Handbook of Yarn Production

Technology, Science and Economics

Peter R. Lord

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9781855736962
• eBook ISBN: 9781855738652
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Operations
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Written by one of the world's leading experts, Handbook of yarn production: technology, science and economics is an authoritative and comprehensive guide to textile yarn manufacturing. The book is designed to allow readers to explore the subject in various levels of detail. The first three chapters provide an overview of yarn production, products and key principles. The major part of the book then reviews in detail the production processes for short-staple, long-staple and filament yarns.There are also chapters on quality control and the economics of staple-yarn production.The final part of the book consists of a series of appendices which provide in-depth analysis of key topics with detailed technical data and worked examples which is an invaluable reference in itself for anyone concerned with the behaviour, performance and economics of a textile mill.Handbook of yarn production: technology, science and economics is a standard work for both yarn manufacturers and those researching and studying in this important area of the textile industry.- A practical and authoritative new handbook for yarn manufacturing- Shows how problems can arise and how to deal with them- Includes invaluable technical data, calculations, worked examples and case studies

1

Review of yarn production

1.1 Historical basis

1.1.1 Historical background [1]

The long reach of history shows how prosperity varies as civilizations have waxed and waned. The course of prosperity has been bumpy and there are dangers in extrapolating the future based on the short-term past. Successive centuries have seen fundamental changes of varying types. Greenwood [2] outlines steps related to yarns and textiles in the first two millennia and points out the extraordinary fineness of the materials that have been made. He also discusses some of the developments that have improved the productivity of the manufacturing systems and reduced the costs over the centuries. The eighteenth century saw a financial revolution, the nineteenth saw the industrial revolution, and the twentieth saw the information revolution.

The history of humanity contains many references to textile materials because they were, and still are, part of the fabric of our lives. Consequently, the history of fibers is one of the traceable threads in the story of yarn production. A second thread concerns the extraordinary developments of the industrial revolution. There were gigantic steps in productivity of both people and machines. Another thread concerns the developing economic environment that has surrounded these changes. Thus, let us first make a brief survey of the history of some important fibers.

1.1.2 A brief history of silk

The origin of silk is found only in legend and fable; certainly it was used in the time of Emperor Huang Ti in China in the third millennium BC. Sanskrit literature refers to silk in India in the second century BC and the Old Testament also refers to it. When it percolated to the West, it was as valuable as gold on a weight-to-weight basis. Roman Emperor Justinian tried to monopolize the trade (unsuccessfully), smuggled silk worms to Constantinople (c. ad 550) and started sericulture there. Byzantine silks became world famous. The Moors established sericulture in Spain and so the production of silk spread. It reached northern Europe in the fifteenth century and the western hemisphere in the sixteenth, although it failed at first. However, the strong luster and ability to take brilliant dyes made silk very attractive. The peak of activity was after World War I and by 1919 the price had risen to US$21/1b; that is equivalent to over $1200/1b in the currency of 2003. Once fine man-made fibers entered the market, the price and the demand for silk dropped; but there is still an important market in some areas of the world.

Perhaps the early inventors of synthetic fibers were influenced by the knowledge of the manner in which silkworms, spiders, and other creatures extruded filaments. Doubtless, they were also impressed by the extraordinary properties of these naturally extruded fibers. Such inspiration was probably very important in determining the future of fiber production.

1.1.3 A brief history of bast fibers

Bast fibers are derived from the stems of various plants.

Cultivated flax [3] probably originated in the Mediterranean region; certainly it was used in prehistoric times. It was found in Stone Age dwellings in Switzerland, the ancient Egyptians used it, and references to it are sprinkled throughout historical writings. It has been used both for its fiber and for its seed. The fiber is used to make linen cloth, and the crushed seed yields linseed oil, long used for the preservation of leather and wood. Until the eighteenth century, linen manufacture was widespread in the domestic industry of European countries. The development of cotton processing and the great inventions of the industrial revolution dealt an almost fatal blow to this erstwhile prevailing industry.

Jute fiber was largely unknown in the West until the eighteenth century, but it was in common use in Bengal before then. There was resistance to its use because blending it with hemp or flax was regarded as adulteration. In the nineteenth century, the Dutch government replaced linen coffee bags with jute and this gave an impetus to use it in the West. Research was carried out in Dundee, Scotland, which became a recognized center of yarn production. Also, much of the production was in what are now Pakistan and India. (Strangely, after partition in 1947, India had the jute processing resources, and the bulk of the corresponding agricultural producing sector was in Pakistan: Jute played a prominent role in the development of trade relations between the two countries.) It was attractive because it was strong, bulky, and cheap. However, in more recent times, the increasing use of polypropylene for cotton-bale wrapping, carpet backing, sacking, and other products has decimated the jute industry.

Hemp fiber is thought to have originated north of the Himalayas and was well known in China in the second millennium BC. It was brought to the Americas in the sixteenth century and, by the twentieth century, was being grown throughout the world. The plant not only produces fibers but also narcotics. Some species of hemp produce little in the way of narcotics, but many countries make the growing of it illegal for social reasons.

1.1.4 A brief history of wool fibers

The use of wool for clothing dates back to antiquity. Outstanding properties of wrinkle resistance, moisture absorption, warmth, and tendency to felt, have given it a role, not only in apparel, but also in blankets, upholstery, and floor coverings. Babylonia is translated by some as meaning ‘the land of wool’. It is known that the Phoenicians traded wool fabric during the first millennium bc [3]. The Ancient Romans established wool factories to supply their army; the fame of these factories was spread by the travels of Roman soldiers. In Britain, the wool flocks were scattered by the incoming Saxons and the wool trade there then went into decline. The Normans re-established the trade and it developed for a time, although there seems to have been little progress through the dark ages; it was not until after the seventeenth century that structural changes started to occur. After many struggles over restraints in trade, wool was very important in England in the eighteenth century. Spain too was a major producer but its government had enforced rigid restrictions on the export of fleeces at about that time [4].

In times of rapid technological change, many are left behind. Mechanization in the Low Countries and Britain in the nineteenth century permitted spinners in these regions to out-produce those who had not embraced the emerging technologies. There was then a vast opening-up of the supply of raw wool from the western and southern hemispheres. It was the combination of a plentiful supply of raw material and high productivities of people and machines that produced the displacement of the centers of production and sites of the markets changed also. Now, many of the industrial companies then formed have, in turn, been overtaken by new technology and economic changes. The development of synthetic fibers and new processes has created a new situation; the market in wool has declined somewhat even in the last decade. Despite this, the world consumes about 1.5 million tons of wool per year, and its value is greater than the weight might suggest. Australia abolished its price support in the 1980s and prices globally were determined more than before by market forces. In the decade centered on 1990, prices plummeted [5], but supply is now in better balance with demand and there is hope for expansion. China is now a large consumer.

A remarkable feature of wool is its ability to recover from deformation over a time, and this gives apparel made from the fibers attractive crease-shedding properties. Also, the rate at which the fiber takes up and disperses moisture is such that it gives clothes made from wool good comfort properties. These inherent properties give wool an attraction that is likely to guarantee it a place in the world market; the main question is how much of that market it will retain.

1.1.5 A brief history of cotton fibers

The use of cotton fibers has been traced back to as far as 3000 bc. Yarns were found in the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro, a city in the Indus valley [2]. Cotton has been known, cultivated, and worked in India since the earliest historical periods. A Hindu Rigveda hymn (c 1500 bc) mentions cotton, and Herodotus (c 450 bc) is said to have mentioned ‘wild trees bearing fleeces as their fruit’. Ancient Egyptians were known to have grown and spun yarns in the seventh century AD. When the Spaniards arrived in America they found cotton being used to make cloth. Cotton was found in prehistoric pueblo ruins in Arizona, and cotton grave cloths from pre-Inca Peru are still in existence.

Cotton has remarkable durability in the marketplace; it filled a major role in the industrial revolution and it has formed an alliance with man-made fibers in more recent times. Therefore, it is perhaps best if further discussion of the history of cotton is left to unfold with some of those events.

1.1.6 A brief history of man-made fibers

Ideas about synthetic fiber processes were expressed by Robert Hook (1775) and René de Reaumur (1734); Louis Schwabe extruded glass fibers in 1842. Much of the early work was to develop a means of ‘liquefying’ cellulose to permit extrusion. In 1846, C F Sc...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright page
• Acknowledgments
• 1: Review of yarn production
• 2: Textile products and fiber production
• 3: Common principles
• 4: Filament yarn production
• 5: Carding and prior processes for short-staple fibers
• 6: Sliver preparation
• 7: Short-staple spinning
• 8: Long-staple spinning
• 9: Post-spinning processes
• 10: Staple systems and modified yarn structures
• 11: Quality and quality control
• 12: Economics of staple yarn production
• Appendix 1: Calculations I: Elementary theory
• Appendix 2: Calculations II: Worked examples
• Appendix 3: Advanced topics I: Air conditioning and utilities
• Appendix 4: Advanced topics II: Testing of textile materials
• Appendix 5: Advanced topics III: Staple yarn structures
• Appendix 6: Advanced topics IV: Textured yarn structures
• Appendix 7: Advanced topics V: Blending of staple fibers
• Appendix 8: Advanced topics VI: Drafting and doubling
• Appendix 9: Advanced topics VII: Yarn balloon mechanics
• Appendix 10: Advanced topics VIII: Topics in rotor spinning
• Index