Jan. - Feb.

2015

This issue of SITRA NEWS

covers the following topics:
Page no.

PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS

Fibre to yarn conversion cost in 2014

TECHNICAL NOTES
1. Number of tests to be carried out for yarn
quality evaluation
2. Cotton stickiness - issues and solutions
- Part 3

PROJECTS
Influence of weave type on breathability of
compact yarn fabrics

10

CONSULTANCY SERVICES OFFERED BY SITRA

DURING JANUARY FEBRUARY 2015

14

STAFF NEWS

14

TRAINING PROGRAMMES

16

ABSTRACTS OF TECHNICAL ARTICLE

18

SITRA News

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Fibre to yarn conversion cost in 2014

Of the three parameters that decide the profit margin in a spinning mill
viz. yarn selling price, raw material cost and conversion cost, the last
mentioned one, to a large extent, is within the control of the
managements. By utilising the various resources such as man,
machine and material efficiently the conversion cost can be controlled
to a great extent.
Based on the data on count-wise and item-wise fibre to conversion
cost furnished by the mills that participated in the 30th CPQ study for
the period April-June 2014, a study report(SITRA Trends) was brought
out in January 2015. Following are some of the salient findings of the
study.
Total conversion cost in 2014
Average conversion cost, in terms of per kilogram of yarn, is found to
increase steeply as the count becomes finer i.e. from as low as about
Rs 50 in 24s CH-Ex. count to a high of about Rs 160 in 80s C count
(Table 1).
Between mills, the conversion cost differs very widely in all the counts
ranging from 35% to about 90%, the overall difference being high at
about 50%. Such a wide difference in the conversion cost between
mills is mainly due to the differences in the operational parameters
like production rate, labour productivity, capacity utilisation, energy
consumption, etc. as well as cost parameters such as wage rate,
salaries, power cost per unit, stores and packing materials cost,
interest commitment and investment on plant & machinery and partly
because of the differences in the method of estimation of conversion
cost.

SITRA News

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Table 1 Count-wise total conversion cost

Period: April-June 2014

In terms of per kilogram per count, the conversion cost does not show
any trend between the counts. It averages at about Rs 2.0 per kg per
count, varying from Rs1.60 to Rs2.20 between counts. However, in terms
of per spindle shift, the total conversion cost shows a declining trend as
the count becomes finer i.e. in 24sCH Ex., it is around Rs.13 whereas in
80s C, it is only about Rs.7.
Item-wise conversion cost in 2014
Item-wise conversion cost also shows an increasing trend as the count
becomes finer (Table 2). For example, the salaries and wages cost in the
coarse count (24s CH) is only about Rs 9 per kg of yarn whereas in the
superfine count (80sC), it is almost 4 times high at Rs 36 per kg of yarn.
The power cost which is around Rs 18 per kg of yarn in 24s CH, is also
3.5 times high at about Rs65 per kg of yarn in 80s C.
Another interesting observation is that of the total conversion cost, power
cost is found to be the single largest one with a share of 40% followed by
the salaries and wages cost (20%) and interest cost (13%). The
depreciation cost stands at 4th place (11%) followed by the stores and
packing materials cost (10%) and administrative overheads (6%).
SITRA News

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Table 2 Item-wise conversion cost (2014)

(Amount: Rs/kg of yarn)

Note: (-) sign indicates net loss

YSP: Yarn selling price;
SWC: Salaries and wages cost

RMC: Clean raw material cost;

Changes in the total conversion cost between 2010 and 2014

The total conversion cost on the whole registered an increase of about
30% in 2014 as compared to the conversion cost that prevailed in 2010
with the increase ranging from 17% to 42% in different counts (Table 3).
The increase in the conversion cost during the past 4 years works out to
7% per year compounded.
Item-wise conversion cost in 2010 and 2014
An analysis of the item-wise conversion cost shows that except
depreciation cost, all the 5 remaining cost items witnessed an increase
during this period. The spurt in the power cost accounted for almost onehalf of the overall rise in the conversion cost followed by the increase in
the salaries and wages cost (29%) and stores and packing materials
cost (14%) (Figure1). The rise in the interest cost amounted to 8% of the
total increase in the conversion cost.

SITRA News

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Table 3 Increase in the total conversion cost

between 2010 and 2014

S.
no.

Conversion
cost/ kg of yarn
(Rs)

Count

2010

2014

Increase
in the
conversion
cost (%)

1.

24s CH-Ex.

38.6

51.3

33

2.

30s CH

43.1

58.5

36

3.

30s CH-Ex.

45.4

57.7

27

4.

40s C

65.1

77.3

19

5.

50s CH-Ex.

68.2

92.0

35

6.

60s C

92.3

123.7

34

7.

60s C-Comp.

93.0

132.4

42

8.

80s C

138.5

162.3

17

Salaries and
wages cost

29%

Power cost

Stores and packing

materials cost

14%

Interest cost

47%

8%

2%

Administrative
overheads +
Depreciation cost

Figure 1 Share of item-wise cost on the overall

increase in the conversion cost in 2014 over 2010

SITRA News

Jan. - Feb. 2015

The power cost per unit during this four year period registered a jump of
27% (from Rs 4.74 per unit in 2010 to Rs 6 per unit in 2014, as per the
25th and 30th CPQ studies). The above analysis also leaves an important
message that there is an urgent need to improve the labour productivity in
many mills so as to control the spurt in the SWC which is somewhat
alarming. The depreciation cost in fact registered a marginal drop of about
2.7% which indicates that the participant mills did not make any significant
investment on modernisation of machinery which in turn may be due to
the disturbed performance witnessed by the mills during the past 4 years.
Impact of increase in the conversion cost on profit margin
Profitability of a count is determined by the net out-put value (NOV) on
one hand and the conversion cost on the other. The NOV is nothing but
the difference between yarn selling price and raw material cost. Table 4
shows the changes that witnessed in the NOV, conversion cost and net
profit in all the 8 counts between 2010 and 2014.
Table 4 Changes in NOV, conversion cost and net profit
between 2010 and 2014
Amount: Rs/kg of yarn

Note: (-) ve sign indicates net loss/drop in NOV.

The NOV, on the whole, did not register any increase in 2014 as
compared to the NOV that prevailed in 2010. Of the 8 counts, 3 counts
registered a drop in the NOV (24sCH-Ex., 30s CH-Ex. and 40s C)

SITRA News

Jan. - Feb. 2015

and the remaining 5 counts recorded an increase which ranged from

3% to 11%. The conversion cost, on the other hand, recorded a
substantial increase of about 30% with the increase ranging from 17%
to 42% between counts. As a result of these changes, all the 8 counts
put together registered a huge drop in the net profit (by about 90%)
with the drop ranging from about 50% to 130% between counts.
For further details, SITRA Trends publication, Changes in fibre to yarn
conversion cost between 2010 and 2014, Vol.21, No.1, January 2015
may be referred.
- J.Sreenivasan & D.Shanmuganandam
Liaison and Consultation Division

1. Number of tests to be carried out

for yarn quality evaluation
In a mill manufacturing 50s combed warp yarn, the average Rkm value
was found to be 16.72 g/tex with the CV of Rkm at 10.89% (100 tests
were carried out for Rkm assessment).
The mill wants to know how many tests are required to maintain the
error of estimate (in the assessment of RKM value) at 1%.
Average Rkm value of yarn

16.72 g/tex

CV of Rkm

10.89%

16.72 x 10.89

100

Standard deviation of Rkm (SD)

SITRA News

1.82

Jan. - Feb. 2015

2 times SD

3.6

At 95% significant level,

Error of estimate

2 SD

Where n is the number of readings taken for Rkm assessment

Error of estimate

3.6

100

0.36

0.36
% Error of estimate in the assessment of Rkm = x 100
16.72
=

2.15%

The no. of tests (N) to be conducted for assessing a quality attribute,

the CV value of that quality attribute and the error of estimate (E) are
connected by the equation,

4 CV2

E2

The mill wants to maintain the error of estimate at 1%.

CV of Rkm prevailing in the mill at present
Therefore,
N

SITRA News

4 x 10.892
12
474

= 10.89%.

Jan. - Feb. 2015

In order to maintain the error of estimate at 1% in the assessment of

Rkm value, the mill has to carry out as many as 474 tests.
- Dr. K.P.Chellamani
Spinning Division

2. Cotton Stickiness - issues and solutions

- Part 3
Use of Benedicts reagent to determine sugar content in cotton
A more convenient method for use at mill conditions to determine the
sugar content in cotton is by using the Benedicts reagent to determine
the colour change of the alcohol solution containing a known quantity
of cotton sample under investigation. The method of sugar estimation
using Benedicts reagent is briefly explained below:
About 1 g. of cotton, that is selected randomly (free from impurities) is
boiled for about five minutes in 30 ml of Benedicts reagent solution
which is prepared as follows:
(10 ml of Benedicts reagent + 20ml of distilled water = 30 ml of
Benedicts reagent solution for 1 g. of cotton)
After cooling, the colour of the boiled solution is noted and graded by
comparing it with the standards labeled on Benedicts reagent bottle.
The approximate sugar content in cotton for different colours of the
boiled solution is given in Table 1.
Table 1 Sugar estimation using colour of the boiled solution
Colour of the
boiled solution

SITRA News

Sugar content in
cotton (approx.)

Blue

0.25 %

Green

0.50%

Yellow

1.00%

Red

2.00%
8

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Honey dew
Honey dew is the sugary substance secreted by white fly or aphids
infecting the cotton plants. These insects suck the plant sap from the
affected parts and the metabolic by-product is a sticky substance
called honey dew. These random deposits of the sugary substances
sometimes gain entry into the seed cotton and are causes for cotton
stickiness. This stickiness is a localized effect exhibited by those
portions of cotton affected by honey dew. In addition to the problem of
stickiness, the white fly attack results in the reduction of fibre length,
micronaire value, maturity and fibre strength. When white fly affected
fibres are mounted on a slide with mineral oil and viewed under
microscope, black bars are observed in the lumen. This indicates the
damage of primary cell wall in the cotton fibre. White fly contaminated
cottons have extraordinarily high glycerine content and comparatively
high arabitol and mannitol content, which are indicative of biologically
damaged cotton.
Other contaminants
Contaminants like crushed seeds, immature seeds present in the lint
(due to non-optimum ginning conditions), etc. might result in oozing
out of cotton seed oil during processing and cause stickiness of the
cotton stock. Similarly, poor materials handling methods of lubricants
at the ginning as well as at the opening and cleaning stages in the
spinning process will result in oil contamination and may cause
stickiness during processing. However, this stickiness problem would
be a localized one exhibited by the cotton stock only from the
contaminated area.
In general, sticky cottons have one or more of the following
characteristics:
(i)

High contents of reducing components (> 0.3%) as

determined by reduction of potassium ferrycyanide

(ii)

High yields of Aqueous extracts (> 0.2%)

(iii)

High contents of wax and/or lubricant oil contamination

(> 0.8%) as determined by Benzene extraction

SITRA News

Jan. - Feb. 2015

(iv)

High contents of non-cellulosic material (> 2.7%) as

determined by 95% ethanol extraction and

(v)

Large absolute amounts of B-D-fructose, L-D glucose and

B-D glucose
To be continued
- K.P.Chellamani & M.K.Vittopa
Spinning Division

Influence of weave type on breathability of

compact yarn fabrics
Air permeability of a fabric is an important property determining its
breathability. Air permeability denotes the volume of air passing through
the test specimen of a given area in a given time. It is an important
property deciding the wearing comfort of the fabric specimen under
question. Water vapour transmission of a fabric specimen denotes the
extent to which the water vapour generated in human body gets passed
on to the atmosphere through the specimen. The water vapour
transmission was determined according to ASTM E96 -90 standard.
In one of the earlier studies by SITRA1, it was found that plain weave
fabrics made out of compact yarns were less breathable as compared
to non-compact yarn fabrics of similar construction. This is primarily
attributed to the relatively higher density of compact yarns. In a woven
fabric, air permeability is due to the combined influence of space
between the adjacent yarns plus space available inside the yarns for
air passage (which is influenced by the extent of packing of fibres in
the yarn). In a compact yarn fabric of plain weave construction, air
resistance due to tight fibre packing over rides the effect of open space
(for air passage between the adjacent yarns).
Hence, a pilot study was carried out at SITRA to assess the influence
of type of weave on the breathability of compact yarn fabrics. Fabrics
SITRA News

10

Jan. - Feb. 2015

with 4 different weaves viz, plain, drill (3/1 Twill), satin (5 End) and
honey comb were produced using 40s compact yarn. Spinning was
done at SITRA Pilot mill and the fabrics were woven in a powerloom
factory. Plain loom of 56" width (Dobby attached) was used and the
speed maintained was 100 ppm (cloth width 50"). Some of the major
properties of the 40s C compact yarn are given in Table 1.
Table 1 Quality attributes of 40s C compact yarn
S. no.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Yarn properties
Count (Ne)
Count CV (%)
Corrected CSP
U%
Thin places ( -50%)/km
Thick places (+50%) km
Neps (+200%) / km
Total imperfections / km
Hairiness (H)
Elongation (%)
Tenacity (Rkm)

Value
40
1.9
2643
10.33
3
59
198
260
3.15
4.59
22.40

The cloth construction parameters are as follows:

Ends / Inch = 78,
Picks / Inch = 72
Warp = 40s C compact, Weft = 40s C compact
All the fabrics were tested for air permeability and water vapour
transmission. Air permeability values of the 4 fabric specimens under
investigation are given in Table 2
Table 2 Air permeability of compact yarn fabrics with
different weaves (cm3/ cm2/sec)

SITRA News

S. no.

Type of weave

Air permeability

1
2
3
4

Plain
Drill
Satin
Honey comb

98.45
230.70
263.5
274.4

11

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Plain weave

Drill

5 End satin
Honey comb
Figure 1 Shows the weave type of the fabrics produced
in this study.
Air permeability values are relatively higher for satin & honey comb
fabrics and lower for plain weave fabrics. In the satin & honey comb
fabrics, the intersection (connection) numbers of warp & weft yarns
are lower which account for the higher level of air permeability;
conversely, in the plain weave fabrics, in which the intersection number
is the highest, the air permeability is the lowest.
Water vapour transmission rates (WVTR) for the fabrics of different
weave types are given in Table 3.

SITRA News

12

Jan. - Feb. 2015

It was observed that in the satin and honey comb fabrics, in which the
weft yarns are relatively more free (intersections are less by about
50%), the water vapour transmission was higher. On the other hand, in
the plain weave and drill fabrics the weft yarns are comparatively not
free due to more number of intersections they make with the warp
yarns. Therefore, the water vapour transmission was relatively lower in
these fabrics. On an average, satin / honey comb fabrics had about
25% higher WVTR as compared to the plain weave fabrics and about
15% higher WVTR in comparison with the drill fabrics.
Table 3 Water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) for compact yarn
fabrics with different weaves (g/m2) for 24 hrs
S. no.

Type of weave

Water vapour transmission

Plain

1475

Drill

1671

Satin

1976

Honey comb

2017

- K.P.Chellamani & G.Panneerselvam

Spinning Division & PLSC, Komarapalayam
Reference
1.

K.P.Chellamani, G.Nagarajan, V.J.Kumaar and K.A.Vijyakumar,

Evaluation of comfort properties & dyeing characteristics of
fabrics made out of compact yarns SITRA Research Report,
Vol.52, January 2008, No.11.

DISTINGUISHED VISITOR
Ms. Richa Bagla, I.A.S., Director, Directorate of Textiles, Govt.
of Maharashtra.

SITRA News

13

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Consultancy services offered by SITRA

during January - February 2015
MEDICAL TEXTILES - 11
S.no.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Type of study
No. of mills
Work assignment study
3
Machinery valuation
1
Viscosity cup fabrication
4
Sample warp knitting
3
Study on noise level
1
ACS for humidification plants & compressors
1
Energy audit
2
Study on water consumption and time taken
for dyeing on soft flow dyeing machines
1
Consultancy on process standardisation
1
Technical study - process route to eliminate
black dots on bleached white fabrics
1
Technical study - Special process to minimise
bleeding of colour and staining on adjacent
portions from yarn dyed carpets
1

Besides the above consultancy studies, SITRA also offered solutions

to three adhoc problems in the area of spinning. Seventeen
instruments were calibrated, 1 instrument was certified and 238
accessory samples were tested.

Meetings attended
Dr. Prakash Vasudevan, Director, attended the following meetings :
- Ninth meeting of Project Appraisal Monitoring Committee (PAMC),
under R & D scheme of Ministry of Textiles, under the
Chairmanship of the Textile Commissioner, at Office of the Textile
Commissioner, Mumbai on 22nd January, 2015.
14

SITRA News

14

15

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Dr. K.P.Chellamani, General Manager - Projects, attended the following

meetings :
- Purchase Committee meeting of the COEIndutech at P.S.G.
College of Technology, Coimbatore on 13th January and 17th
February and 23rd February, 2015.
- Seventh meeting of Project Approval Committee (PAC), under R
& D scheme of Ministry of Textiles, at Udyog Bhavan, New Delhi
on 9th February, 2015.
Mr. Sakthivel Perumalsamy, Head - Centre of Excellence for Medical
Textiles attended the Board of studies meeting for M.Sc and M.Phil of
Textiles and Apparel Design at Periar University, Salem on 20th January,
2015.

Papers published
1. Dr.K.P.Chellamani & Mr.V.Vijayajothi Roller lapping in
spinning? - an objective evaluation technique Texfair 2015
Souvenir, SIMA, January 2015, pp. 26 31.
2. Dr.K.P.Chellamani, Mr.M.K.Vittopa & Mr.R.S.Vignesh Balaji
Studies on comfort properties of compact yarn fabric Texfair
2015 Souvenir, SIMA, January 2015, pp. 32 39.

Papers presented / Lectures given

Mr.M.Muthukumaran, Head - Energy Management participated as
Guest Speaker and delivered a lecture on Importance of energy audit
to the textile manufacturing & engineering inductry organised by the
Indian Textile Accessories & Machinery Manufacturers Association
(ITAMMA) at Jenney - the club,Coimbatore on 10th January, 2015.
Mr. Sakthivel Perumalsamy, Head - Centre of Excellence for Medical
Textiles delivered the following lectures :
- Smart medical textiles at the UGC sponsored National Seminar
at GVN College, Kovilpatti on 22nd January, 2015.
- Sports textiles at Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore on 19th
February, 2015.
SITRA News

15

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Recognition
1. Dr.K.P.Chellamani, has been retained by the Department of Bio
Technology (DBT), New Delhi as an expert member to review the
progress of a project Innovative method to extract silk grade banana
fibres sponsored and financed by DBT.

2. Three staff members of the Engineering Division Mr. M.Muthuvelan,

Mr. N.Vasanthakumar and Mr. G.Ilango received their ISO 50001: 2011
Energy Management System (EnMS) Lead auditor certificates issued
by Bureau Veritas (I) P.Ltd., Chennai.

Visits
Mr.K.Balasubramaniyan, Assistant Director and Head of Knitting and
Weaving Division, visited the following places:
- Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) to discuss on Airjet loom
technical problem on 30th January, 2015.
- To Central Prison along with Director General of Prisons, Hyderabad
to discuss about the weaving machinery requirement on 31st
January, 2015.

TRAINING

Training for Technical of offices from Directorate of Textiles,

Govt. of Maharashtra
At the request of Directorate of Textiles, Govt. of Maharashtra, SITRA
conducted a 5 day programme for the technical staff of the Directorate.
The focus of the programme was sensitizing the participants on the
various technical aspects involved in the textile industry with coverage
SITRA News

16

Jan. - Feb. 2015

of topics which included present textile scenario, production and

productivity, work load and work assignment, introduction to weaving,
project appraisal for spinning and weaving, current trends and issues
in chemical processing and garment technology. Twenty seven staff of
the Directorate attended the programme.
Training programme on Modern practices in sizing for hi-tech
weaving machines
Sizing, being one of the important preparatory processes in weaving,
plays a vital role in deciding the performance of warp during weaving.
Knowledge of the properties of the various ingrediants used for sizing
is necessary for formulating suitable recipes to fulfill the objectives of
the process. With a focus on these aspects, SITRA conducted a
programme on Modern practices in sizing for hi-tech weaving
machines on 23rd January, 2015. The programme focussed on the
efficiency in sizing, the type and amout of size, penetration of size in
different yarn structures and the mode of different deformations in sized
yarns during weaving towards better productivity in sizing units. Eighty
two participants comprising of Managing Directors, senior executives
and technical personnel attended the programme.
Training programme on Power Quality Management
SITRA organised one-day training programme on Power Quality
Management on 10th February, 2015 for which 44 participants from
Textile Industry and other industries attended. The programme covered
topics like introduction to power quality, measurement and analysis of
power quality parameters, effect on quality degraded voltages,
harmonics and mitigation, reactive power management and effective
earthing system for electrical protection etc.
Training programme on Basics of Knitting Technology
SITRA conducted a training programme on Basics of knitting
technology from 2nd to 28th February, 2015. The programme covered
technical topics like introduction to knitting, design analysis, process
control in knitting, knitting calculation, modern developments in knitting,
defect analysis and hands on training. Three persons attended the
programme.

SITRA News

17

Jan. - Feb. 2015

Training programme on Testing on Analytical instruments

SITRA organised a three day value added course Testing on Analytical
instruments for the students of an Arts & Sceince college in
Coimbatore, from 23rd to 25th February, 2015. Seventeen students
attended the programme. The topics covered were sample preparation
techniques, principles of different analytical instruments, practical
demonstration of analysis on GC-MS, HPLC, AAS, HPTLC, etc.
Training programme on Defect analysis and the remedies in
chemical processing
SITRA in association with Tirupur Exporters Association organised an
interactive programme on Defect analysis and suitable remedies in
chemical processing at the TEA conference hall, Tirupur on 28th
January, 2015.The topics covered were general causes for defects in
finished yarn / fabric / garments, washing-off techniques, yarn dyeing
defects, oil stains and related defects and burn-out prints and defects,
etc. 110 participants attended the programme.
Pre-employment training and retraining programmes for textile
workers
One out-station mill and one local mill availed SITRAs training services
for their workers. Sixty five operatives in spinning departments were
trained in 4 batches. The training programmes were conducted in Tamil
and Kannada.

CHARACTERIZING COTTON YARN APPEARANCE DUE TO YARNTO-YARN ABRASION BY IMAGE PROCESSING

H.Asgari, F.Mokhtari, M.Latifi and M.Amani-Tehran, The
Journal of the Textile Institute, 2014, Vol.105, No.5, pp 477
482.
Abrasion affects yarn appearance on the core and hairy areas. With
regard to appearance, three zones can be identified in a staple fibre
SITRA News

18

Jan. - Feb. 2015

yarn. They are i) Compact Core, ii) Fuzzy Interface and iii) Fluffy hairy
sheath.
Since there is a fuzzy interface between the core and hairy area, the
thickness of the core can be derived by employing the frequency
distribution diagram of the yarn Image.
In the present study, the authors have defined the thickness of the
fuzzy interface as 0.25 of the cores diameter around the core. The
hairy area is randomly located around the fuzzy zone.
The average thickness (diameter) of yarn is defined as the thickness
of its core plus the average density of pixels represented by the yarn
along the fuzzy zone.
After identifying the core of the yarn and the fuzzy zone around it, the
mean value of yarn diameter is obtained from equation (1)

--------- (1)

Where B is the border line between the fuzzy and hairy areas and f(x,
y) is the intensity function of image pixels. Mean value of diameter
(MD index) was taken as one of the pictorial indices of abrasion.

--------- (2)

The hair density average (HAD index) was taken as another index.
Considering the hairy area in the yarn image, the average of hair density
in image columns along the yarn can be calculated from equation (2).
The ratio of hairiness (RH) index was evaluated. This index can result
from the ratio of the hairy area to the area of core sector of the yarn
images as shown in equation (3).

SITRA News

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Jan. - Feb. 2015

--------- (3)

Where F(X) is the cumulative function of pixel intensity in the yarn

image columns and MD is the mean diameter of yarn obtained from
equation (1).
Another index, namely pictorial cover factor (PCF) was also found
out using equation (4).

--------- (4)

A study on the relationship of the 4 proposed indices and their

dependence on weight loss indicates that the MD has the highest
correlation with weight loss. MD is representative of changes in yarn
core. However, the HDA, RH and PCF indices are significantly interdependent and they all represent one sort of change in the yarn images.
The greatest advantage of the PCF index compared to HDA and RH
indices is the simplicity of its acquisition from the yarn images without
the need to identify the boundaries of yarn core. Overall, the authors
have concluded that the image processing technique is a proper method
to study and evaluate the abrasion of yarn before rupture with high
accuracy, especially for online and real time control purposes.
- V.Vijayajothi
Spinning Division
IMPACT OF BLOW ROOM BEATER SPEED ON YARN PROPERTIES
Abdul Salaam Bagwan and Patil Harshal
Mukesh Patel School of Technology, Management & Engineering,
Maharastra/India, Melliand International, 3/2014
In blow room, the speed of the machine plays an important role. The
speed of the machine is dependent upon the material to be processed
in the blow room line, as the speed for finer count is comparably lower
than that for coarser count. The first two stages in yarn production i.e.
blow room and carding have a considerable influence on final product
SITRA News

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Jan. - Feb. 2015

quality, processing behavior of raw material with machines, productivity

and profitability. Processing behavior of raw material with machine
productivity and profitability depends on machinery speed and
sequence of machines in the blow room line which plays an important
role. In general, it was observed that increasing the speed of the
machines deteriorated the quality of the product.
In this study, the authors used the following sequence of machinery
to produce 20s count i.e. bale plucker, uniclean, unimix, ERM cleaner
with chute feed system. Medium grade cotton H4 was used in the
study. In order to optimize the speed of the ERM beater, two different
speeds of ERM beater were selected and the material was processed
up to simplex frames and 20s yarn was produced.
The authors report that as the speed of the ERM beater increased,
neps/g of final product reduced stage-wise which may be attributed to
the increase in the beats per inch at higher speeds resulting in the
removal of trash particles, which are deeply associated with the fibres,
due to high centrifugal force and more cleaner material fed to card
where more individualization and parallisation take place. This leads
to improved orientation of sliver and reduce the neps/g. Also, more
beats/inch give more opening action and volume of flock increases,
and weight of tuft reduced, more of trash like seed husk, leaf matter
extracted. As the speed of the ERM beater increased from 525 to 650
rpm, more intensive cleaning took place, blow room cleaning power
increased and load on subsequent process like carding reduced. More
individualization of fibre lead to increased sliver orientation.
Finally the authors conclude that with the higher ERM beater speed
(from 525 to 650 rpm), the cleaning intensity increased. In the
subsequent process like carding, finer impurities were removed and
due to individualisation, the fibre neps that formed in the previous
process were removed. The two draw frame passages improved the
parallisation and orientation of sliver which resulted in the reduced
yarn U%, thick places and neps. Properties like elongation and rkm
value were found improved in 20s count. However, the effect of beater
speed above 650 rpm needs to be studied in detail.
- S. Sivakumar & S. Kowsalya
Textile chemistry division
SITRA News

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