Thailand-based Yeh Group, a producer of innovative knit fabrics and garments for customers worldwide in sporting and intimate markets, is the first textile company to adopt water-free carbon dioxide (CO2) dyeing technology developed by the Netherlands-based DyeCoo Textile Systems BV, a CO2 dyeing equipment supplier founded in 2008. Yeh Group will market the fabrics dyed using the DyeCoo machine under the DryDye™ brand. DyeCoo has granted Yeh Group exclusive rights to the technology, and the textile producer anticipates fabrics will be available during the fourth quarter of 2010 for distribution to consumers in early 2011.

DyeCoo's dyeing machine uses supercritical fluid CO2 to dye textile materials in a stainless steel chamber. No water is used during the process, which provides huge environmental benefits over traditional dyeing processes that consume between 100 and 150 liters of water to dye 1 kilogram of fabric. Traditional dyeing processes are also energy-intensive, and DyeCoo reports its process results in energy savings of some 50 percent. According to Yeh Group, the DryDye fabrics offer dye quality and durability equal to that of traditionally dyed fabrics. The company expects to reduce its annual consumption of water by millions of liters.

The supercritical fluid CO2 swells characteristically hydrophobic man-made fibers allowing modified disperse dyes to diffuse within the fiber without the need for a carrier such as water. Fabric drying and removal of excess dye are performed in the same chamber as the dyeing operation. Recovered dye can be reclaimed and recycled.

DyeCoo's dyeing machine recently won the eighth annual Herman Wijffels Innovation Award (See " DyeCoo Wins Herman Wijffels Innovation Award," Dec. 15, 2009).

July 27, 2010