Extracting bast fibres

This article describes an extraction process for base fibres. The fibres are first cut to the desired length and chemically treated to remove lignin and pectin compounds. They are then dried at 20-90 degrees and the dried fibres are mechanically opened. Optionally the fibres can be retted before the chemical treatment is applied. An examp..

Cotton and competing natural fibres

In this article, the method of extraction of some of the vegetable fibres like pineapple, jute, flax, ramie and banana from their respective plants together with their 'Textile Value' are briefly touched upon. The 'quantum jump' achieved in cotton production in India after independence together with the increase in productivity is explain..

Indian Chemical Industry: A review of 1998-99

A resume of the Indian Chemical Manufacturer's Association's 59th AGM and presentation of the ICMA awards for 1998. Although squeezed by the drop in prices caused by the Asian crisis, the Indian chemical industry is responding to growing demand, particularly in the domestic market. Atul Limited of Gujarat has been awarded the Association'..

UDCT holds a half-day seminar on ITMA '99

The Division of Technology of Fibres and Textile Processing of the Department of Chemical Technology, University of Bombay, organised a seminar on advances in mechanical and chemical processing an slow at the latest ITMA. Presentations highlighted the role of Indian Research and the need to carefully evaluate the need for further automati..

Clustering analysis for cotton trash classification

Raw cotton may contain various kinds of trash, such as leaf, bark, and seed coat particles. The content of each of these rash categories is useful information for finding more efficient cleaning processes and predicting the quality of the finished products. This paper addresses the importance of using chromatic and geometric features of t..

Cotton yield estimation using agrometeorological model and satellite-derived spectral profile

Timely and accurate estimates of district-level cotton yield are essential for management decisions related to the cotton economy of a country. Surendranagar is a major cotton growing district of Gujarat, India. The yield of cotton for Surendranagar district was estimated using (i) a linear time series trend and actual evapotranspiration ..

Skies are brightening for long staple

The long staple yarn sector has experienced difficult market conditions recently, but the direction of the industry for the future is relatively clear. Finer yarns and lighter fabrics will be needed to meet broader fashion requirements. Specialist machinery developments are pointing the way for the sector. Solospun is a clip-on spinning r..

New developments in high performance textiles

The article focuses on two recent developments in high performance textiles and suggests possible additional applications for the fibers that serve as the foundation of the new fabrics. These fiber are tetra-channel polyester and silver-coated nylon(X-static by Noble Fiber Technologies). DuPont and Noble have formed on alliance to market ..

Chemical composition of some varieties of ramie and their fibre characteristics

The fibre characteristics of raw and degummed ramie of three different varieties, viz. R-1411, R-1412 and R-1452, have been studied by evaluating the different physico-chemical parameters. It is observed that the variety R-1411 is stronger in terms of breaking load and tensile strength, and it contains higher cellulose contents but lower ..

Coloured cotton

Ethno-archaeologist J.M.Vreelard Jnr has been researching and reviving naturally-coloured cotton plants for the last 30 yrs. Nearly all the varieties in commercial use today derive from stocks created by the native peoples of South America, despite ill-advised attempts to standardise cotton varieties and cultivars during this century. The..