Latest Technologies and

Developments in Spinning,
Weaving, and Processing

By: Chitra Siva Sankar

 Latest Technologies and Developments in Spinning,
Weaving, and Processing
By : Chitra Siva Sankar

Textile industry is a traditional, and very old, has been amidst almost all kinds of culture around the world
from the very beginning, which almost prove the point that the history of human culture and the textiles are
the same. A wide spectrum of processes is involved in the textile industry. Starting from fiber manufacturing
to the final processing and garmenting stage, involves a lot of technologies and skill which leads to a quality
conversion of fibers into the ultra modern fashion or a high performance commodity in the case of technical
textiles.

The first major change in the textile industry took place somewhere during the industrial revolution which
lead to the advent of the machines in to the manufacturing processes in the textile industry. This major
breakthrough lead to reduction in the work load of the labours and pronounced the dawn of machines in the
textile industry. After that there have been a lot of developments in the various sectors of the textile industry,
and the following would through light on the latest developments that have taken place in the major pieces of
textile industry namely spinning, weaving, knitting and processing.

In Spinning

Spinning is the industry which provides raw material for the knitting and weaving industry. The main driving
factor of the companies today is to achieve and improve yarn quality that will ensure better competitiveness
and higher yarn prices. The developments that are coming up in the industry today are mainly for
maintaining higher productivity with effective quality control, by selecting suitable equipments and spinning
conditions to match with the raw materials. One of the very important concepts that has revolutionised the
spinning industry is the compact spinning concept. After the advent of the compact spinning, yarn quality
parameter has changed, especially in respect to yarn hairiness, strength and to some extent imperfections.
The compact spinning system has been designed to meet the challenges faced by the high-end spinning
mills.

• Optimum and sustained yarn quality

• High consistency of all yarn parameters
• Minimal variations between spinning positions
• Easy handling
• Raw material cost saving
• Increased production

Compact spinning attachment can be accommodated on the existing machine types. Some advantages of
the compact spinning system (EliTe®CompactSet V5),

• Yarn

o Tenacity increase by 25%

o Zweigle (S85) hairiness (fibers exceeding 3mm) reduced by 3% and Uster (H) Hairiness
reduced by up to 30%
o Elongation increased by 15% to 20%
o Work capacity increased by up to 50%
o Improvement in yarn irregularity

• Spinning

o Optimum utilisation of fiber substance

o Improved spinning stability
o Ends-down rate reduced by up to 60%
o Fiber loss reduced up to 0.01%
o Fiber fly reduction in the spinning room
o Possibility of reducing the twist by 10% and corresponding increase in the production

Other players in the compact spinning system are Toyota Way, Zinser, RocoS...
In Weaving

The most innovative developments which have taken place in the field of weaving machineries have
changed the weaving sector completely. The weaving sector was said to be labour intensive in the past but
now because of the advent of the shuttleless weaving technologies and other innovations, the scenario is
changed, it is capital intensive. The shuttleless technologies have many advantages over the conventional
weaving systems.

• Excellent quality fabrics with high productivity

• Versatility, consistency and reliability of the machines
• Better fabric engineering and creative weave patterns possible

It is not just the three major concepts; Rapier, Airjet and Projectile, we also have a new one in the race,
‘Multiphase Weaving Concept’. Several features are common for the three weaving systems. All of these
possess,

• Electronic monitoring and control systems which increases the quality of the fabric and productivity
• Cam, dobby and jacquard shedding systems can be used
• Quick Style Change Mechanism which reduces downtime
• Use of weft accumulators which almost provide a tension free weft insertion
• Low vibrations due to rigid and sturdy frames

When considering the multiphase weaving concept, the buzz name in the weaving industry is the Sulzer.
Sulzer Ruti’ M8300. There is a warp wise shed formation in this instead of weft wise shed formation as found
in the other weaving systems. We can insert four weft yarns simultaneously at a constant uniform yarn
velocity of 22 m/s with minimal weft loading. We can go up to a maximum of 5500m/min of weft insertion
rate which is several times higher than that of the other single phase weaving systems.

There are several advantages of the multiphase weaving concept over the single phase technologies.

• Minimum specific energy consumption

• Small footprint
• Reduced room air treatment requirement and less dust production (made possible by the integrated
dust extraction system and air conditioning system)
• Substantially lower noise emissions
• 20 to 30 percent lower production costs
In Knitting

Knitting is the process of looping and inter-looping or inter-meshing the loops to form a fabric. Knitting by
hand is an ancient art whose actual origin is not clearly known. The advent of knitting machines enhanced
the speed of production and different designs. Knitting is becoming more and more popular because of the
low cost of production and because of its single stage ornamentation. There are two main kind of knitting,
one is weft knitting and the second is warp knitting. The following throws light on the developments that have
taken place in the weft knitting sector.

Creel unit

The main concern in the creel unit is the fly removal. The fly removal system, mounted at one end of the
creel removes the fly which affects the quality, which also when arising in large quantity jams the entire
running of the machine. A tube is provided starting from the yarn mounting place up to the wheel that feeds
the threads in the formation of the cloth. This way the production quality does not deteriorate. The air is
compressed for threading, and the material is bit polished, which offers very less friction that maintains
thread quality.

Yarn feeder

The yarn feeder pulls out the yarn from the package and adjusts it, so that the needles are placed with
uniform tension for knitting. This is the only job the yarn feeder does. It is very essential that the tension is
maintained uniformly, as the length of yarn per stitch has to be unique for the whole length of the cloth. The
machine has attained super efficiency with its improved feed wheel and the tensioner. The present day’s
super-positive feed wheel with yarn tensioner, with a motion stopper, along with multiple looping has
increased efficiency. Less or nil amount of slippage helps the cloth quality to upgrade. Latest positive
feeders for circular knitting are easy to navigate, needs less maintenance and are quite durable. The whole
unit is housed with a plastic cover, and is very light in weight, results in less vibration and elimination of
static charge. Some of the machines have electronic controls with enhance yarn feed process. Materials
used in the spooler are always being researched so that fulmination is less in amount. The coating is hard to
resist corrosion and wearing off. A clutch is provided with open-design, which is helpful while cleaning. The
ceramic yarn guide prevents short circuiting of the vibration tensioned that contains magnetic rings. All these
mechanism is to ensure perfect tension. For irregular or intermittent feed the yarn feeders have to stop
periodically in between the weave as in case of the jacquard machine. All these specifications have been
achieved in the storage yarn feed, developed by IRO.

Cams and needles

The heart of the knitting machine is the cams and needles. The machine efficiency looks after design and
the quality of fabrication. The cam and the needle which have been arranged as the cylinder and the dial
move in unison to move the needle which makes them involved with the knitting process in more direct
manner. The backup system ensures that there are almost double knitting arrangements. It makes knitting a
no trouble operation. Cam boxes that have been manufactured by Armtek, using high strength alloys, are
good conductors of heat which implies that heat is removed promptly from the system.

The needles that weave smooth patterns are very delicate in nature that can withstand certain amount of
tension but not much. Designing is very important part, so that the needles work for longer. Various
parameters for the making of needles to resist different fabrics are: modern improved surface quality, head
geometry, heat treatment and shape of the shank. With circular stitching styles, the bending of the needles
is the main problem. The needle hooks are made circular for this kind of stitching. To increase efficiency of
the needle without compromising the space for the yarn, designers have devised the cone-shaped needle
hooks. The shank design holding three needles have been improved geometrically to take care of the
machine vibration. A needle with special latch and extra saw slot for smooth operation with rest surface at
the back of the latch was designed by Graz Becker who has been manufacturing needles for years. At the
end of the latch there is a spring that helps regulating the tension.

Sinkers

The sliding movement provided by the sinker supports the loop. The curves have been properly designed
and there is surface finish. The yarn tension is reduced with this design.
Take down

The tension has to be almost the same everywhere throughout the circumference of the unit. There is an
open-width fabric cutter and take-up with black-and-white Lycra wheels appearing gray as long as the fabric
is running and clear black and white when the yarn breaks. This helps in enhancing fabric take-down
performance. The centre puncturing of the roll is ceased, and the calculation is done with EPA for even take
down and rolling of yarn for without a crunch for the entire width of the fabric.

Apart from the technological developments on the machine, there have been developments in the case of
patter designing also. Other developments which has to be mentioned here are the Mayer and CIE’ Reliant
technology. For faster change in fine gauge machines, open width take down with quality has been
developed by Terrot.Four track feeders for every cam box instead of the three track feeders have been
introduced by Santoni,which helps in easy cam replacement.

In Processing

Textile processing industry is one of the largest industrial users of process water and huge quantities of
complex chemicals that are used in different stages of processing. There have been a lot environmental
concerns for the processing sector in the last few years. Hence the wet processing industry of the future
should be cost effective, environmental friendly and also very gentle to the textile materials. The following
will throw light on a very innovative environmental friendly concept of dyeing, Super Critical Carbon-di-oxide
dyeing.

Supercritical carbon dioxide has been tried in different areas of textile treatments and has very high potential
because this dyeing medium completely avoids water pollution and use of conventional auxiliaries in dyeing
as well as after treatments. The drying after dyeing is also not required.The CO2dyeing technology is now in
its way to become an industrial application. Hence it is a new technologically profitable process.

Supercritical Fluid

Supercritical fluids are advantages in textile processing as they combine the valuable properties of both gas
and liquid. The solvating power of supercritical fluid is proportional to its density, where as its viscosity is
comparable to that of a normal gas. Such a combination leads to highly remarkable penetration properties.
The increased power of salvation with the increase in density is desirable in the dyeing process as it has a
decisive effect on the dissolution of disperse dye in the super critical carbon dioxide medium. The following
is the phase diagram for CO2.
Further increases in pressure, for example, will greatly increase the dielectric constant of such system, thus
imparting dissolving powers even to a system that under normal condition of p and T has almost none.

Reasons for selecting CO2

Carbon dioxide is the best choice .It is non-toxic, it is used in the food and beverage industry, it is
inflammable, it is supplied in large amounts either from combustion processes or volcanic sources without
the need of producing new gas and it can be recycled in a closed system. Carbon dioxide is frequently used
as a solvent because of its special and unique properties;

• Virtually inexhaustible resources (atmosphere, combustion processes, natural geologic deposits).

• Since carbon dioxide is a constituent of natural metabolic processes occurring in the biosphere it is
consumed by assimilation and is returned to the natural circuit by dissimilation .It is not only
biodegradable as nutrient promoting the growth of plants, but is an essential element of natural
processes.
• Carbon dioxide does not affect the edibility of foodstuffs and will only have toxic effects at extremely
high concentrations.
• It is produced on the commercial scale and is readily available together with the necessary logistics

Concepts for dyeing equipment using Supercritical Fluids

The machine is an extraction plant modified for processing with the supercritical fluids. In contrasts to
conventional extraction plants the dyestuff are applied to the substrate instead of being removed, i.e. the
fluid will have to be loaded with dyestuff prior to coming in contact with the goods to be dyed. This can be
done in two manners;

• The dyestuff is filled into the pressure vessel in defined quantities. The dyestuff is filled into an
additional small autoclave in the desired (surplus) quantity regulating the carbon dioxide content via
pressure, temperature and/or flow control instruments. The absorption of the dyestuff by the fibre,
i.e. the diffusion into the inner parts of the fibre, has to meet high liveliness standards. The
necessary convection of the liquor can be achieved by an agitator within the dyeing autoclave or by
moving the substrate.

• Another option is to penetrate the goods, either by the circulation of the liquor or by utilizing the
current produced by continuous replenishment of carbon dioxide.

In the latter case, the flow of replenished carbon dioxide will have to be continuously loaded with dyestuff.
Residues of dyestuff or fibber admixtures to be extracted prior to dyeing will be collected in a conventional
separator. The separation of phase will in this case be initiated by expansion or by raising the temperature.

Dyeing Apparatus

An apparatus for dyeing in supercritical carbon dioxide consists of a temperature controller, a vessel heater
which surrounds the vessel, a stainless steel dyeing vessel of 50ml capacity (with a quick release cap), a
manometer, a Vertex HPLC carbon dioxide pump and a cooler for cooling the head of the carbon dioxide
o
pump. The apparatus was pressure-tested for use up to 350 bars and 100 Celsius. A side arm connects the
top and the bottom of the cell outside the heater to allow the supercritical carbon dioxide to circulate by
thermal convection.

Procedure for fabric dyeing with SC-CO2 method

The fabric sample to be dyed (size= 10 to 25cm) is wrapped around a perforated stainless steel tube and
mounted inside the auto clave around the stirrer. Dyestuff without auxiliary chemicals was placed on the
bottom of the vessel and closed & purged with gaseous CO2 and preheated. On reaching working
temperature CO2 was compressed to the working pressure under constant stirring. Pressure maintained
during the dyeing period of 0 to 60 min and afterwards the fabric is rinsed with acetone to remove residual
dyestuff. The technical parameters of the dyeing procedure are given below.

Description Actual Used Capacity Maximum Capacity

Pressure 250 bar 500 bar
Temperature 130⁰ C 350⁰ C
Procedure for yarn packages with SC-CO2 method

Dyeing temperatures and volume flow rates are similar to the conventional dyeing methods but the
advantage here is that the actual dyeing time requires is less. The procedure of the yarn package dyeing is
given below.

The following table gives an actual comparison between the conventional dyeing procedure and the Super
Critical CO2 procedure.

Super Critical CO2 Dyeing Conventional Dyeing Procedure

No waste water. Dye remains as powder. No
need for dispersing, levelling agents
Only 20% of the energy requirement
Only 2 hours’ time is required for dyeing
High volumes of waste water with residual dye
and other process chemicals
High energy requirement
Dyeing, washing, and drying time is around 3-4
hours/batch

Advantages of Super Critical CO2 Dyeing

• Contaminated waste water streams and other effluents are not produced.
• Dispersants are not required to solubilise a disperse dye in water.
• Solubility is controllable by pressure, allowing control of the dyeing intensity and colour.
• Diffusivities in the fluid are higher, making mass transfer in the fluid faster.
• Take up of carbon dioxide by the polymer fibre causes it to swell slightly giving faster diffusion within
the polymer.
• Viscosities are lower making the circulation of the dye solutions easier.
• Penetration of voids between fibres is fast because of the absence of the surface tension and the
miscibility of air with carbon dioxide under pressure.
• No preparation of processing water (by desalting).
 • Low energy consumption for heating up the liquor. Energy preservation because drying processes
are no longer required (conventional dyeing processes consume about 3,800 kJ per Kg of water
evaporated).
• No air pollution due to recycling of the carbon dioxide (the gas is not contaminated by the
processes).
• Substantially shorter dyeing times.
• No chemicals such as levelling agents, pH regulations etc. have to be added.
• No need for auxiliary agents, disposing agents, adulterants, etc.
• For polyester, no reduction clearing is needed.
• Higher diffusion coefficients lead to higher extraction or reaction rates.

Though there are some disadvantages in this kind of dyeing method, like high pressure requirement for dye
solubility, impact of dyeing machine weight on the circulation etc., research is work going on to make them
completely viable in the process industry. The super critical system is also being tried with ammonia for
application in mercerizing process.

The textile industry is developing rapidly and newer and newer technologies are introduced day by day. The
only formula for survival is encapsulating those innovations into the manufacturing process and making the
best of use it for increasing the productivity, and quality.

Chitra Siva Sankar is with Jaisar Spintex Pvt Ltd, Tamil Nadu

Originally published in The Indian Textile Journal: January 2010