Combing Recycled Cotton Blends

Improved recycled ring and compact yarn quality

Better yarn quality
Higher recycling ratio
Using the noil for rotor yarn

Innovation in Recycling

The combed process is a standard process which is widely used in the industry to improve the quality of virgin cotton. It enables the spinning of finer yarns with a higher tenacity as well as lower imperfections and unevenness. With the potential of reducing the short-fiber content and the number of neps, it is a very interesting process to be also used for recycled cotton blends. Rieter conducted several trials which show the successful use of the combed process for spinning ring and compact yarns from blends of mechanically recycled and virgin cotton.

Characteristics of mechanically recycled fibers

Recycled fibers are going to play an important role in the fiber mix of the future. Despite extensive research, mechanically recycled fibers are still challenging to be re-spun into yarns due remaining yarn and fabric pieces, a high short-fiber content and a high number of neps. These parameters become particularly problematic when virgin cotton is used as a blending fiber. Depending on the cotton quality, the virgin cotton can already have a high content of short fibers and neps. This can quickly limit the additional amount of recycled fibers that can be added to the blend.

Carded and combed recycled yarns comparison chart — Yarn imperfections and unevenness CVm, Ne 30, cotton blend with recycled cotton

Improving quality with the combed process

Recycled fibers affect yarn quality. In the Rieter trial the carded sample containing 25% recycled cotton has high unevenness values as well as many thick places and neps. Combing helps to get rid of the very short and disturbing fibers and improves the yarn quality. This can be seen when comparing the carded and combed sample: Although the share of recycled fibers is twice as high in the combed sample, the unevennness and imperfection level is better compared to the carded sample.

Share of recycled fibers left in the yarn

A main question of the trial was how many recycled fibers are removed during the combed process and how this affects the overall recycling ratio in the final yarn. The results show that after combing, the share of recycled fibers in the blend is reduced from 50% to around 40%. However, not only recycled fibers are combed out but also short fibers of the virgin cotton. This means that there is still a considerable amount of recycled fibers remaining in the blend. The noil resulting from the combed process is ideal for processing on a rotor spinning system.

Detailed results in technology publication

An extensive technological publication on the trial is available in the download section. It contains details about the trial set-up and further results. It also answer the question how the additional process steps of the combed process are impacting the process cost.

Field test with Recover and Polopiqué

It is important to validate the combed process for recycling also on an industrial level. For this reason, a similar trial as in the Rieter spincenter was conducted at Portuguese textile manufacturer Polopiqué. A green recycled fiber from post-industrial origin provided by Spanish recycled fiber-producer Recover was used for the trial. The results at Polopiqué confirm the results of the spincenter. The yarn quality can be improved significantly with the combed process, while maintaining a high share of green recycled fibers in the blend. Polopiqué - as a vertically integrated textile company – produced polo shirts from the combed recycled ring yarns. The quality of the garment is comparable to a virgin product.

Com4recycling Spinning Systems

Rieter’s technology know-how enables the use of recycled fibers to spin ring, compact and rotor yarns. By pushing the technological boundaries of recycling, Rieter systems contribute to closing the loop in the textile sector.

Machines for the Combed Process for Recycled Cotton Blends

VARIOline

The blowroom line VARIOline is the variable concept for optimally opening and cleaning fibers. This guarantees the highest level of yarn quality. All blowroom machinery is designed to support an impressive line production performance of up to 2 400 kilograms per hour. VARIOline consumes around 40% less energy than solutions from other providers.

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Card C 81

The card C 81 offers the largest active carding area on the market, supported by artificial intelligence. Its latest innovations Carding Gap Control and Trash Level Monitor contribute to higher production of up to 40%, excellent sliver quality and an optimized fiber yield. In addition, the card C 81 is also the most energy-efficient card on the market, thus saving valuable resources.

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Autoleveler draw frame RSB-D 55 and draw frame SB-D 55

The new single-head draw frame generation is designed for highest productivity of up to 1 200 m/min delivery speed. The machines enable spinning mills to achieve highest sliver and yarn quality, also when processing recycled fibers. The enhanced expert system SLIVERprofessional is integrated into the convenient 10 inch touchscreen. A new level of robustness keeps the operating costs low.

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OMEGAlap E 36

OMEGAlap E 36 with proven winding belt technology is the most economic combing preparation system and provides the qualitatively best conditions for high-performance combing.

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Comber E 90

The comber E 90 impresses thanks to its state-of-the-art technology components, increased productivity, and greater flexibility in terms of possible applications. The machine ensures a consistently high yarn quality at low conversion costs.

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Fully automatic roving frame F 40 and semi-automated roving frame F 20

The new generation of roving frames produces first-class rovings with low conversion costs. The fast doffer installed in the F 40 ensures a high level of efficiency. With up to 252 spinning positions, the machine is ideally suited to long ring-spinning machines.

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Ring spinning machine G 38

The ring spinning machine G 38 with the fully electronic drafting system allows an extraordinary flexibility. Standard and special yarns as well as compact yarns can easily be produced. The individual spindle monitoring system ISM premium reduces personnel costs significantly.

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Compacting device COMPACTdrum

The compacting device COMPACTdrum for the Rieter ring spinning machine is easy to install and remove. It adds a new dimension to reducing hairiness, which impresses customers along with the very low production costs. The device processes all raw materials and covers all yarn counts.

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Automatic winding machine Autoconer X6

The Autoconer X6 stands for efficiency, quality and flexibility. Thanks to its energy-efficient concept the machine uses up to 20% less energy than the previous model. The splicers with new open prisms OZ1 and OZ2 ensure the highest levels of splice quality. With the Multilink and Multilot material flow configuration, automation becomes even more flexible and cost-effective.

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Download

Enhancing Recycled Ring Yarn Quality – Special Print

English
PDF / 9 MB