A story mechanical compacting( A riddle about compacting

--------------------------------------------------------------------------concept resolved)-Part 1

Happy EARTH DAY to all! Let us contribute something to the mother earth! Today is EARTH day.
Sharing the knowledge of mechanical compacting which is otherwise called as GREEN
COMPACTING, from today will be, I feel, the most relevant thing.

(This is a story that I created myself to explain the concept of mechanical compacting, and the
events mentioned here is not a historical one. However the questions raised by my character really
exist in all our minds. )

Amazing ! .We could achieve the same results of suction compacting! exclaimed the spinner in
Gujarat. He could not control his excitement. All put together I am saving about Rs 8 per kg for my
count and that too with the half of the investment. Now, tell me, why it is not so popular?

The spinner curiously asked the agent.

Same question everywhere! thought the agent letting out a long and loud breath.

He started to explain the spinner the story of mechanical compacting.

Shall we also hear what he says?

The story spins around a technocrat who has been devoting all his life towards inventing new things
for the textile industry. His inventions always resulted in reduction in man power by way of simplifying
complicated mechanism to be used easily even by an unskilled person and reduction in energy and
improvement in quality and productivity.

Some years back!

He was unrest and was waddling around his room.

Why should we use extra power and very complicated mechanism to produce compact yarn? Cant
we make it simple and energy efficient?

It was the same question which was hovering around his head again and again.

While every engineer and scientist is introducing latest technology which involves less power
consumption, why I could not introduce such kind of technology for making compact yarn?
His mind was full of such kind of thoughts and it followed him wherever he went.

At that time some spinners were also using some floating condensers at the front drafting zone
which gave a little compactness to the yarn.
Why the floating condenser could not fully compact the yarn? he thought.
Suddenly his face glowed with delight. He seemed as if he got an idea out of air!

The floating condenser could not handle the opposing force exerted by the fibres while compacting
and it is almost bombarded by the fibres and moves here and there. Sowhy dont we fix the
condenser by magnet?

That was what the answer he got from his mind.

As usual, he did not let a single minute as a waste. He started exploring the possibilities of
introducing mechanical compacting.
He added an additional positive nip on the front delivery bottom roller. In between this new additional
top roller and front top roller, he introduced a compactor made of ceramic with embedded magnets.

He intelligently selected ceramic as a raw material for the compactor.

We know, the ceramic is the high resistant material to wear and tear.

So, when the ceramic compactors are held firmly on the flutes of the bottom roller, the fibre are
guided through the narrow slits of the compactors and pulled out by the additional nip roller resulting
in the elimination of spinning triangle, the same concept of any compact system.

The yarn results were exactly same with the then suction compacting systems.

But, it could not give comparable results for the counts above 60s.

Dont worry the technocrat convinced himself, Eighty percent of the world production is under 60s
count. Let us go ahead and let the spinner produce compact yarn with normal yarn cost.
Then the things went on swiftly.

India topped with the purchase of such mechanical compactors for 700000 spindles within few years.

All went on smoothly until the technocrat found a sudden stoppage of further purchases from India.

The fall of mechanical compacting started.

Part-2

Can you explain why the mechanical compacting is not accepted, sir
The technocrat anxiously asked a spinner in India. He had been on tour all over India to know the
reason for the fall of mechanical compacting.

Even though the spinner initially wanted to grumble more badly about the mechanical compacting,
the charisma of the technocrat prevented him to behave rudely.

Sir. Frankly speaking.....the main concern is the breakage of ceramic compactors

The spinner explained the technocrat with little hesitation.

The technocrat was confused. Why on earth, should the compactor fall?. He was thinking.
I know that the compactor will break upon falling on the concrete floor from a height of about two
meters. But, tell me, sir, who is throwing the compactor on the floor? the technocrat asked the
spinner.

The spinner did not expect this question.

He was in dilemma. Neither he could accept that his employees were not skilled and were rude nor
the spinning machines top arms were in bad condition in which the top rollers fell off upon lifting of
the arms.

During maintenance activities, we had to take off these compactors. At that time they would fall
inadvertently and got broken. Somehow, the spinner managed to reply.

From the grim face of the spinner, the technocrat could understand other messages also.

Then, any other reason, sir? asked the technocrat.

We feel this mechanical compacting is not the perfect one in terms of compacting. The fibres would
come off in the further processes. In suction system the fibres are bound firmly like a paste during
compacting. So, the compacting is perfect. Also, micro dust and very short fibres are sucked away
by the suction. This results in very clean compact yarn.

As the spinner went on explaining, the technocrat keenly watched him and at the end his lips
delivered a broad smile.

There were so many meanings in his smile. But, the spinner might have inferred that the technocrat
was smiling at his lack of knowledge. So, he immediately confessed, It is not my opinion. It is the
general opinion prevailing among the spinners here

May I explain the concept of compacting, sir the technocrat politely intervened and continued to
explain.

All compact systems aim to reduce the spinning triangle at the delivery nip. This assists in binding
all the fibres together by the twist applied by the rotation of traveller on the ring. Binding is not done
by the compact system. It helps in bringing all the fibres together as much as possible before they
get twisted. Do you how the concept of compact system evolved from a single question that rose in
all the minds of textile engineers?

The technocrat paused a while.

The spinner started to wonder what would be the question was.

Part 3

The spinner looked at the face of the technocrat with curiosity.

What is the gms per tex of the cotton fibre you use for 60s count?

The spinner was actually expecting answer, but seemed being shocked with a question.

I use sankar-6 with 30 GPT sir

Why dont we get the same GPT in the yarn?-another question from the technocrat!

The spinner was actually a textile graduate. The inquisitive textile student in him woke up.
At fibre stage we measure the breaking force at rupture. That means actually we are breaking the
fibres. But in yarn, actually the fibre doesnt break, but slips off or sloughs off and loses its gripping
force between the fibres. So, a fraction of actual breaking force is required to break the yarn

The technocrat started to wonder with the amazing knowledge of the spinner.

I appreciate your in depth knowledge, sir.

The technocrat shook the hands of the spinner. The firm grip exerted by the palm of the technocrat
on the spinners palm revealed his delight. The technocrat then continued to explain.

If we analyse the broken ends of the yarn after strength testing, we can broadly categorise them in
to three types. One is sharp broken ends (as if cut by a scissor). The second one is tapered end.
(Here, some fibres would break and the rest would slip). The third category is fully slipped end. Here
you dont find any broken fibre. You told this kind of category. But, actually this kind of break, while
conducting strength testing, will be only around 6%. The first category is around 50% and the second
one is around 44%.

Now it was the spinners turn to exclaim! Man! This technocrat certainly was brilliant. He thought and
shook his head in a sense of acceptance.

The technocrat continued.

Sir, One thing we have to understand that as the count becomes coarser and at the same TM level
for all counts, the percentage of sharp broken ends will be decreasing. In the mean time if the TM is
increased for the same count, this percentage increases. Do you know why?

The spinner now sat rapt as he liked such kind of brain storming.
Understanding the silence of the spinner, the technocrat started to answer himself.

Even though we maintain same TM for all the counts, the ultimate TPI is not enough for the coarser
counts to compact the increased number of fibres in the yarn cross-section. That is why the fibres
slip away more in the coarser counts than in the finer counts at the same TM level

Here, the spinner intervened.

Now, I understand why increasing the TM in the same count increases the number of sharp broken
ends at the yarn breakage. It is because the additional twist makes the yarn more compact

Yes you are perfectly right! Now, this phenomenon is entirely different in the mechanism of yarn
breakage at spinning, the technocrat let out another riddle.
Part 4

The spinner could not answer for the new riddle asked by the technocrat.

I thought all the yarn breakages would be same....., the spinner replied.

O.k. I will tell you, sir, the technocrat continued.

The mechanism of end breakage at spinning is entirely different from that at tensile testing. In
spinning an end breaks when the tension imposed on the yarn exceeds the weakest yarn strength. In
all the researches, it has been observed that almost all the breaks are occurring just after the
delivery from the front nip. That is between front roller nip and thread guide which we call it as a
spinning zone. An interesting fact here is that all the breaks are slippage-dominated. So far no
evidence has been found for the fibre breakage.

An imaginary video clipping about the yarn breakage started to run in the mind of the spinner as the
technocrat was explaining the mechanism of yarn breakage at spinning clearly.
Another interesting fact here is that at the spinning zone the yarn strength is significantly lesser than
the yarn strength measured at the tensile tester. This strength has been calculated as one third of the
mean strength of the yarn measured by the tensile tester

Now the spinner got astonished on hearing the new facts from the technocrat.

So, supposing if the yarn breaking force, say for 60s, is 180 gms, the actual strength at the spinning
zone, you mean, is only 60 gms! with dilated eyes the spinner asked the technocrat.

Yes the technocrat smiled broadly. Normally the spinning tension will be around 25 to 40 grams.
The mean yarn strength at the spinning zone is 60 gms. Here the strength distribution follows normal
curve. It is calculated by some researchers that the weaker portions of the yarn will have the strength
of 60 minus 5 times the standard deviation value. So you can now imagine how an end breaks at
spinning.

For some time the spinner was speechless. The technocrat let him to sink in his own imaginations for
some time and waited for his response quietly.

Cant we find some method or something to avoid this sir?

Finally, after few thoughtful seconds, the spinner asked the technocrat.

That was the question that rose in all the minds of textile engineers some years before!,the
technocrat replied.

The spinner almost jumped out of ecstasy when the technocrat perfectly connected all these brain
storming questions and answers with the question he asked initially.

If we could make a system which makes each and every fibre to contribute itself to oppose the
breaking force, then the yarn will be stronger and the yarn strength value will be nearing the fibre
GPT. This brain storming resulted in the evolution of compact system The technocrat further
explained.

How the compact system helps to improve the yarn strength sir?The spinner asked.

The drafted fibres come out of the front nip as a ribbon. When a twist is applied to the ribbon the
fibres get twisted and become yarn. If you look exactly at the front nip during this process you can
see a triangle of the untwisted ribbon portion. We call it as spinning triangle. If the width of this
triangle is more, the applied twisting force will find it difficult to bring in all the fibres to the yarn body
and perfectly twist and bind them together. The compact system helps in reducing this width of the
triangle and assists the twisting force in binding all the fibres together

Now, I understand the concept of compacting system sir. The happiness was apparent on the face
of the spinner.
Now, you tell me what may be the differences between suction and mechanical compacting
systems. The technocrat asked the spinner.

Part 5

The spinner thought for a moment. What may be the difference between suction and mechanical
compacts?

Though he could not answer immediately, some of the things that were told by the other compact
manufactures just flashed in his mind.
In a nutshell we can say that suction compact is the COMPACTOR and mechanical compact is just
a CONDENSER, the spinner finally said.

With a queer look, the technocrat stared at the spinner for some moments. What sort of word game
is this? he thought.

Sir, you know, there is one sort of business tactic which is sternly followed by some sales person
the technocrat paused for a moment, his eyes still staring squarely at the spinner.
If you cant convince the customer, just confuse him!

On hearing this, the spinner burst into laughter. The technocrat followed him in laughing.

If you refer an English Dictionary, you can find that the word condense as a synonym of the word
compact. Both refer to decreasing something into smaller size or volume. Little more condense is the
compact. Also if you refer Rieter and other manuals, you can find them mentioning that the suction
is used to condense the fibres together before twisting. If you want more condense which the word
compact actually refers to, we dont have no other go than crushing the fibres. Do you want to crush
the fibres? Sir, please dont confuse yourself, the technocrat said.

Yes sir. I agree with you, sir. Please tell me the difference between both systems, sir, the spinner
asked the technocrat.

In both systems, as I explained you before we need to narrow down and decrease the width of the
band of fibres which come out from the drafting system before it is twisted into yarn. In the suction
compact system which is otherwise called as aero dynamical system, the condensation of the fibre
strand takes place with the help of suction through a perforated drum or apron or lattice.

In the perforated drum system, the front bottom roll itself has the suction system. So its diameter is
bigger than that of normal roller. It has also additional guide elements to guide the condensed fibre
strand up to the additional nip provided on the same bottom roller. The guiding is done by the stream
of air entering laterally into the guide element. The condensation of the strand of fibres done by the
suction will be disturbed if we remove this guide element.

In the lattice system, the condensation of fibres is also done by the suction, but the deterioration of
condensation of strand of fibres is prevented by a slight tension draft in the order of around 1.06.

The technocrat briefly stopped the explanation to check whether the spinner was following him or
not.

Yes sir. Continue please sir. I am following you the spinner replied sensing the technocrats mind.

Now, do you think both are giving same results? the technocrat asked another question.
Part 6

The Spinner replied. As far as our markets feedback, the IPI level will be less in Lattice system and
in perforated drum system the variation is less.

Yes, in one way you are correct, the technocrat just started to think of the drawbacks of his original
invention of lattice suction compact system.

There was silence for few seconds as both were busy in their own thinking worlds.

Soon, clearing his throat, the technocrat continued the conversation.

Anyhow, with proper maintenance techniques and technological applications we may fine tune any
system and make better yarn. I have seen in Indian market, the difference in yarn quality between
mills having same compact system and processing same cotton.

The spinners eye brows raised due to wonder.

Yes, I was really surprised to see, for example, 170 imperfections in one mill and 70 imperfections in
another mill in 40s count processed with sankar- 6 cotton.The technocrat replied with his face
showing a clear astonishment.

Interestingly both are selling at same price. Really I was surprised with such kind of queer market,
pausing for few seconds, the technocrat changed the topic. Now, let us talk about mechanical
compacting. Do you have any other question in suction compacting, sir?

The spinner attempted to utter something, but seemed trying to zip his lips with certain difficulty.

Feeling his hesitation, the technocrat induced the spinner, Please dont hesitate. Whatever the
question, ask me. There is nothing wrong

Is it true that in suction compact very short fibres and micro-dust are removed?

The technocrat could now understand the reason for his initial hesitation and in the meantime he
could not control his laughing.

I am sorry for laughing. I am not laughing at you, but at your question! the technocrat requested the
spinners apology. The removing of short fibres is the main function of the comber and not by the
compact spinning. The perforations either in the drum or the lattice are so small that they dont allow
the fibres to be sucked in. The lattice fabric, for example, is made of a cotton fabric of simple weave
having around 3000 holes per square cm. In fact during condensation, all the short fibres are
included in the yarn

Really sir! The spinner intervened with exclamation.

Yes, sir. With the same roving hank and same total draft you can see that the compact yarns are
coarser than normal yarn by around 0.5% to some times 1% depending upon the amount of short
fibres. In the normal spinning machine if you look into the pneumafil suction tube under the front
delivery roll with the help of a light, you can see lots of short fibres falling from either end of the
spinning triangle and are being sucked into the tube. This fibre loss makes the normal yarn little bit
finer. Also if the short fibres are not distributed evenly in the roving, this fibre loss makes the yarn
more uneven due to increase in thin places. That is why the compact yarns U% and no of thin
places are significantly less when compared to normal yarn as the compact prevents the short fibres
to escape

It seemed to the spinner that the technocrat was tactfully untangling the knots of secret of compact
concept.

In one of the trial, the technocrat continued, in a mill, as many spinning piecers as possible were
engaged in one ring frame which was producing normal yarn. The piecers would immediately attend
to the end breaks and mend them as soon as they happened. The machine was run for four hours.
Virtually for the whole four hours the machine was run without an end break. Surprisingly, after four
hours the pneumafil waste was found 0.3%.What does it mean, sir?The technocrat asked.

Certainly, as you said, it is because of the falling short fibres being sucked off by the pneumafil, sir.

You are correct. That is why in compact spinning, for the same end breakage rate, the pneumafil
waste will be less by 0.3 to 0.5 % when compared to normal ring frame. , The technocrat concluded.

Is it same in the mechanical compact, sir? The spinner asked.

Part 7

Is it same in the mechanical compact, sir?The spinner asked.

Immediately on seeing the changes on the face of the technocrat, the spinner changed the topic.

I am sorry that I asked this stupid question. You have clearly explained the concept of condensation
of fibres both by suction and by mechanical. So, it should be same in mechanical compact too.
However, still the full explanation of the concept of mechanical compacting is pending, sir.

Yes sir. In mechanical compacting system the compactor is firmly pressed against bottom roller
without any clearance by means of magnets. With this, the compactor forms an enclosed
compression chamber with the bottom roller. The bottom contour of this compression chamber,
which is otherwise the surface of the bottom roller moves synchronously with the strand of fibres and
transports the fibres safely through the compactor. The fibres would make a resisting force during
compression and would try to lift off the compactor. But, the magnetic force from the magnets
mounted on the compactor will counteract and will keep the compactor firmly on the bottom roller.
The fibres have no other go than orienting themselves and condensing together.

The condensation of the fibres takes place to such a degree that the formation of the spinning
triangle is prevented while immediate twisting of the fibres takes place. Here, as the enclosed
chamber properly guides all the fibres up to the delivery nip, no additional draft or air force are
required to avoid the disturbance to the oriented fibres.

That is why no power is required in this type of compacting system as compared to the previously
mentioned technologies.

The technocrat explained the concept of mechanical compact at a stretch without breathing!

In the minds of the spinner a calculator appeared where he did the calculation of power requirement
for the suction compact for different counts.

The technocrat could understand what was going on in the minds of the spinner.

Well, as you are thinking you can produce compact yarn at normal yarn cost. Isnt wonderful? The
technocrat again started the conversation.

Yes sir. As the count gets finer, its impact will be too much because finer the count higher will be the
power cost per kg The spinner could realise a huge potential of saving with the mechanical
compacting.

But, the mechanical compact system has one limitation. Saying this, the technocrat looked at the
eyes of the spinner for few seconds with his eyes widely open.

The spinners face expressed question mark.

For the counts higher than 80s, the number of fibres in the cross section will be very less. This will
affect the fibre orientation and compression in the present compression chamber of the compactor.
So, with the present compactor with 0.4 mm groove, for the yarn above 80s count, we will not get
good results. In future, I dont know, it may be possible with newer technology of making micro
groove compactors The technocrat let out a long breath.

If we calculate the percentage of spinners spinning counts below 80s, it will be a whopping figure of
around 85%. Let us not mind, at present, about the remaining 15%, sir. You go ahead, sir. If we
calculate the power requirement for those 85% spinners.......cant imagine! How much we are
wasting the power and laying carbon foot prints! said the spinner enthusiastically.

Ok sir. Let me take leave, the technocrat stood on his legs, and....soon, I will see you again with
the modified mechanical compactor which will not break, upon falling on the ground. That was the
only ultimate problem that I could understand from you. I swear you; your problem will be solved
soon

Both laughed. The spinner could see a blinking star in the eyes of the technocrat which heralded the
rise of mechanical compacting.
Part 8

Hello sir, how are you?

That clear, bold and enthusiastic voice made the spinner to suddenly lift off his head which had been
buried into a file.

No sooner his brain picked up the familiar voice, his lips became wide from ear to ear.
Ah! Technocrat! How are you? Long time no see..?

The spinner extended his hands as like the technocrat and felt the firm and confident grip while
shaking hands.

I am fine, my dear friend! Had been busy for the past two years for finding a perfect solution for your
problem

From the happy face of the technocrat the spinner could deduce that he had successfully completed
the project.

The problem number one is the breakage of ceramic compactor, isnt so my dear friend?
The technocrat paused for a while, when his right hands fumbled into his pant pocket to fish out
something.

Here it is the technocrat handed over something small white colored article to the spinner.

It seems like a compactor the spinner after scrutinizing the article replied.

Yes! There you are! Now, friend, throw it on the ground as strong as you can. The technocrat said.

The spinner hesitated for a while.

Hmm! dont hesitate, please throw with all your force The technocrat persuaded the spinner.

The spinner threw the compactor on the ground by forcefully accelerating his mighty arm muscles.

The compactor hit the ground with a sound and bounced back as high as to the level of the hands of
the spinner. He caught the compactor immediately like a proficient fielder catching a ball in a cricket
match.

On examining the compactor he could not control his mouth whistling in joy. Oh! Great! It doesnt
break.

The technocrat had been watching the spinners with crossed arms.

This is made out of high density plastic compound. Nowhere can you get it except from us! It took
two years to find unbreakable compound and at the same time unwearying for quite a long time. The
cost is also much cheaper when compared to ceramic The technocrat explained.

That means it will wear out after some time? The spinner asked.
Yes, of course! The ceramic will never wear out, but will break upon falling on the ground. The
replacement cost will be very high. But, with HDC, High density Compound, it will not break, but will
wear out after 2 to 3 years and replacement cost is cheap. Which is better?

Surely this is better sir. Also slightly broken compactors which caught unnoticed would create quality
problems As the spinner explained the technocrat wondered on understanding his improved
technical knowledge.

You have honed your knowledge within these two years, sir The technocrat appreciated the
spinner.

Are there some other modifications, sir? The spinner is very eager to know the technical
improvement and the technological aspects behind it.

Quite a lot, sir. With these improvements we can get much superior compact yarn than that was
obtained in our previous version. The quality is on par with all suction compacts up to 80s count. I
will explain one by one

The technocrat started to explain as the spinner paid a rapt attention.

Part 9

So far we had been talking about spinning triangle and how all the compact systems try to reduce
this triangle to achieve less hairy and in the mean time a strong yarn, called compact yarn. Do you
know there is another zone in the drafting system which all the technologists have been paying
increased focus recently?
The technocrat, as usual, started his conversation with a question.

The spinner thought for a moment by bringing in all the images of the drafting system in various
angles into his brain. The brain quickly processed all the images to find out that critical zone, but
yielded zero result.

Sorry sir, I dont know. The spinner replied as soon as he got the answer from his brain.

That is the front zone of the drafting system The technocrat gave the answer.

The design of the front zone has been unchanged from the inception of double apron drafting
system. Isnt so, sir? The spinner asked.

Paying a strange look at the spinner the technocrat said. I told you RECENTLY

OK, sir. Then, what is the significance of that zone that has made the technologists to focus on it
recently, sir?

Every technologist thought that the design was over with the introduction of double apron drafting
system in the main drafting zone to perfectly control fibres. But, even with the closest setting of 0.5
mm between the front top roller and middle top apron, they could not bring the tips of both top and
bottom aprons close to the front roller nip. The geometrical conditions gave restrictions to go closer
to the front roller nip. This is the critical area which affects the imperfections of the yarn The
technocrat explained.

Now, I got it! That is why some suppliers introduced pin along with the spacer to cover this critical
area, isnt so, sir? The spinner almost jumped as if he had found an answer for a complicated riddle.

"You are right, sir! That is one way. Another way as followed by some others is the use of longer
cradle, that is, 40 mm instead of 36mm, which allows the tips of the aprons to still go further close to
the front roller nip

Yes, yes! I have also used in our normal ring frames!The spinner intervened.

The technocrat looked at the spinner with squinted eyes and asked,Oh! Then you might have got
reduced imperfection level. Isnt so
Yes! Yes The spinner happily replied,The imperfection level decreased by about 30%

Well. Also, I am sure, you might have experienced higher end breakage rate at spinning said the
technocrat with a firm voice.

The spinner was taken aback by the words of the technocrat.

Oh, Man! How could he read my inner mind?, thought the spinner.

Yes sir. Unfortunately I had to accept this higher breakage rate due to higher quality that it yields.

Then whatever you are gaining through quality will be lost through higher breakage rate which
results in higher waste and higher man power requirement.

The spinners face showed sadness when realising about the real situation. It is true, sir. In some
counts I could not use these longer cradles as there were more breaks and undrafted ends

That is why I have slightly modified the design. With this you dont face any problem The technocrat
told the spinner.

The spinner looked at the technocrat. His eyes asked the question how?

The nose bar is slightly slanted towards the front bottom fluted roller with certain angle. Now the top
apron can come down and along with bottom apron can go close to front roller nip without abrading
with front top roller. Here, you dont require pin. With this design the fibres are well controlled and the
imperfection level is reduced significantly without increasing the breakage rate. I have found this
angle after many trials and errors and now I have patented this design. By the way, do you know the
exact theory about controlling of fibres in the main drafting zone?

The technocrat diverted the spinner by asking a question finally.