Spinning Educatee Textile Testing and Quality Control-I Spinning Educatee

Chapter-4: Fiber Dimensions (Color + Trash)

Color: Color is the basic criterion of cotton classification into cotton grade according to the universal
cotton standards. Cotton fiber color is a genetically inherited trait resulting from the presence of pigments
intermingled with cellulose. It can be affected by many factors connecting with cotton cultivation: rainfall
freezes. Insects, fungi, staining through contact with soil, grass etc. as well as by the condition of cotton
storage: moisture and temperature. Color deterioration also affects the ability of fibers to absorb and hold
dyes and finishes. Color measurements are also correlated with overall fiber quality so that bright
(reflective, high Rd), creamy white fibers are more mature and of higher quality than the dull, grey or
yellowish fibers associated with field weathering and generally lower fiber quality. The degree of
reflectance (Rd) indicates how bright or dull a sample is, whereas the yellowness (+b) indicates the
degree of color pigmentation.
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Chapter-4: Fiber Dimensions (Color + Trash)

Color Grade: Color grade is determined by locating the quadrant of the color chart in which the Rd and
+b values intersect. Color grade is represented in three digits as xx-y. First digit represents the brightness
of color. Lower the number higher will be the brightness. Second digit represents to yellowness of color.
Higher the number higher will be yellowness.

Importance of color grade: Monitoring the color grade is important job to control the shade variation or
barre problem in resultant yarn and fabric.

To avoid the shade variation or barre problem it is advisable that only four adjacent cotton grade should
select for mixing plan e.g, 11,12,21,22 may run together but 11 with 13 or 11 or 31 should be avoided.
Elevated numbers (e.g., 42 or 52) indicate a dullness of color and typically result from late-season
weathering. Reduced color diminishes the dyeing properties of fibers and negatively affects spinning
efficiencies.
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Chapter-4: Fiber Dimensions (Color + Trash)

Colour measurement by optical method:

The colour of cotton fiber is measured by optical principles. The colour module has a photodiode, which
collects the reflected light from the sample. The photodiode output is converted into meaningful signals
using signal conditioners. The illumination of the sample is done with the help of two lamps connected in
parallel.
Light from the lamps is reflected from the surface of a cotton sample on the test window. The reflected
light is diffused and transmitted to the Rd and +b photodiode. These two signals are conditioned to
provide two output voltages, which are proportional to the intensity of light falling on the respective
photodiodes. These voltages are converted to digital signals from which the computer derives Rd and +b
readings to be displayed on the screen.

Trash: Trash is a measure of the amount of non-lint materials in cotton, such as leaf and bark from the
cotton plant. Variety, defoliation, harvest conditions and ginning all affect leaf and trash in cotton.

Trash content is useful for: estimating the net amount of manufactured textile product obtainable from
raw cotton, predicting the quality of cotton textile products, particularly their aesthetic properties,
assembling and blending values in a mix on a trash content basis, adjusting ginning and textile processing
machinery for maximum efficiency in removing trash from cotton, and relating trash content of cotton to
processing efficiency and end-product quality.

The knowledge of an accurate measurement of trash content in cotton is of high importance for these
operations since it impacts removal in the blow-room, carding and combing. This in turn affects the raw
material cost either through loss of fiber in these removal processes, or through the ability to negotiate a
price which is a function of this parameter. An additional impact on spinning is in the form of quality and
performance cost. Trash in spinning influences end breaks affecting yarn quality due to piecing and
defects. Additionally, higher end breaks which result in lower spinning efficiencies, affect productivity
and financial performance.

Trash Measurement by image data analysis:

The surface of the cotton sample is scanned by a digital camera, and the digital image is analyzed. Dark
trash particles (i.e. those whose colour value is 30% darker than the light cotton colour of the
environment) are counted. The percentage of the surface area occupied by trash particles (percent area)
and the number of trash particles visible (particle count) are calculated and reported. The ratio between
percent area of trash and trash particle count is a good indicator of the average particle size in a cotton
sample. For instance, a low percent area combined with a high particle count indicates a smaller average
particle size than does a high percent area with a low particle count. A high percent area of trash results in
greater textile mill processing waste and lower yarn quality. Small trash particles, or “pepper trash,” are
highly undesirable, because they are more difficult for the mill to remove from the cotton lint than are
larger trash particles.

 Trash Count (Tr Cnt)

 Trash Area (Tr Area)
 Trash (Leaf Grade) (Tr Grade)
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Chapter-4: Fiber Dimensions (Color + Trash)

Trash can vary by type (Table 1), amount, behaviour, and adhesion to the cotton fibers.

Determination of trash and lint in cotton by Shirley trash analyser: The Shirley analyser, developed
at the Shirley institute, Manchester, England, provides an effective means for both quantitative and
qualitative analyses of foreign matter in cotton lint.

The Shirley analyser separates lint and trash by making use of the difference in their buoyancies in the air.
The specimen is fed to the taker-in cylinder with the help of feed roller and feed plate arrangement. The
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Chapter-4: Fiber Dimensions (Color + Trash)

fibers are opened by the taker-in cylinder and are carried by an air stream and deposited on a cage similar
to a condensing screen. The air stream is so adjusted that it carries only the cotton fibers and dust, leaving
the trash to fall in the lower portion of the machine. The dust passes through the cage to the exhaust, and
the fibers are collected in the delivery box.

-The weight of the specimen should normally be 100 gm.

- Spread the specimen uniformly to cover the whole area between the guides on the feed plate, teasing out
hard lumps where necessary.

-Take out the lint from the delivery box and pass it again through the machine without disturbing the trash
in the settling chamber. Stop the machine and collect the lint and keep it in a separate container (L1). •

-Remove all the trash particles containing lint from the trash tray and settling chamber and pass them
through the machine. Collect the lint from the delivery box.

Calculation: Calculate the results as lint content, trash content (visible waste content) and invisible waste
content as percentages of the original specimen by the following formulae:
Lint content (L), in percentage = [(L1+ L2 + L3) / M] × 100
Trash content (visible waste) (T), in percentage = [(T1 − L3)/ M] × 100
Invisible waste content (W), in percentage = 100 − (L+T)
Where, L1, L2 and L3 = Weight of the lint portion in grams,
T1 = Total weight of trash portion in grams,
M = Weight of the specimen in grams.
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Chapter-4: Fiber Dimensions (Color + Trash)

Stickiness in cotton fiber: Sticky cotton is a major concern for spinning mills. Physiological plant
sugars in immature fibers, contaminants from crushed seed and seed coat fragments, grease, oil and
pesticide residues are all potential sources of stickiness. However, these are insignificant compared with
contamination of cotton from the exudates of the silverleaf whitefly (Bemisia tabaci B-biotype) and the
cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii). Sugars may be insect- or plant-derived.
Honeydew: Honeydew, when present in sufficient quantity, is the main source of sugars that can result in
sticky lint. Honeydew is excreted by certain phloem-feeding insects including such common pests of
cotton as aphids and whiteflies. These insects are capable of transforming ingested sucrose into over
twenty different sugars in their excreted honeydew. The major sugars in cotton insect honeydew are
trehalulose, melezitose, sucrose, fructose and glucose.
Another source of stickiness is free plant sugars sometimes found in immature fibers. Cotton fiber is
largely cellulose that is formed from sugars synthesized by the plant. Dry, mature cotton fibers contain
little free sugar, while immature cotton fibers contain glucose, fructose, sucrose, and other sugars. If
immature cotton fiber is subjected to a freeze, complex sugars may be broken down to release additional
simple sugars. Less commonly, oils released by crushed seed coat fragments can also result in stickiness.
In this case, raffinose is the characteristic sugar.
Sugars differ in their stickiness. For example, sucrose, melezitose, and trehalulose are all significantly
stickier when deposited on fiber than are glucose or fructose.

Problems created by cotton stickiness:

To growers, stickiness means higher costs for insect control and reduced cotton marketability. To
ginners, stickiness may mean special handling and processing requirements. At the textile mill,
stickiness means reduced processing efficiency, lower yarn quality, and in severe cases total shut
down. For everyone concerned, stickiness means reduced profitability. At the textile mill,
excessive wear and increased maintenance of machinery may occur even with slightly sticky
cotton.
Stickiness Detection & Measurement:
1. Reducing-sugar tests: The degree of stickiness depends on the chemical identity, quantity, and
distribution of the sugars, the ambient conditions during processing—especially humidity—and
the machinery itself. Stickiness is therefore difficult to measure. Currently, no generally
recognized system of stickiness measurement is compatible with the speed of commercial cotton
classing. Some textile mills use reducing-sugar tests based on reduction of the cupric ion to
screen for sugar contamination. These tests are relatively quick and inexpensive. However, some
insect sugars are not reducing sugars, and some others are measured at different levels of
efficiency by various reducing-sugar methods. Thus conventional reducing-sugar tests are best
reserved for screening lint that potentially has high levels of plant sugars. In these cases and with
the potassium ferricyanide (KFeCN) test, lint with reducing sugar levels below 0.3% may be
processed without difficulty.
2. The Sticky Cotton Thermodetector (SCT): It measures the physical sticking points transferred
to alumsssinum sheets by a conditioned lint sample that is squeezed and heated (to 82.5°C for 12
sec.). Levels of stickiness are categorized according to the number of specks left on the two
sheets of foil. Lower numbers of specks are preferable to higher numbers; however, a specific
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Chapter-4: Fiber Dimensions (Color + Trash)

threshold over which all cotton will result in processing problems has not been defined. The SCT
takes about 5 minutes to process each sample.
3. The minicard: The minicard is a physical test that measures actual cotton stickiness of the card
web passing between stainless steel delivery rollers of a miniature carding machine. Modeled
after a production carding machine, the minicard must be run under strict tolerances (24°C; 55%
RH). A ‘0’ minicard rating indicates that no sticking was observed, while progressively higher
numbers (on a 0–3 scale) indicate progressively greater amounts of sticking during the process.
Cottons with high plant sugar contents evenly distributed along the fibers may fail to be measured
as sticky in this test.

Model Questions:
1. What is Trash? Why trash measurement is useful for textile industry?
2. Explain the basic principle of trash measurement by image analysis technology.
3. What are dust and trash? Give the classification of cotton fiber based on trash%.
4. Describe the construction and working procedure of Shirley trash analyzer with figure.
5. Describe any one method for trash measurement in cotton stock.
6. What are understood by Rd value and +b value of cotton fiber?
7. What is understood by cotton color grade? Why is it important?
8. Describe the basic principle of cotton fiber color measurement by optical method.
9. What is honeydew? Describe any one method for measuring cotton stickiness.
10. What is stickiness? What are the problems may occur due to cotton stickiness. How this problems
can be solved in a spinning mill?