Modeling and Cost Minimization of Weight Reduction Process of a Polyethylene Terephthalate Fabric by Sodium Hydroxide

Weight reduction is a chemical surface modification process with the aim of improving mainly the handle and touch of polyethylene terephthalate fabrics through hydrolysis, with the help of usually sodium hydroxide solution. The amount of weight reduction depends on processing parameters such as concentration of sodium hydroxide, treatment time and temperature. This paper describes the modeling of weight reduction of a polyethylene terephthalate fabric as a function of the three aforementioned parameters, using full factorial experimental design. Three levels were assigned to each parameter. After acquiring the model, the conditions leading to minimum cost for a given weight reduction percentage were found.