Bahirdar University

Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology

Seminar on
process control in blow room and carding

by Biruk Fentahun

Dec. 2015

1. Introduction-spinning

During spinning process, it is necessary to think and work on

the following points- in process control point of view

1. Raw Material Selection

fibre length
micronaire range and average
color range and average
maturity coefficient range and average
homogeneous mixing
Level of moisture
3. Process Control in Carding
average level of waste and variation between
individual cards
correct type of wire suited to a given quality
Settings
Neps
5. Process Control in Ring Spinning

end breaks
yarn evenness and imperfections
improper pinion changes
improper roller settings.
high tension draft
twist

2. Process Control in Blow Room

cleaning and waste
performance of blow room
neps
Fiber brakages
4. Process Control in Draw Frame & Fly
Frame
high tension draft
improper pinion changes
improper roller settings.
sliver break
6. Process Control in Rotor Spinning

Unevenness
Periodic variation
Tensile property

2. Blow room
Basic Functions Of Blow Room

1. Opening & Cleaning-1st

2.Mixing or Blending
3.Micro dust removal
4.Uniform feed to the Carding
5.Recycling of waste

yarn quality characteristics that are influenced by blow

room operations

Evenness
Imperfections
Neps
Hairiness
Count consistency

basic parameters to be considered in Blow room

speed of beater
setting between feed roller and beater
production rate of individual machine
thickness and density of the feed web
size of flocks in the feed
point density of clothing
air flow through the grid
Types of fiber and amount of trash in it
Type of opening and cleaning device
Type, Angle & setting of grid bar
degree of penetration
Atmospheric conditions

crucial things to be controlled in blow room

1.

the waste generated -contains mainly unwanted

foreign matter and spinnable fibers

2.

generation of short fibres -by avoiding rupture as far

as possible

3.
4.

Fibre damage
generation of neps.

Neps in the Blow room

avoid rough and blunt beater edges, pins

Avoid damaged and rusty grid bars
Maintain beater clearance setting
Maintain optimum cleaning efficiency
the maximum cleaning efficiency of a blow room cannot be
more than 70% .
Above this cleaning efficiency will result in unnecessary
nep generation.

Fiber breakage in the blow room

attempting to achieve a higher cleaning
efficiency will result in unnecessary loss of
fibres, fibre breakage .
Higher roller speeds give a better cleaning
effect but also more stress on the fibre.i.e.
fiber loss

cleaning and Waste in the blow room

If cotton is opened well in the opening process, cleaning

becomes easier because opened cotton has more
surface area, therefore cleaning is more efficient.
it is necessary to measure the amount of the waste
removed and its composition.
It depends on trash%, machine performance factor and
cotton properties factor.

factors that cause variation in the blow room

material, and hence inconsistent final yarn quality
insufficient opening of cotton and variation in tuft size
ineffective functioning of the evener motion
variation in cotton level in the blended reserve
uneven mixing of waste and cottons
faulty air currents
uneven or worn fluted rolls and calendar rolls
dirty screens or screens with rough surfaces
incorrectly set or chocked dampers
too large a draft between calendar section and lap
winder
types and speeds of beaters unsuitable for the quality
of cotton

3. Carding
The carding is a very important process because unless
the fibres are separated into individuals, they can not be
spun into smooth and uniform yarns neither can they be
blended properly with other fibres.
It contributes a lot to the yarn quality

Functions
Individualization of fibers
parallelization
to remove impurities
Disentangling of neps
to reduce the blend to a web of fibers and
to divide it up into roving's of the required count,
suitable for feeding to the spinning machines.

Important carding parameters

process parameters and specifications are to be selected properly to

produce a good quality yarn with a lower manufacturing cost.

Process
parameters

Machine
parameters

1. Speeds
Licker in speed
Cylinder speed
Flat speed
Doffer speed
2. Settings
Licker-in to feed, cylinder
Cylinder to flat, doffer
Mote knife to licker-in
3. Materials
Thickness of lap/eed weight
Sliver count
draft between feed
roller and doffer

Licker-in clothing
Cylinder clothing
Doffer clothing
Flat clothing

Influence of cylinder speed

cylinder speed depends upon the production rate
Higher cylinder speed increases the space for the fibre
leading higher production.
The higher the cylinder speed is, higher centrifugal force
on fibers and trash particles-more libration of trash, short
fibers, increase transfer efficiency
Intensive opening action between cylinder and flat Individualization, stress exerted on fibers, libration of trash
particles, seed coat and short fibers

Cylider wire

The following characteristics of cylinder wire should be considered.

wire angle
tooth depth
wire population
rib thickness
tooth profile
tooth pitch
tooth point
overall wire height

Wire front angle depends on mainly cylinder speed and coefficient

of friction of raw material.
Higher the cylinder speed, lower the angle for a given fibre. It is the
wire that keeps the fibre under its influence during carding
operation.
Therefore the space within the wire should also be more for higher
production.

Cont

Higher the cylinder speed, higher the centrifugal force created by the
cylinder, this tries to eject fibre from the cylinder, along with trash.
It is cylinder wire's front angle which overcomes the effect of this force.
Low front angle with too low cylinder speed and with high frictional
force will result in bad quality, because the fibre transfer from cylinder to
doffer will be less. Hence recycling of fibres will take place, which result
in more neps and entanglements.
movement of the fibres towards the tip of the tooth coupled with
centrifugal action demands an acute front angle to hold the fibre in place
during carding.
Lack of stiffness associated with fine and/or long fibres necessitates more
control during the carding process. This control is obtained by selecting
the tooth pitch, which gives the correct ratio of the number of teeth to
the fibre length. Tooth pitch reduction is therefore required for
exceptionally short fibres and those lack stiffness.
Number of points across carding is decided by the rib width. Finer the
fibre, finer the rib width. The trend is to finer rib width for higher
production.

sliver U%
High card sliver U% can be caused by a number of
factors
Worn gear wheels

poor functioning of roller weighting

narrow setting of the undercasing

uneven feed to nose of the feed plate

large waste particles reaching to

doffer
uneven or worn doffer & feed roller
bearings
draft at excessively high tension
jerky motion of calendar roller

incorrect setting of the coiler base

incorrectly sized coiler trumpet
not suitable to the hank feed

worn and improper clothing settings

uneven heights in the wire clothing
excessive humidity
poor feed roller grip, caused by failure
of feed roll weighing
bent feed roller and feed plate

Causes of excessive wastage in carding

Wider winch angle (deflector blade) setting.

Incorrect delivery speed.
Gauge in changeable points.
Amount of trash removed in Blow room section.
Incorrect setting in mote knives.

Neps in carding
Avoid damaged wires
Waxy covering on the wires
Double carding reduce neps by over 50%

THANK U !!