Quality Ratio Comparison of Yarn Spun from Three different Varieties of Kenaf

Abstract

The increasing potentials of kenaf fibres when spun into yarn has been a major
influence on farmers desire for its continuous growth with the development and
availability of a mini kenaf spinning and reeling machine for farmers. It became
necessary to determine the quality ratio of the different available commercial
varieties of kenaf yarn spun by the machine to be able to recommend the variety
that is most suitable for the textile and other related industries. Three varieties of
kenaf fibre (Tianung 2, Ifeken DI 400 and Cuba 108) were spun into yarn at three
different spinning (90, 100 and 110 rev/min) and reeling (60, 70 and 80 rev/min)
speeds in three replicates. The yarn counts were determined and the samples were
taken to the laboratory for the determination of their strength characteristics and
results obtained were used to derive the quality ratio of each spun yarn. Result of
average values obtained showed that IFEKEN DI 400 produced yarn with the best
quality ratio of 82.3% with yarn count of 659 tex (19.12 lbs/spy), highest young
modulus of 821 × 103 (gf/tex) but with the least tensile strength (14.1 N), followed
by the Tianung 2 with a quality ratio of 69.9%, yarn count of 810 tex (23.5 lbs/spy),
young modulus of 814 × 103 (gf/tex) and tensile strength of 16.3 N while Cuba
108 has the lowest quality ratio of 58.4%, highest yarn count of 981 tex (28.5
lbs/spy), young modulus value of 726 × 103 (gf/tex) and the highest tensile
strength of 16.8 N . The study recommends IFEKEN DI 400 as a better alternative
for yarn production for applications in the textile and related industries to farmers
and processors when spun at 90 and 80 rev/min for spinning and reeling speeds
respectively.