Seminar Title

1. Yarn realization and control waste in spinning mills. Peer group 1

2. Processing of manmade fiber in spinning mills (includes the requirement of manmade
fiber, grading, setting of grid bar, roller speed and clothing wire finer or coarser). Peer
group 2
3. Long staple fiber and short staple fiber spinning processing (include comparison of
woolen, worsted/semi-worsted and man-made). Peer group 3

Submission Deadline: 21/11/13 E.C

In the production economics of a spinning mill, yarn realisation plays a significant role. To illustrate, in
the prevailing cotton cost and yarn selling price, even an 1% improvement in yarn realisation would lead
to a saving of Rs 20 lakhs per year for a 30000 spindle mill manufacturing 40s yarn.
Two decades ago, SITRA had brought out a publication on yarn realisation and process waste control.
During this intervening period, remarkable changes have taken place in the industry with regard to
technology of machinery, yarn quality and workers efficiency. Keeping the above in mind, the formulae
for estimating yarn realisation and norms for different categories of wastes have been updated and
presented in this article.

This article also deals with various measures necessary to improve yarn realisation and control wastes.
Besides controlling process wastes such as blowroom and card droppings, flat strips, comber noil, sweep
waste and yarn waste, equal emphasis should also be laid on the control of reusable wastes (soft waste)
such as lap bits, sliver bits, roving ends and pneumafil and roller waste. This is because, apart from loss
in production, reprocessing of soft wastes involves extra handling and deteriorates yarn quality.

2. YARN REALISATION
Establishment of norms for wastes is a pre-requisite for a successful waste control in a mill. Yarn
realisation (YR) is largely governed by the level of trash in cotton, expected yarn quality and type of
machinery. Achievable yarn realisation can be obtained using the following formulae:

A. For mills reusing the entire usable wastes in the same mixing

B. For mills not reusing the usable wastes in the same mixing

Where t = trash in mixing (%)

Wk = card waste (%)
Wc = comber noil (%)
Wh = yarn waste (%)
Wu = usable waste (%)

For example, for t = 3%, Wk = 7% and Wh = 0.5%, the expected yarn realisation is 87%. In the above
case, if the mill produces combed yarn with a noil extraction of 18%, then the expected yarn realisation
will be 70.8%. In both the cases, it is assumed that the mill would reuse the usable wastes in the same
mixing.
3. NORMS FOR WASTES
Norms for different categories of wastes are summarised in Tables 1 and 2.

For the method of consolidating waste, estimating invisible loss and checking the accuracy of figures,
reference may be made to SITRA monograph Quality Control in Spinning, 1998.

4. PROCESS WASTE
4.1. Blow room
Amount of waste extracted in blow room is mostly determined by the trash level in cotton. In modern blow
room lines, greater importance is attached to the opening of cotton than cleaning. Hence, cleaning
efficiency of about 60% in cottons with high trash content and 50% in cottons with low trash level can be
considered to be quite satisfactory in these lines. For good cleaning efficiency, the waste extracted in
blow room should be about the same as the trash in mixing. If, however, the cleaning efficiency achieved
is less than 50% 60%, then the total waste extracted should also be low. It should be ensured that the
overall lint in waste is no more than 40% in cottons with high amount of trash and 50% for cottons with
low level of trash.

The expected lint loss can be estimated using the following formula:
t = trash in mixing (%)
t L = trash in lap (%)
Wb = waste extracted in blow room (%)
L = % lint in waste

Illustrative Examples
1. Trash in mixing : 3.5%
Trash in lap : 1.5%
Waste extracted : 3.2%

Calculate the lint loss in waste.

Refer equation (2),

2) Trash in mixing : 5%
Trash in lap : 2%
Expected lint loss : 40%
Estimate the amount of waste to be extracted in blow room
Presently, many mills are using Automatic Waste Evacuation System (AWES) in blow room, cards and
combers, which removes wastes from these machines either continuously or intermittently. This system
not only reduces the man power required to collect and transport wastes but also helps to control the
incidence of fly and fluff generation in these departments and improves yarn quality, particularly short
thick faults.

In mills not equipped with filters in blow room, a proper estimate of gutter waste should be made, since
gutter cleaning is not done regularly at the end of every month. The estimate of gutter waste could be
made based on the quantum of waste collected and number of days the blow room has worked.

4.2. Cards
Waste extracted in cards is usually in the range of 4% to 7% depending upon the type of card and
mixings. Between same type of cards and mixing, the waste % should not vary more than 0.5% from the
average. The card waste is also governed by the cleaning efficiency achieved in blow room. Thus, while
assessing the waste, combined waste extracted in blow room and cards should be taken into account.
The combined cleaning efficiency will be generally in the range of 90% to 98% with modern cards. To
illustrate, for 4% trash in cotton and 0.12% trash in sliver, the combined cleaning efficiency is 97%.

4.3. Combers
Generally, all cottons respond well to combing for noil extraction up to 16%. For levels beyond 16%, the
law of diminishing returns operates and the improvement in yarn quality is not commensurate with the
additional cost of production. Higher levels of waste should be extracted only in such cottons where
combing performance is satisfactory or where the end use requires yarns of very high quality. Under good
working, for every 1% increase in comber waste, yarn lea strength will increase by 1% and evenness is
expected to improve by 0.15 U%. Variation in noil % between combers must be maintained within 0.5%
and between heads it must be within 1.5%.

4.4. Yarn waste

Yarn waste in a spinning mill should not normally exceed 0.1% with conventional cone winding. In the
case of automatic cone winding, the yarn waste generally varies from 0.5% in winders fitted with
magazine feed to 0.8% in winders with auto bobbin feed system. However, if the yarn under goes
additional processes in post spinning such as reeling, doubler winding and TFO twisting/ring twisting, the
waste would be somewhat higher. A high incidence of yarn waste, apart from leading to a loss of Rs 6 to
Rs 15 per spindle per year for every 0.1% waste, is an indication of poor machinery condition and
maintenance, and inappropriate work practices of operatives. A number of factors such as vibrating
spindles, spindles out of center, soft cops, oil stain on yarn, improperly built cop bottom, yarn left over in
cops during winding and operatives using excess length while piecing, leads to high yarn waste. For
further information on yarn waste control, reference may be made to SITRA publication Measures to
Control Hard Waste in Spinning Vol.41, No.11, March 1996.

4.5. Sweep waste

Sweep waste in all the departments of a spinning mill together should be within 1%. A high sweep waste
arises invariably due to operatives throwing away the wastes like roller waste, lap bits, sliver bits, roving
ends, etc. on the floor and generation of fly and fluff. The fly frame and ring frame tenters should be
provided with hip bags and it should be ensured that the roller waste and roving ends are deposited in the
bags after piecing the broken ends. Good waste, if any, should be picked before sweeping instead of
sorting out the waste later. A high price fetched for sweep waste would give an indication of the presence
of good fibers in the waste.

5. INVISIBLE LOSS
Invisible loss in a spinning mill occurs due to a number of factors such as short fibers (fluff) escaping from
the departments, improper accounting of wastes produced, weighment errors in cotton purchased and
wastes sold, excess give away of yarn and inaccuracies in the estimates of stock held in process. Since it
would be difficult to accurately assess the process stock, it is suggested that the invisible loss be
assessed only once in 4 months for control purposes. This will help in minimising the variation in invisible
loss due to errors in process stock estimate. From the data compiled every month, a cumulative average
could also be taken for control purpose. However, not much importance should be given for estimates
made from data less than 4 months.

To maintain the invisible loss within 0.5%, mill should also ensure that moisture content in the finished
goods is at par with the level prevailed in cotton at the time of purchase. For more details on invisible loss
control, reference may be made to SITRA Focus How to Control Invisible Loss in Spinning Mills? Case
study, Vol.23, No.3, September 2005.

6. USABLE WASTE
By exercising good control over
► end breaks in various machines
► material handling and storage and
► work practices of operatives
a mill could maintain the usable waste below 5%.

7. CONCLUSION
In many mills, there is good scope for improving yarn realisation and reducing wastes (as revealed by
inter-mill studies as well as consultancy studies by SITRA). The following 4 steps would be helpful to
improve yarn realisation.

Step 1: Calculate actual yarn realisation and different categories of wastes

Step 2: Using the formulae given in this article, estimate the expected yarn realisation for the existing
working conditions.
Step 3: Compare the actual yarn realisation with the expected value and actual wastes with norms.
Step 4: Analyse the causes for deviation and initiate corrective action. Create awareness among the
workers and technical staff about the importance of waste control. Good supervision and proper
maintenance of machinery would help to reduce the waste.