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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Structure and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #344382
Research Project: Improved Quality Assessments of Cotton from Fiber to Final Products

Location: Cotton Structure and Quality Research

Title: Miniature spinning: an improved cotton research tools

Author
item Delhom, Christopher - Chris
item MANANDHAR, ROJI - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)

Submitted to: Journal of Cotton Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/25/2018
Publication Date: 9/24/2018
Citation: Delhom, C.D., Manandhar, R. 2018. Miniature spinning: an improved cotton research tools. Journal of Cotton Science. 22(2):126-135. http://www.cotton.org/journal/2018-22/2/upload/JCS22-126.pdf

Interpretive Summary: Cotton is a highly variable natural fiber. Cotton quality is determined by various properties such as maturity, fineness, micronaire, length, strength. These properties vary according to environmental conditions and genetic traits. Cotton fibers with better fiber properties will produce better quality yarn. Researchers routinely evaluate these cotton fiber properties. The amount of material available to researchers for evaluation is often limited. It is not possible to spin small samples using Industrial machinery. Therefore, a new miniature spinning system was developed using ideas borrowed from the previous iterations of miniature-scale processing. Data were collected to verify the performance of new system. Depending on its fiber quality, different yarn qualities were produced. The newly developed miniature spinning system processed small cotton samples more efficiently and produced better quality yarn than previous miniature-scale systems.

Technical Abstract: Cotton is a natural fiber and is highly variable. Researchers need to evaluate cotton fiber properties to aid in the development of improved varieties and to ensure that changes in agronomic practices do not harm fiber quality or processing propensity. There is a need for fiber quality evaluation beyond laboratory testing which has been designed to assign a value to cotton for trade purposes. The amount of material available to researchers for evaluation is often limited. It is not possible to spin these small samples using conventional processing techniques and machinery. This limitation has led to the development of miniature-scale spinning systems. The objective of this study was to review previously developed miniature processing systems and to develop an improved system that addresses the weaknesses of existing systems. Commercial equipment was modified to develop a new miniature spinning system. The newly developed miniature scale processing system was used to convert fiber into quality ring spun yarn. Data was collected to verify the performance of the new system. Depending on the fiber quality, different yarn qualities were produced. The newly developed miniature spinning system processed small cotton samples more efficiently and produced better quality yarn than previous miniature-scale systems.