completed.

This is not the first time ATIRA has undertaken such a project. In the recent past, the association has worked on 'cell type air washer', an energy conservation project. Another area ATIRA has been closely involved is technical textiles.

Under technical textiles, the association has been working on construction textiles in which research is conducted on prototypes, which have the capability to lengthen the life of roads by more than 35 years as against the earlier 10 years. The cost of using this product is Rs 1 lakh per metre.

One of the primary reasons ATIRA has been focusing on technical textiles is that is it yet to catch on with the Indian textile industry in spite of its advantages.

"Entrepreneurs do not show any interest in technical textiles because it is expensive and 95 per cent of the companies are diesel-based focusing on home textiles," said Sankar. ATIRA is working on a Rs 3-crore project sponsored by the state government.

The association has recently completed projects to design protective gear for soldiers in Siachen and to design anti-bacterial gear for doctors using technical textiles. For the project, ATIRA would be upgrading its existing testing infrastructure.