Man Made Fibres Lecture Plan

Technology of Man-made Fibres Contact hour/week: 3-0 Introduction history of man-made fibres classification of man-made fibres present trends of man-made fibre industry Manufacture of Man-made Fibres types (cotton, wool or carpet) and forms (filament, tow or staple) of man-made fibres production outline (spinning, drawing, spin finish, intermingling, texturization, heat setting, drying, cutting) spinning principles (melt, dry, wet), additives various texturization processes, draw-texturization spin finishes (objects, requirements, components) tow-to-top conversion bi-/multi-component spinning Characteristics of Man-made Fibres physical (fineness, length, strength, shrinkage) structural (cross-section, crimp, surface area) chemical, thermal, electrical, optical, weather Regenerated Fibres viscose (definition, chemical structure, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) cupro (definition, properties, end use) modal (definition, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) lyocell (definition, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) other regenerated fibres (definition, chemical structure, properties, end use) Ester-cellulose Fibres Acetate/Triacetate (definition, chemical structure, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) Synthetic Fibres polyamides (definition, chemical structure, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) polyesters (definition, chemical structure, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) polyacrylonitriles (definition, chemical structure, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) polyolefines (definition, chemical structure, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) elastomerics (definition, chemical structure, fibre manufacture, properties, end use) other synthetic fibres e.g. carbon, glass, PVA, PVC, PBI, polycarbonate, novoloid (definition, chemical structure, properties, end use) New Generation Fibres introduction high-tech fibres (high-performance, high-function, high-sense, microfibre) application of new fibres in apparel and technical textiles References: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Textiles: Fiber to Fabric, Sixth Edition, 1983 by BP Corbman; McGrahill, USA Textile Science, Second Edition, 1983 by EPG Gohl and LD Vilensky; Longman, UK Handbook of Textile Fibres, Vol II, Fifth Edition, 1984 by JG Cook; Woodhead, UK Polyester: 50 Years of Achievement, 1992 by The Textile Institute, UK Advanced Fibre Spinning Technology, 1994 by T. Nakajima; Woodhead, UK New Fibers, Second Edition, 1997 by T Hongu and GO Phillips; Woodhead, UK

Technology of Man-made Fibres © 2009 Prof. Dr. Md. Saifur Rahman, NITTRAD

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FIRST LECTURE Definition A fibre or staple fibre is a substance which is usually at least 100 times longer than its diameter. Usually fibres are several thousand times longer than they are thick. Most apparel fibres are about 15 to 150 mm long and 10 to 50 µm (µm = 0.001 mm) thick but the length of a filament fibre may be several kilometers. Staples offered opportunity to blend with natural fibres and ensures a greater economy in manufacturing (machines are 10 times more efficient). Fibres that are not found in nature in fibre form are called man-made fibre. The fibre forming substances have to be manufactured by chemical method instead of growing them in fields. Because of this, manmade fibres are also called chemical or manufactured fibre. The fibre forming substances are usually made from wood pulp, cotton linters, petrochemicals or natural gas.

History 1664

English physicist Robert Hooke suggested the possibility of extruding artificial silk by a mechanical imitation of the silkworm.

1855

A patent was issued to French scientist Georges Audemars for the manufacture of nitrocellulose (gun cotton). Extreme flammability made them unacceptable for textile use.

1884

Count Hilaire de Chardonnet in France produced regenerated cellulose (de-nitrated) fibre from nitrocellulose at the same time as Sir Joseph Wilson Swan in Britain.

1891

Manufacture of the first commercially produced man-made fibre known as Chardonnet Silk began. Viscose Rayon was discovered by CF Cross and EJ Bevan.

1905

First commercial production of Viscose Rayon by Courtaulds.

1921

First commercial production of Acetate (Celanese®) by British Celanese.

1938

First Synthetic fibre Nylon was discovered by WH Carothers at Du Pont. He also discovered neoprene synthetic rubber and aliphatic polyester. Commercial production started in 1939.

1941

Polyester was discovered by JT Dickson and JR Whinfield at Calico Printers Association, UK.

1950

Commercial production of Acrylic (Orlon®) by Du Pont.

1953

Commercial production of Polyester by ICI (Terylene®) in UK and Du Pont (Dacron®) in USA.

1959

Commercial production of Spandex (Lycra®) by Du Pont.

1963

Commercial production of Aramid (Nomex®) by Du Pont.

1981

Genesis by Courtaulds started, leading to the discovery of Lyocell (Tencel®).

1992

Full commercial production of Lyocell (Tencel®) by Courtaulds.

1998

Commercial production of PBO (poly-para-phenylene bisoxazole) by Toyobo (Japan).

Technology of Man-made Fibres © 2009 Prof. Dr. Md. Saifur Rahman, NITTRAD

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SECOND LECTURE Classification of Man-made Fibres Man-made fibres are basically divided into two major groups based on the origin of the fibre-forming substance i.e. natural or synthetic. Another group includes fibres such as Metal (Aluminum/Steel), Carbon and Glass. A detailed classification is given below: Man-made Fibres

Natural Polymer

Synthetic Polymer

Others

Elastomerics Elastane/Spandex Elastodiene

Metallic Aluminum Steel Carbon

Ester-cellulose fibres Acetate, Triacetate

Polyolefines Polyethylene Polypropylene PTFE

Alginate Ca-alginate

Novoloid (FR, 2371 oC)

Rubber

Polyacrylonitrile Acrylic Modacrylic

Vegetable Origin Cellulosic fibres Viscose, Cupro Modal, Lyocell

Animal Origin Casein

Glass

Polyamides Nylon Aramid (26 gpd, 371 oC) Polyester Polybenzimidazole (PBI) (HT, FR, 560 oC , space shuttle Columbia) Polychloro Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Polyvinylidine chloride

Man-made Fibre Industry Current world production of textile fibres is about 60 million tons (2003) and about 60% of them are man-made fibres. Among all man-made fibres, Polyester has the highest share (19 million tons in 2000; 57% filament, 43% staple; 75% of production from developing countries; 34 million tons by 2010) and its share is increasing while the share of Nylon (17.5%, 3.9 million tons in 1995; 16% staple, 84% filament including BCF; 5 million tons by 2000) is steady. The share of Acrylic (10.8%, 2.4 million tons in 1995) is slowly decreasing and the share of cellulosics (11.2%, 2.5 million tons in 1995) has started to increase after a few years of minus growth due to environmental problems. Other fibres of importance include Polypropylene (6.7%, 1.5 million tons in 1995; 4 million tons by 2000), Lyocell (18 thousand tons in 1993; 0.3 million tons by 2005) and Elastane (0.1 million tons by 2000). Geographically, USA remains the single largest producer (19% in 1995) while the production share of Western Europe and Japan are 15% and 8% respectively. The growth centre for man-made fiber industry is Asia and the combined production of Taiwan, China, South Korea and India accounts for 33% of world production in 1995.

Technology of Man-made Fibres © 2009 Prof. Dr. Md. Saifur Rahman, NITTRAD

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Man-made Fibre Industry in Bangladesh Although Bangladesh has a huge demand of man-made fibres for its thriving textile sector, only a few production facilities are available to meet such a requirement. One of the earliest man-made fibre (Viscose Rayon) production facilities in Bangladesh was constructed in Chittagong (Chandragona Rayon Mill, BCCI) which now stands obsolete. Few production plants had also been set-up in the private sector. Beximco Synthetics (20 ton/day) and KSFL are few to name here. Driving Factors behind Rapid Growth of Man-made Fibre Industry Natural fibres have been dominating the world fibre consumption for about 6000 years. Ninety nine years after the first commercial production of man-made fibre in 1905, its share of total fibre production now stands more than 50%. The factors contributed greatly to this rapid development are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Ready accessibility of raw materials e.g. wood pulp, petrochemicals Independence of production from climatic conditions and increase of sowing area Stability of market price, free from sudden fluctuation High labour productivity Uniform and constant fibre qualities e.g. length, fineness, strength Means to control fibre parameters during production Easier processing, higher machinery efficiency, greater economy

In addition, man-made fibres satisfy the following growing demand of a modern consumer: Natural aesthetics o Natural appearance e.g. dull, silky, crimped o Easy care characteristics e.g. wash and go! o High fashion appearance: styling and colorways Strength e.g. Kevlar® = 26.5 gpd, PBO = 40 gpd, Cotton = 4 gpd [a single fibre of PBO, a mere 1 mm in diameter is strong enough to lift 400 kg (the weight of a cow)]. Reproducibility to specification Chemical/biological/thermal resistance Comfort e.g. second skin with stretch and breathability Multifunctional end uses i.e. breaks the boundaries between sports, leisure and casual wears e.g. Jacket Present Trends 1.

2. 3.

Most R&D is devoted to Polyester (mostly used for blends with cotton & wool and to make silklike fabrics; most existing microfibres are polyesters; FR, anti-bacterial, spun-look Polyester filament proved successful). In apparel sector, development will continue to focus on active sportswear, women’s fashionwear. Development of high-tech fibres e.g. fibres maintaining constant body temperature & change color with temperature, producer-dyed microfibres, biodegradable fibres, super-strong fibres, optical fibres, environmental change responsive fibres etc.

types (cotton, wool or carpet) and forms (filament, tow or staple) of man-made fibres

Technology of Man-made Fibres © 2009 Prof. Dr. Md. Saifur Rahman, NITTRAD

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