THE OPTIMIZATION OF OPEN END SPINNING WITH RESPECT TO ENERGY CONSUMPTION A THESIS Presented to The Faculty of the Division of Graduate Studies By Stuart Syen In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Textiles Georgia Institute of Technology October, 1976 THE OPTIMIZATION OF OPEN END SPINNING WITH RESPECT TO ENERGY CONSUMPTION Appcovedi. David IT Brookstein, Chairman / : ^ ,.David^>R. Gentry SJ ~Ml Dejm^y^'i^ston^ J^ Date Approved by Chairman y (PC^Z/fc? 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my thesis advisor and friend, Dr. David S. Brookstein, whose guidance and encouragement made this thesis possible. Special thanks also should go to Dr. David R. Gentry for his advice during the early part of my studies at Georgia Tech and for serving on my reading committee. Dr. Milos Konopasek rendered invaluable assistance with the computer work for which I am especially grateful. Special mention should go to Mr. Mat Sikorski for his help in connecting the power measuring equipment, Mr. Fay Smith for keeping the spinning frame running, and Mr. Jim Maxwell of Coats and Clark for supplying the necessary sliver and performing evenness tests on the yarn. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii SUMMARY ix Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Statement of the Problem 1.2. Review of Literature I.2.a. Energy Consumption in Open End Spinning I.2.b. Effect of Combing Roller Speed on Open End Spun Yarn I.2.C. Effect of Combing Roller Wire Design on Open End Spun Yarn I.2.d. Effect of Twist and Rotor Speed on Open End Yarn II. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND INVESTIGATIONS .... 14 11.1. Scope of Experimental Investigation 11.2. Equipment for Experimental Investigation 11.2.a. Laboratory Open End Spinning Frame II.2.b. Energy Measuring Equipment 11.2.c. Sliver II.2.d. Testing Equipment 11.3. Experimental Procedure II.3.a. Spinning at Different Test Conditions II.3.b. Measuring Energy Consumption II.3.c. Testing the Yarn III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 20 III.l. Comparison of Laboratory Open End Spun Yarn with Mill Open End Spun Yarn IV Chapter Page 111.2. Yarn Strength III.2.a. The Effect of Combing Roller Speed on Yarn Strength III.2.b. The Effect of Twist Multiple on Yarn Strength III.2.C, The Effect of Yarn Linear Density on Tenacity 111.3. Yarn Elongation III.3.a. The Effect of Combing Roller Speed on Yarn Elongation III.3.b. The Effect of Twist Multiple on Yarn Elongation 111. 4. Yarn Energy to Break III.4.a. The Effect of Combing Roller Speed on Yarn Energy to Break III.4.b. The Effect of Twist Multiple on Yarn Energy to Break III. 5. Yarn Uniformity III.5.a. The Effect of Combing Roller Speed on Yarn Uniformity Ill.S.b. The Effect of Twist Multiple on Yarn Uniformity III.5.C. Yarn Evenness and Strength III.6. Optimization of Open End Yarn Properties with Respect to Energy Consumption IV. CONCLUSIONS 56 V. RECOMMENDATIONS 5 8 Appendix A. YARN TEST RESULTS 59 B. ENERGY CONSUMPTION MEASUREMENTS 68 C. QAS PROGRAM 70 D. ISO-GRAPHS FOR ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND YARN PROPERTIES 72 BIBLIOGRAPHY 84 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Breakdown of Energy Costs in Ring Spinning. ... 7 2. Breakdown of Energy Costs in Open End Spinning. 8 3. Investigated Parameters and the Number of Test Conditions Used to Investigate the Effect of the Four Parameters 14 4. Sliver Specifications 16 5. Strength and Uniformity of Mill and Laboratory Yarn 2 0 6. The General Model for Energy Consumption and Yarn Properties 42 7. Model of Energy Consumption and Yarn Properties for 42 Tex Cotton 43 8. The Optimization Problem for 42 Tex Cotton. ... 44 9. Yarn Tensile Strength for 32 Tex Cotton 60 10. Percent Elongation for 32 Tex Cotton 60 11. Energy to Break for 32 Tex Cotton 61 12. %CV for 32 Tex Cotton 61 13. Yarn Tensile Strength for 42 Tex Cotton 62 14. Percent Elongation for 42 Tex Cotton 62 15. Energy to Break for 42 Tex Cotton 63 16. ICV for 42 Tex Cotton 63 17. Yarn Tensile Strength for 32 Tex Cotton/Polyester 64 18. Percent Elongation for 32 Tex Cotton/Polyester. 64 19. Energy to Break for 32 Tex Cotton/Polyester ... 65 VI Table Page 20. %CY for 32 Tex Cotton/Polyester 65 21. Yarn Tensile Strength for 42 Tex Cotton/Polyester. 66 22. Percent Elongation for 42 Tex Cotton/Polyester . 66 23. Energy to Break for 42 Tex Cotton/Polyester. ... 67 24. %CV for 42 Tex Cotton/Polyester 67 25. Energy Consumption for Open End Spinning 69 Vll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Open End Spinning Head 3 2. Power Input for Spinning Operations Using Ring Frames 9 3. Power Input for Spinning Operations Using Open End Frames 9 4. Effect of Combing Roller on Yarn Strength .... 22 5. Effect of Twist Multiple on Yarn Strength .... 25 6. Structure of Ring and Open End Spun Yarn 2 7 7. Effect of Combing Roller Speed on Yarn Elongation 30 8. Effect of Twist Multiple on Yarn Elongation ... 32 9. Effect of Combing Roller Speed on Yarn Energy to Break 34 10. Effect of Twist Multiple on Yarn Energy to Break. 36 11. Effect of Combing Roller Speed on Yarn Uniformity 37 12. Effect of Twist Multiple on Yarn Uniformity ... 39 13. Strength-Energy Iso-Curves for 42 Tex Cotton. 46 14. Elongation-Energy Iso-Curves for 42 Tex Cotton. 47 15. Energy to Break-Energy Iso-Curves for 42 Tex Cotton , 48 16. Uniformity-Energy Iso-Curves for 42 Tex Cotton. 49 17. Solution Space for 42 Tex Cotton 50 18. Flowchart for Minimizing Energy Consumption Considering Strength, Elongation, Energy to Break and Energy Consumption 52 Vlll Figure Page 19. Minimization of Energy Consumption with Respect to Strength Elongation and Energy to Break. ... 53 20. Minimization of Energy Consumption with Respect to Uniformity 55 21. Strength-Energy Iso-Curves for 42 Tex Cotton/ Polyester 73 22. Elongation-Energy Iso-Curves for 42 Tex Cotton Polyester 74 23. Energy to Break-Energy Iso-Curves for 42 Tex Cotton/Polyester 75 24. Uniformity-Energy Iso-Curves for 42 Tex Cotton/Polyester 76 25. Strength-Energy Iso-Curves for 32 Tex Cotton. 77 26. Elongation-Energy Iso Curves for 32 Tex Cotton. 78 27. Energy to Break-Energy Iso-Curves for 32 Tex Cotton 79 28. Uniformity-Energy Iso-Curves for 32 Tex Cotton. 80 29. Strength-Energy Iso-Curves for 32 Tex Cotton/ Polyester 81 30. Elongation-Energy Iso-Curves for 32 Tex Cotton/ Polyester 82 31. Energy to Break Energy Iso-Curves for 32 Tex Cotton/Polyester 83 IX SUMMARY This research is concerned with optimizing energy consumption during open end spinning without adversely affecting yarn quality or rate of production. The method of optimization consists of testing yarn, spun at levels of rotor and combing roller speeds, to determine the effect of machine parameters on yarn properties. It can be concluded that a given level of strength, elongation, energy to break or uniformity can be achieved at different combinations of combing roller and rotor speed. Since lower speeds result in lower energy consumption, the properties of open end spun yarn can be optimized with respect to energy consumption by finding the lowest combing roller and rotor speed combination that produce acceptable strength, elongation, energy to break and uniformity. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I.l. Statement of the Problem Until the early 1970's, the United States was fortunate to have relatively abundant and inexpensive energy. As a result, technological advances in the textile industry had been aimed toward increasing the utilization of labor and capital. Accordingly, power consumption was of no major concern, for it was less expensive per unit of production than capital or labor; however, energy is now more expensive. Current trends indicate that it will become even more expensive and the possibility for power interruption will exist. The textile industry is a labor intensive industry. In attempting to reduce the cost of labor per unit production of goods, technical developments in the textile industry have been focused towards increasing output per man and machine-hour and these developments have led to increased speeds for existing processes as well as the development of new technologies. Open end spinning was developed with a view toward increasing the productivity of the yarn spinning process beyond the limiting speeds of ring spinning. The process was developed at a time when fuels used to produce electrical energy were relatively abundant and inexpensive. At the time of development, the increased productivity per man and machine-hour justified the increased rate of energy consump­ tion; however, today the cost of electrical energy has risen dramatically and it remains to reevaluate manufacturing processes to determine if they can be run at reduced levels of power consumption without significantly impairing the quality of finished goods. Until recently, energy consumption has not received serious attention from the designers of open end spinning systems. An examination of a laboratory open end spinning frame suggests that a study of the material-machine inter­ actions occurring at those stations in the spinning system that are primary users of energy but whose contributions to the process do not affect the rate of productivity may lead to recommendations that would serve to reduce the speeds of these components and accordingly system energy consumption. Open end spinning systems consist primarily of six sequential operations (Figure 1). They are the following: 1.