Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
APPLICATION REPORT
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Table of contents
1
Introduction ................................................................................ 5
2.1
2.2
3.1
3.2
3.3
4.1
4.2
Conclusions.............................................................................. 10
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Introduction
The carding department in a spinning mill is the most critical area for maintaining proper control. The cotton card is the last opportunity to remove
neps and trash in sliver before the spinning process. However, additional
removal of neps and trash can be accomplished in the combing process.
Neps in card sliver produce imperfections in carded yarn as measured by
USTER TESTER. The number of imperfections in terms of neps and thick
places can be directly associated with the neps and seed coat fragments in
cards sliver. Neps in card and draw frame sliver cannot be detected by only
controlling sliver weight and evenness. This is the reason that sliver with
acceptable evenness and count variation values may produce unacceptable spinning efficiencies and poor quality yarn. The application information
presented in this paper will focus on cotton neps in the carding process.
New high speed cards have a very high production rate compared to the
cards produced just a few years ago. Normal production rate for a new card
is approximately 100 pounds (44 kg) to 120 pounds (53 kg)/hour. This
means a card can produce 2,400 pounds (1065 kg) of sliver in 24 hours.
Visual inspection of the card web by the technician has been used to judge
the performance of the carding elements such as cylinder wire, flat settings,
and licker-in cylinder. These visual determinations can be very subjective
and lead to unnecessary maintenance and rebuilding. Visual counting of
neps also is complicated by trash and seed coat fragments in the card web,
new design, etc. New designs of cotton cards have moved the doffer cylinder very close to the main cylinder. This new design has eliminated access
to the card web that has traditionally been inspected by the quality control
technician.
The USTER AFIS (neps) instrument allows the spinning mill to quickly test
each card sliver to determine the quality level of the sliver being produced.
The repeatability and consistency of the USTER AFIS measurement gives
valuable information to the card room technician. This information can be
used to establish a detailed maintenance schedule for the carding department. The information provided by the USTER AFIS instrument can improve yarn quality by reducing the number of imperfections in the yarn such
as neps and thick places. Intelligent scheduling of card maintenance can
substantially reduce the amount of money and time spent on card rebuilding.
This paper only deals with one quality parameter which can be measured
with USTER AFIS: neps in raw material and slivers.
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2.1
A line or group of cotton cards do not operate or wear the same throughout
the Carding department. Because of the mechanical nature of the card design, the components of each card wear differently from one another. This
has led to establishing general maintenance and rebuilding schedules
based on experience. Typical schedules are as follows:
Operation
Schedule
Grinding
cylinder wire and flats
Rebuilding
replace cylinder wire and flats
Licker-in Cylinder
replace
Table 1
Recommended procedure
The use of AFIS can produce a more realistic and practical schedule.
2.2
The variation of neps in sliver from card to card results in maintenance being done on cards that are producing a good quality sliver. This also means
that some cards that are producing off quality sliver are not scheduled for
maintenance at the optimum time. Regularly scheduled testing of card
sliver on the USTER AFIS instrument can provide the necessary information for determining which cards are in need of maintenance. The graph
below shows the typical variation in a single line of cotton cards.
180
160
Neps/gram in sliver
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1
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4
Card number
Fig. 1
Significant differences
across card line
3.1
The best way to make sure the cards are operating as efficiently as possible is to begin by setting up a process control chart for each card. This
chart should be kept in the file that records maintenance for each individual
card. A typical chart for a high speed cotton card is shown below:
120
Upper limit
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Week number
Fig. 2
Process control chart
Neps in card sliver will increase with time as the card wire and other components deteriorate. This type chart applies to any make of card, slow or
high speed as well as single or tandem. Cards operating at slower speeds
will generally take a longer time to reach the upper limit.
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The control chart showing the card number, Fig. 1, has the AFIS nep count
per gram on the vertical axis. The weekly test results of card no. 12 are
shown in Fig. 2 on the vertikal axis. Card sliver should be tested weekly if
possible, and the results posted at the card for that particular week. When
the nep levels go above the upper control limit, the card is then scheduled
for maintenance.
The upper control limit is established using the following information:
Question
Answer
Neps are more visually critical in finished knit fabric than in finished woven fabric. This is due to
basic fabric construction and finishing techniques.
3.3
Table 2
Recommended procedure
As the card nep removal efficiency improves, the upper limit on the control
chart should be slowly lowered. Experience has shown that the upper limit
should level off in 4 to 6 months after a maintenance program is started
using the AFIS nep data to schedule card maintenance.
There are two ways to monitor neps in card sliver. One is to use the actual
nep count per gram. Another is to use card nep removal efficiency. Removal efficiency is calculated using the following formula:
% Removal efficiency =
Neps in card mat are the neps in samples taken from cotton going into the
back of the card either in lap or mat form.
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Using the information from the USTER AFIS instrument to establish a nep
control chart and limits for scheduling carding maintenance, these can reduce the overall costs for the carding department. Mill studies have shown
that it is possible for some cotton cards to process over 2 million pounds
(900000 kg) before exceeding the upper limits for nep counts in sliver.
Typically, costs for card wire and replacement parts such as flats and
licker-in cylinders are the largest expense items in the spinning mill's machinery maintenance budget. Reducing or eliminating the grinding of cylinder wire can also be accomplished using this nep control chart for scheduling maintenance.
The following example shows a comparison between historical maintenance scheduling and the USTER AFIS control chart for establishing a
schedule. This example is based on a single card processing 100% American upland type cottons. The cards are high speed cards producing 100
Ibs/hr (44 kg) that have been operating for 4 years. Prices for rebuilding
and grinding are typical USA costs. This same chart can be used for other
economic regions by inserting typical costs for that particular area.
4.1
Cards
30
Rebuild/yr
Regrind/yr
30
30
60
75000
250
Total maintenance
Total ($)
15000
90000
Table 3
Cost for maintenance
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Cards
30
Rebuild/yr
Regrind/yr
18
30
21
Total ($)
45000
250
Total maintenance
5250
50250
Table 4
Cost for maintenance, AFIS
based
Conclusions
The USTER AFIS instrument gives modern spinning mill management the
information necessary to monitor and improve nep levels in card sliver. Reducing neps in sliver reduces the neps and imperfections in yarn and improves fabric appearance. Replacing historical card maintenance schedules with a control chart using AFIS nep information can substantially reduce the repair and replacement costs in the carding department.
The following guidelines will ensure the best process control in the carding
department:
Weekly testing of card sliver with the USTER AFIS
Establishing a process control chart for each individual cotton card
Establishing upper control limits for nep levels
Designing maintenance schedules based only for those cards above the
upper limit of the nep control chart
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Uster Technologies AG
Wilstrasse 11
CH-8610 Uster / Switzerland
Phone +41 43 366 36 36
Fax
+41 43 366 36 37
www.uster.com
sales@uster.com
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