Examining Cotton’s New Role in Crisis Management
July 27, 2020 Technical applications of cotton are finding important uses in crisis management scenarios.
Cotton is an established fiber in the fiber-to-fashion supply chain, and genuine interest is emerging to explore new applications for cotton in health and environmental sectors.
The COVID-19 situation has revealed that cotton influences the stability of viruses, which is important in developing countermeasure products like masks from cellulosic materials. Research efforts have highlighted that cotton destabilizes virus relatively quicker than plastics.
Slowly, cotton products are also beginning to penetrate into crisis management situations in health care and environmental sectors. For 21 years, the Nonwovens and Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University has been researching advanced applications of cotton. Recently, those research activities are getting commercial acceptance.
Domestically, cotton-based nonwoven mats are finding applications as filters in face covers. Scarborough Specialties in Lubbock has released face covers with cotton nonwoven filters, which evolved out of research in the Nonwovens Laboratory.
Internationally, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Ltd. (ONGC) – India’s leading oil exploration public sector entity – has now accepted use of the cotton-based mat as an oil absorbent. In mid-July, cotton-based absorbent pads were effectively used by ONGC at its Godavari river delta oil well sites in Rajahmundry.
ONGC is India’s largest crude and natural gas company and is ranked 18th among global players in oil and gas operations with over 30,000 employees. Penetration of the cotton-based absorbent technology into this premier Indian company is a milestone with regard to the acceptance of cotton as a high performance fiber. Cotton-based nonwoven mats have moved quickly from the testing phase to commercial use phase, according to Nambi Srinivasan, vice president of India-based WellGro United.
I have been collaborating with WellGro United and its partners to translate ideas into the marketplace. Speaking about the acceptance of the product by ONGC, Srinivasan stated, “It was a much awaited and prestigious order for us. With the recent positive field results of cotton-based pads at an ONGC site, we are confident that the ONGC’s order opens-up new opportunities globally.”
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