Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research

Vol. 32, March 2007, pp. 57-61

Effect of mass of seed cotton and its lint quality on yarn properties
N M Imayathamizhana, K Raghunathan & M R Srikrishnan
Department of Textile Technology, A C College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai 600 025, India
Revised received 6 February 2006; accepted 13 April 2006

Reduction in variation of fibre properties within particular fibre groups to get excellent fibre and yarn qualities from the
available raw material and categorization of seed cotton prior to ginning with respect to their mass has been explored. For
appropriate utilization of raw material to produce yarn of a particular quality, the manually picked seed cottons were
grouped with respect to their mass measured with an accuracy of 0.001g. The grouped seed cottons were then ginned on
roller gin with four different roller and beater speed combinations and fibres of each group were tested using AFIS and HVI
as per the standard procedure. The yarn samples were produced as per the sequence of process used for carded cotton yarn.
The separation of the seed cottons with respect to their mass results in the categorization of fibres with respect to their
physical properties. The higher mass of seed cotton results in superior fibre properties and vice versa. Similar to fibre
properties, a significant enhancement in yarn quality is also observed, particularly in the samples ‘101-150mg’ and ‘151-
200mg’ for both 50s and 60s Ne count yarns.
Keywords: Cotton, Ginning, Lint quality, Yarn quality
IPC Code: Int. Cl.8 D02G3/00

1 Introduction (groups 1, 2 and 3) are processed separately with

To reduce the variation in fibre properties within a
particular fibre group for better fibre, yarn, and fabric
qualities from the available raw materials, the process
of categorization of seed cotton on the basis of their
mass before ginning must be incorporated in the
existing sequence of processing cotton in yarn
production. The carded yarn process is sufficient for
achieving better process performance and yarn quality
because the correlation between upper quartile length
and mass of seed cotton is significant. This
categorization process is not only helpful in
categorizing fibres with respect to their physical
properties but also helpful in the categorization of seeds
with respect to their mass during ginning. This helps in
getting better and heavier seeds for planting and thus in
reducing deterioration of fibre properties during
ginning. The mass of seed significantly affects the
properties of fibres.1 Ginning rate in double roller gins
is 8-10 times lower than that in saw gin.2 The neps in
card sliver from saw ginned cottons are lower by 30 -
60 % as compared to that from roller-ginned cottons,
even though the saw ginned lint samples have higher
neps.3 Therefore, from a single cotton variety, it is
possible to produce at least three different ranges of
yarn counts with excellent quality and improved
process performance when categorized fibre groups
______________
a collection, preparation and ginning), and with respect
To whom all the correspondence should be addressed.
Formerly known as M Tamil Selvan.
E-mail: imayathamizhan@annauniv.edu
varying process parameters from ginning to spinning
(carded process because fibres are categorized with
respect to their length by categorization of seed
cotton).
In the present work, the influence of mass of seed
cotton and its fibre properties on the quality of yarns
produced has been studied. The importance is given to
the influence of mass of seed cotton, and its fibre
properties on yarn quality because the nature of the
mass distribution in kapas decides the range of
variations in fibre properties within a particular fibre
group. Therefore, the categorization of seed cotton with
respect to its mass before ginning in the existing
sequence of cotton yarn manufacturing (as a carded
process) will help the textile industry in achieving an
improvement in appropriate utilization of raw material
for producing yarn and fabric of a particular quality
without using the combing process.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Materials
MCU-5 cotton variety was grown and harvested at
Irrulappatti village in the state of Tamil Nadu, South
India. From the harvested seed cotton, five different
samples were separated, namely ‘immature sample’
and ‘normal sample’ (usual practice followed for
to mass of seed cotton ‘below 100 mg’, ‘101-150 mg’
and ‘151-200 mg’. All these five samples were
58 INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., MARCH 2007

processed separately from ginning to ring spinning as increase in mass of seed cotton results in increase in
per the existing known sequence of processing. The spinning consistency index (SCI), fibre micronaire
three different samples with respect to mass of seed value (MIC), strength in g/tex (STR), fibre length
cotton, namely ‘below 100 mg’, ‘101-150 mg’ and (LEN), uniformity (UNF), count strength product
‘151-200 mg’, obtained from ginning under four (CSP), reflectance value (Rd), upper quartile length
different combinations of speeds of beater knife and (w) (UQL), fineness in millitex, maturity ratio (MR)
roller in roller ginning machine were processed and a corresponding reduction in short fibre index
separately (Table 1). (SFI), yellowness value (+b), short fibre content
(SFC), immature fibre content in % (IFC), nep in
2.2 Process up to Winding
contents/g (NEP) and seed coat nep in um (SCN)
All the fibre samples were processed uniformly
values, thereby resulting in enhancement of fibre
from ginning to winding and carded yarns of 50s and
properties.
60s Ne were produced. The process parameters used
Therefore, without categorization of seed cotton
for 50s and 60s Ne carded yarns from blowroom to
with respect to their mass, the variation in fibre
spinning are as follows:
properties within the particular sample increases. This
Blowroom limits the improvement in the fibre properties because
Lap hank : 0.001609 the normal sample in the study shows poor properties
Carding
Sliver hank : 0.160 as compared to the samples ‘101-150 mg’ and
Doffer speed : 20 rpm ‘151-200 mg’ even though the normal sample does
Draw frame (two passage) not include fibres from unopened cotton bolls but
Sliver hank : 0.160 includes fibres of other samples. The fibres of
Number of doubling : 8
Delivery speed : 300 mpm
immature samplea show significantly poor properties
Simplex (Table 2) as compared to other samples but in the end
Roving hank : 1.50 (for 50s Ne) and 1.80 (for 60s Ne) it comes closer to the sample ‘below 100 mg’.
TM : 1.08 (for 50s Ne) and 4.3 (for 60s Ne) Variations in fibre properties are significantly
Spindle speed : 900 rpm (for 50s Ne) and 19000 rpm higher within a single variety. Categorization of seed
(for 60s Ne)
Spinning cotton with respect to the mass of kapas helps in
Spindle speed : 18500 rpm reducing variation in fibre properties. Fibres with
TM : 4.10 particular mass of kapas must be processed separately
2.3 Fibre and Yarn Testing
from ginning to spinning for a particular yarn count
Fibre samples were tested using high volume and for a particular application. This will ensure
instruments (HVI) and advance fibre information improvement in the quality of product and the process
performance without using the combing process
system (AFIS) as per the standard procedures. because among the fibre properties of comber lap,
Similarly, the yarn samples were tested using sliver and noil, the noil (removed fibres) consists of
Cascade, Premier IQ and Premier Tensomaxx 7000 short and immature fibres of low mass per unit length
instruments and standard procedures. and high neps. The comber fibre properties, collected
from spinning industry, are shown in Appendix 1. It is
3 Results and Discussion therefore clear that the separation of short fibres can
be easily achieved by categorization of seed cotton
3.1 Mass of Seed Cotton and its Fibre Properties
with respect to its mass.
Five samples, separated from MCU-5 variety are
shown in Table 2. Significant difference in fibre
properties is observed between the samples. The 3.2 Mass of Seed Cotton and its Ginned Lint Quality
The range of differences in SFC, SFI and NEP
Table 1 — Ginning machine specifications (content/g) within a particular mass of seed cotton
Combination Speed of beater knife Speed of roller (particularly of lower mass, below 100 mg) is
speed opm rpm
______________
1 600 73 a
These cotton bolls were collected from one or two days prior to
2 800 97 boll burst open. It is common that for every picking period, there
3 900 110 are some numbers of unopened bolls due to improper picking.
4 980 120 These bolls are collected and processed separately.
 IMAYATHAMIZHAN et al.: EFFECT OF MASS OF SEED COTTON & ITS LINT QUALITY ON YARN PROPERTIES 59

significantly (at 95% level) higher with respect to
combination speeds of beater knife and roller. The
results are shown in Table 3. Therefore, grouping of
seed cotton with respect to its mass and the change in
ginning process are essential for getting
corresponding improvement in yarn quality.
3.3 Effect of Fibre Properties on Yarn Quality
The properties of yarn have been discussed in terms
of only two parameters, namely yarn tensile strength
and appearance. The discussion of tensile properties
of yarn includes Avg STR, CSP, tenacity (RKM),
elongation (ELG), breaking force and breaking work.
Similarly, the appearance properties of yarn include
U%, thin places, thick places, NEP (total
imperfections) and hairiness.
Excellent changes in yarn properties are observed
with respect to fibre properties (Table 4) for both 50s
and 60s Ne yarns. Significant improvement in yarn
quality is also observed particularly in the samples
‘101-150mg’ and ‘151-200mg’ for both 50s and 60s
Table 2 — Mass of kapas and corresponding fibre properties
Ne yarns as compared to the normal sample. The
incorporation of the categorization of seed cotton with
respect to its mass prior to ginning produces excellent
improvement in yarn quality as well as performance
in processing.
Very significant correlation is noticed between
fibre and yarn properties for both 50s and 60s Ne
yarns (Table 5). Fibre properties which are enhanced
due to an increase in mass of seed cotton, namely
SCI, MIC, STR, LEN, UNF, CSP, Rd, +b, UQL,
SFC, fineness, IFC, MR, NEP (contents/g) and SCN
(um), significantly influence the yarn tenacity and
appearance. The fibre properties, namely SCI, MIC,
STR, LEN, UNF, CSP, Rd, UQL, fineness and MR,
correlate positively with tensile properties and
negatively with appearance. Similarly, the fibre
properties, namely +b, SFC, IFC, NEP (contents/g)
and SCN (um), correlate negatively with tensile
properties and positively with appearance. The other
groups of samples, namely ‘below 150 mg’ and
‘above 100 mg’, also show significant difference in

SCI – Spinning consistency index, MIC –Fibre micronaire value, STR –Strength in g/tex, LEN –Fibre length, SFI –Short fibre index,
ELG –Elongation, CSP –Count strength product, CG –Colour grade, Rd–Reflectance value, +b –Yellowness value, UQL –Upper quartile
length (w), SFC –Short fibre content (n), IFC –Immature fibre content, MR – Maturity, and SCN – Seed coat nep.
Table 3 — Mass of kapas and corresponding fibre properties with respect to combination speeds of beater knife and roller by AFIS and HVI

Combination Fibre properties by AFIS Fibre properties by HVI

speed UQL SFC NEP NEP SCN SCN SCI MIC MR LEN UNF SFI STR ELG
mm um contents/g um contents/g mm g/tex %
Below 100 mg
1 27.0 30.7 676 286 1340 17 138 2.66 0.76 25.93 48.0 8.5 19.9 5.2
2 26.8 33.8 692 226 1304 7 130 2.75 0.77 26.70 46.8 8.8 20.6 5.3
3 27.9 26.4 707 229 1320 13 129 2.74 0.77 26.81 47.2 6.0 20.6 5.4
4 28.8 27.6 675 228 1075 4 135 2.75 0.76 25.31 48.1 7.2 19.3 5.2
100 – 150 mg
1 27.9 22.1 740 101 1034 15 134 3.88 0.83 26.81 47.7 5.4 22.9 5.0
2 28.2 23.5 704 81 1663 4 134 3.92 0.83 26.19 47.9 6.1 22.4 5.2
3 27.3 23.6 758 68 1454 7 131 3.81 0.82 26.05 47.8 5.8 21.6 5.2
4 27.0 23.7 702 75 1575 2 135 3.86 0.83 26.52 47.9 6.7 22.4 5.1
151 – 200 mg
1 28.3 18.9 632 38 1100 2 123 4.83 0.88 28.09 46.8 6.5 24.1 5.0
2 28.7 16.6 759 48 1708 5 133 4.45 0.85 26.48 48.3 5.9 22.6 5.1
3 28.3 20.8 735 53 1556 9 131 4.79 0.87 27.14 48.0 6.3 23.5 5.1
4 28.5 17.1 654 46 900 3 124 4.79 0.87 26.80 47.5 6.6 22.8 5.1
60 INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES., MARCH 2007

Table 4 — Mass of kapas and corresponding yarn properties

Table 5 — Correlation between fibre and yarn properties

Property Average CSP RKM ELG Breaking Breaking U% Thin Thick Nep Total Hairiness
strength % force, gf work, kgfm imperfections
50s Ne yarn count
SCI 0.99 0.98 0.91 −0.17 0.91 0.82 −0.97 −0.98 −0.93 −0.92 −0.93 −0.72
MIC 0.80 0.84 0.70 −0.60 0.70 0.46 −0.79 −0.74 −0.81 −0.84 −0.83 −0.70
STR 0.95 0.93 0.84 −0.11 0.84 0.80 −0.88 −0.94 −0.82 −0.77 −0.80 −0.75
LEN 0.95 0.97 0.88 −0.45 0.88 0.70 −0.94 −0.93 −0.94 −0.92 −0.94 −0.82
UNF 0.91 0.93 0.84 −0.32 0.84 0.68 −0.93 −0.88 −0.92 −0.96 −0.95 −0.65
ELG −0.23 −0.27 −0.47 0.21 −0.47 −0.35 0.47 0.32 0.55 0.61 0.58 0.14
CSP 0.98 0.96 0.88 −0.14 0.88 0.82 −0.92 −0.97 −0.88 −0.83 −0.86 −0.76
Rd 0.98 0.96 0.91 −0.16 0.91 0.84 −0.94 −0.98 −0.90 −0.85 −0.88 −0.78
+b −0.88 −0.89 −0.59 0.54 −0.59 −0.43 0.69 0.76 0.64 0.57 0.61 0.87
UQL 0.83 0.86 0.82 −0.43 0.82 0.63 −0.89 −0.82 −0.91 −0.93 −0.93 −0.66
SFC −0.56 −0.57 −0.78 0.17 −0.78 −0.67 0.77 0.66 0.83 0.85 0.84 0.40
Fineness 0.78 0.74 0.74 0.34 0.74 0.77 −0.79 −0.78 −0.72 −0.78 −0.77 −0.27
IFC −0.85 −0.83 −0.76 −0.18 −0.76 −0.75 0.83 0.83 0.77 0.83 0.81 0.38
MR 0.88 0.86 0.90 0.13 0.90 0.87 −0.94 −0.91 −0.91 −0.94 −0.94 −0.45
NEP, um 0.11 0.05 0.52 0.48 0.52 0.71 −0.35 −0.35 −0.38 −0.29 −0.32 −0.08
NEP, content/g −0.99 −0.97 −0.94 0.21 −0.94 −0.85 0.97 0.99 0.94 0.89 0.92 0.80
SCN, um −0.89 −0.92 −0.66 0.56 0.66 −0.43 0.79 0.78 0.76 0.78 0.78 0.74
SCN, content/g −0.48 −0.48 −0.35 −0.21 −0.35 −0.29 0.48 0.39 0.43 0.61 0.54 −0.09
60s Ne yarn count
SCI 0.94 0.89 0.86 −0.33 0.88 0.54 −0.96 −0.91 −0.96 −0.96 −0.97 −0.83
MIC 0.80 0.79 0.52 −0.73 0.49 0.03 −0.90 −0.71 −0.90 −0.91 −0.90 −0.77
STR 0.90 0.87 0.94 −0.04 0.94 0.75 −0.88 −0.94 −0.88 −0.83 −0.87 −0.84
LEN 0.96 0.94 0.78 −0.50 0.77 0.37 −0.99 −0.89 −0.99 −0.99 −0.99 −0.88
UNF 0.88 0.82 0.65 −0.65 0.67 0.20 −0.95 −0.78 −0.96 −0.99 −0.97 −0.76
ELG −0.37 −0.30 0.03 0.76 −0.06 0.40 0.37 0.07 0.38 0.51 0.42 0.10
CSP 0.93 0.90 0.93 −0.13 0.94 0.69 −0.92 −0.95 −0.92 −0.89 −0.92 −0.85
Rd 0.95 0.92 0.93 −0.16 0.94 0.68 −0.93 −0.95 −0.93 −0.91 −0.94 −0.85
b+ −0.80 −0.85 −0.84 0.10 −0.74 −0.60 0.87 0.94 0.85 0.74 0.82 0.96
UQL 0.86 0.81 0.57 −0.71 0.59 0.10 −0.91 −0.72 −0.92 −0.93 −0.93 −0.73
SFC −0.68 −0.60 −0.35 0.66 −0.44 0.04 0.65 0.41 0.66 0.77 0.70 0.38
Fineness 0.65 0.54 0.61 −0.25 0.71 0.41 −0.67 −0.61 −0.69 −0.73 −0.71 −0.44
IFC −0.72 −0.62 −0.65 0.34 −0.72 −0.39 0.77 0.70 0.79 0.81 0.80 0.56
MR 0.82 0.72 0.68 −0.42 0.78 0.38 −0.83 −0.72 −0.85 −0.90 −0.87 −0.58
NEP, um 0.29 0.24 0.34 0.36 0.49 0.49 −0.04 −0.13 −0.04 −0.13 −0.10 0.08
NEP, contents/g −0.98 −0.94 −0.92 0.22 −0.94 −0.63 0.95 0.95 0.96 0.94 0.96 0.86
SCN, um −0.81 −0.81 −0.64 0.58 −0.58 −0.20 0.94 0.82 0.94 0.90 0.92 0.87
SCN, contents/g −0.29 −0.16 −0.06 0.72 −0.14 0.26 0.46 0.21 0.49 0.55 0.50 0.16
 IMAYATHAMIZHAN et al.: EFFECT OF MASS OF SEED COTTON & ITS LINT QUALITY ON YARN PROPERTIES 61

Table 6 — Mass of seed cotton and corresponding yarn properties

both 50s and 60s Ne yarn quality (Table 6). No
relationship is observed between fibre and yarn
elongation. Similarly, there is no relation found
between fibre properties [NEP (um) and SCN
(contents/g)] and yarn properties.
4 Conclusions
4.1 It is suggested to consider the mass of seed
cotton during ginning, so as to avoid the deterioration
in fibre quality with modified ginning parameters.
4.2 The mass of kapas significantly affects both the
fibre and yarn properties. The immature sample
shows poor results and samples ‘101-150 mg’ and
‘151-200 mg’ show improved properties when
compared with the normal sample. Therefore, only a
limited range in mass of kapas must be allowed for
the production of a particular yarn.
4.3 Consideration should be given for the
incorporation of process. For example, categorization
of kapas with respect to its mass prior to ginning
within the existing sequence of cotton yarn
manufacturing process need to be incorporated to
minimize deterioration in fibre and yarn quality.
4.4 Fibres from lower mass of kapas may be kept
separately and used for producing either yarns of
coarser counts or for any other applications, such as
preparation of microcrystalline cellulose, and for
making paper.
4.5 The process ‘categorisation of kapas’ prior to
ginning will help to achieve correct and effective
utilization of raw material for producing particular
quality of yarn and fabric.
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to the Joint Managing
Director and other officials of M/s Sambandam
Spinning Mills Limited, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India,
for their help in producing and testing the requisite
samples.
References
1 Tamil Selvan M & Raghunathan K, Indian J Fibre Text Res,
31 (2006) 346.
2 Jadhav S B, Vancheswaran S, Vizia N C & Iyer K R K, Indian
J Fibre Text Res, 28 (2003) 377.
3 Cellamani K P, Parthasarathy N & Arindan Basu, Asian Text J,
(July 2003) 75.

Appendix 1 — Comber fibre properties (MCU-5)

Comber Fibre properties by AFIS
material UQL SFC Fineness IFC MR NEP NEP SCN SCN
mm m.tex % um contents/g um contents/g
Lap 34.5 28.4 155 5.7 0.90 641 96 1093 5
Sliver 35.5 11.2 168 4.9 0.96 617 32 0 0
Noils 16.9 79.9 127 9.4 0.73 663 604 1016 26
UQL – Uper quartile length (w), SFC – Sort fibre content (n), IFC – Immature fibre content, MR – Maturity,
SCN – Seed coat nep.