1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a natural fiber, and more particularly to a cotton stalk bark fiber, as well as to a method for processing cotton stalk bark.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cotton is an important cash crop that has a wide planting area in China. Conventionally, only cotton seed fiber is utilized, and cotton stalk, accounting for a large part of the cotton, is discarded. In view thereof a natural textile fiber made of cotton stalk bark is desired, which features good textile performance and has great market prospects.
One objective of the invention is to provide cotton stalk bark fiber that is plentiful and inexpensive to produce, and has high economic benefit.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a method for processing cotton stalk bark fiber that features a feasible process route and a stable product quality.
In one aspect of the invention provided is a cotton stalk bark fiber, wherein the fiber is a natural textile fiber made of cotton stalk bark. The length of the fiber is 5 mm-65 mm. The linear mass density (fineness) thereof is 0.3-2.5 denier. The tenacity (intensity) thereof is 0.284-0.432 N/tex. The breaking elongation rate thereof is 3%-6%.
In other aspects the invention provides a method for processing cotton stalk bark fiber, comprising the steps of: peeling, skimming, degumming, preserving, cutting, tanning, opening, carding, baking, boxing and classifying, and packaging. Skimming is achieved using 20-60° C. acid warm water to immerse for 12-48 hours. Degumming is achieved using 20-60° C. alkaline warm water added with surfactant to immerse for 12-48 hours. Tanning processing is performed with tanning agent containing surfactant, plant oil, mineral oil and water.
The invention provides a natural fiber having a low price and wide applications for the textile industry. The fiber has similar performance to bast fiber, higher tenacity (intensity) than cotton fiber, and can be blended with other natural fibers, man-made fibers and recycled fibers to form fiber yam for various purposes. This method changes waste into a valuable commodity, and brings about great economic and social benefits.
Detailed description will be given below in conjunction with accompanying drawing and embodiments, but will not constitute any limitation to the invention.
As shown in
Peeling: The step of peeling comprises separating the cotton stalk bark from the cotton stalk manually/via a peeler.
Skimming: The step of skimming comprises immersing in 20-60° C. warm acid water for 12-48 hours. The acid used may be sulfuric acid and/or a metal sulfate, e.g., at a concentration of 1-10 g/L, so as to clear surface hard skin or lignin of the cotton stalk bark and obtain fasciculate long fiber.
Degumming: The step of degumming comprises immersing in 20-60° C. warm alkaline water with a surfactant for 12-48 hours, so as to isolate pectin component in the fasciculate long fiber. The alkali used may be sodium hydroxide , e.g., at a concentration of 3-12 g/L. The surfactant is selected from various commonly-used anions, cations and nonionic surfactants.
Preserving: The step of preserving comprises using a humid preservation method of emulsion, so as to improve moisture content, tenacity (intensity) and softness of the fiber.
Cutting: The step of cutting comprises cutting the fasciculate long fiber into fasciculate short fiber of a desired length manually/via cutting equipments as needed.
Tanning: The step of tanning comprises processing with a tanning agent comprising a surfactant, a plant oil, a mineral oil and water. The surfactant is selected from various common-used anions, cations and nonionic surfactant. Different types of surfactants are preferably employed simultaneously to improve the tanning result.
Opening: The step of opening comprises opening the fasciculate short fiber with a commonly-used fiber opener of prior art.
Carding: The step of carding comprises carding the opened fasciculate short fiber several times with a carding machine, so as to separate the material into cotton stalk bark fiber suitable for spinning.
Baking: The step of baking comprises baking the cotton stalk bark fiber.
Boxing and classifying: The step of classifying comprises classifying the cotton stalk bark fiber into various grades, e.g., with the help of an air classifier.
Packaging: The step of packaging comprises packaging the fiber into fiber packages of fixed weight according to fiber dimensions.
In this example cotton stalk of dry medium cotton was used. Cotton stalk bark was manually separated from the stalk, paying attention so as to avoid introducing a hard lignified fiber layer from within the cotton stalk. The cotton stalk bark was immersed into a water pool having a sulfuric acid concentration of 10 g/L and a temperature of 60° C. for 12 hours, taken out and put into a water pool comprising 1% by weight of common laundry powder, and having a sodium hydroxide concentration of 12 g/L. The temperature was maintained at 60° C. for 12 hours. The obtained product was taken out and dried, then put into a humidifying bin. Silicon oil-water emulsion was uniformly sprayed thereon, and it was covered and preserved with a canvas for 18 hours. The preserved cotton stalk bark fiber was then cut into pieces of approximately 50 mm, and placed into a tanning agent solution comprising Lamepon A, JFC, peanut oil, engine oil and water for tanning. The tanned cotton stalk bark fiber was opened using a commonly-used fiber opener, and carded 3-5 times through a carding machine. The carded fiber was collected and placed in a dryer for drying. The cotton stalk bark fiber was finally separated into different dimensions using an air separator.
In this example cotton stalk of dry medium cotton was used. Cotton stalk bark was manually separated from the stalk, paying attention so as to avoid introducing a hard lignified fiber layer from within the cotton stalk. The cotton stalk bark was immersed into a water pool with a sulfuric acid concentration of 1 g/L and a temperature of 20° C. for 48 hours, taken out and put into a water pool comprising 2% by weight of common laundry powder, and having a sodium hydroxide concentration of 3 g/L. The temperature was maintained at 20° C. for 48 hours. The obtained product was taken out and dried, then put into a humidifying bin. Silicon oil-water emulsion was uniformly sprayed thereon, and it was covered and preserved with a canvas for 24 hours. The preserved cotton stalk bark fiber was then cut into pieces of approximately 60 mm, and placed into a tanning agent solution comprising Lamepon A, JFC, peanut oil, engine oil and water for tanning. The tanned cotton stalk bark fiber was opened using a commonly-used fiber opener, carded 3-5 times through a carding machine. The carded fiber was collected and placed in a dryer for drying. The cotton stalk bark fiber was finally separated into different dimensions using an air separator.
In this example cotton stalk of dry medium cotton was used. Cotton stalk bark was manually separated from the stalk, paying attention so as to avoid introducing a hard lignified fiber layer from within the cotton stalk. The cotton stalk bark was immersed into a water pool with a sulfuric acid concentration of 5 g/L and a temperature of 50° C. for 24 hours, taken out and put into a water pool comprising 1% by weight of common laundry powder, and having a sodium hydroxide concentration of 8 g/L. The temperature was maintained at 50° C. for 24 hours. The obtained product was taken out and dried, then put into a humidifying bin. Silicon oil-water emulsion was uniformly sprayed thereon, and it was covered and preserved with a canvas for 24 hours. The preserved cotton stalk bark fiber was then cut into pieces of approximately 50 mm, and placed into a tanning agent solution comprising Lamepon A, JFC, peanut oil, engine oil and water for tanning. The tanned cotton stalk bark fiber was opened using a commonly-used fiber opener, carded 3-5 times through a carding machine. The carded fiber was collected and placed in a dryer for drying. The cotton stalk bark fiber was finally separated into different dimensions using an air separator.
While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005 1 0034201 | Apr 2005 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/875,095 filed Oct. 19, 2007, now pending, which is a continuation of International PCT Patent Application No. PCT/CN2006/000584 with an international filing date of Apr. 03, 2006, designating the United States, now pending, and claims priority benefits to Chinese Patent Application No. 200510034201.4 filed Apr. 19, 2005. The contents of all of the aforementioned specifications, including any intervening amendments thereto, are incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20090038122 A1 | Feb 2009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11875095 | Oct 2007 | US |
Child | 12252402 | US | |
Parent | PCT/CN2006/000584 | Apr 2006 | US |
Child | 11875095 | US |