Assessing the Wool Characteristics and Liquor System Performance of an Optimized Lo-flo Scouring Plant

Abstract

Three merino fleece wools of different characteristics were scoured in a pilot-scale Lo-flo machine under conditions designed to achieve minimum water consumption, uniformly high quality scoured wool, and high recoveries of pollutants from the scouring liquors. Bowls 1 to 4 were neutral to remove most of the grease and to enhance destabilization of the scour liquor; bowls 5 to 8 were operated under conditions designed to maintain the quality of the scoured wool over a long period. The only liquor discharges were a dilute rinse effluent from bowl 5 (maximum, 2.4 l/kg greasy wool) and a concentrated discharge comprising the bowl 1 flowdown and wet sludges from the grease centrifuge and settling tank (0.31 l/kg GW). Under the modified conditions the characteristics of the scoured wool, including whiteness (WCIE), did not change significantly over a long scouring period and the removal of pollutants from the effluent was high.