From Sheep to Shawl: An Outline of Wool Processing in Florida

This publication summarizes the process of wool processing by providing an outline of fleece preparation for a usable end product. Written by Brent R. Weisman and Diwakar Vyas, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Animal Sciences, November 2021.

Waterless sterilization and cleaning of sheep wool fiber using supercritical carbon dioxide

There is increasing concern regarding the existing sheep wool processing technology in the textile industry owing to the enormous volume of toxic effluents generated. The application of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) in sheep wool processing is cleaner and increases wool fiber production while avoiding toxic effluent generation. scCO2 is a novel clean technology that can be utilized in sheep processing for sterilization, cleaning, and drying sheep wool at the same time. In the present study, scCO2 was used to treat sheep wool with varying pressure, temperature, and treatment time. These parameters influence the scCO2 treatment of sheep wool fiber through the inactivation of microorganisms and improvement of the whiteness index. The identification of bacteria in sheep wool was carried out based on biochemical analysis by molecular means, using 16s rRNA sequencing. It was found that scCO2 completely inactivated the microorganisms present in sheep wool and potentially enhanced the percentage whiteness index at the highest pressure of 30 MPa, temperature of 80°C, and treatment time of 80 min. Several analytical methods were employed to assess the physicochemical, thermal, and morphological properties of untreated and scCO2 treated sheep wool fibers. The results show that scCO2 effectively removes the impurities and completely inactivates the microorganisms present in sheep wool. The findings of the present study reveal that scCO2 can be utilized as an alternative treatment technology for sheep wool processing in the textile industry.

Wool processing outcomes and opportunities

This paper provides an analysis of what happens with the sheep wool in Romania. Unfortunately, I found out that most of this “gold mine” is going to export, being processed, and then imported back for a much bigger price. The processing of sheep wool is not a very complicated process. There are processing lines that can take the sheep wool and by the end of the line, you get lanolin and fibers. Besides the very high margin that can be obtained from this type of business, motivation came from the idea of using our country resources at the maximum and try to have some products made in Romania. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the outcomes of a sheep wool processing line and the market in Romania. Sheep wool is a very precious raw material that can provide profit by processing it, having significant margins.

Start-up investment for a sheep wool processing line

Sheep wool has been a resource we had access to for a very long time and it is widely used on large scale. It has remarkable properties of which people can take benefit from in many ways. After processing the sheep wool by using special machinery, it provides various applications in different industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles, and fabrics. The main objective of this research is the analysis of a sheep wool processing line and the estimated start-up investment for this type of business in Romania. In this paper, the wool processing line was depicted, the necessary equipment was analyzed, and the total cost of investment was calculated, in order to conclude on the feasibility of the investment. The results of this research paper are taking into consideration the full value of the sheep wool and the profit that can be generated by processing it, as well as providing relevant data regarding time and costs of starting a business in Romania, analyzing the sustainability and profitability of the raw material that can be found in Romania. Sheep wool is a high potency raw material for multiple industries, and it can provide a big margin for obtaining profit by processing it.

New loosening wool machines

The types and principles of loosening machines operating at enterprises of primary wool processing are analyzed. Defects of opening machines and their effect on the product are explained. The design and operating principle of a new spraying machine for preparing high-quality products are proposed.

Computational Modeling and Prediction on Viscosity of Slags by Big Data Mining

The viscosity of slag is a key factor affecting metallurgical efficiency and recycling, such as metal-slag reaction and separation, as well as slag wool processing. In order to comprehensively clarify the variation of the slag viscosity, various data mining methods have been employed to predict the viscosity of the slag. In this study, a more advanced dual-stage predictive modeling approach is proposed in order to accurately analyze and predict the viscosity of slag. Compared with the traditional single data mining approach, the proposed method performs better with a higher recall rate and low misclassification rate. The simulation results show that temperature, SiO2, Al2O3, P2O5, and CaO have greater influences on the slag’s viscosity. The critical temperature for onset of the important influence of slag composition is 980 °C. Furthermore, it is found that SiO2 and P2O5 have positive correlations with slag’s viscosity, while temperature, Al2O3, and CaO have negative correlations. A two-equation model of six-degree polynomial combined with Arrhenius formula is also established for the purpose of providing theoretical guidance for industrial application and reutilization of slag.

Analyzing the thermal and hygral behavior of wool and its impact on fabric dimensional stability for wool processing and garment manufacturing

Wool is one of the most moisture sensitive natural fibers. This paper investigated changes of wool fiber diameter, fabric dimensions and fabric dimensional properties, as a function of moisture regain, temperature and pH. Experiments were conducted on fabrics with different weave structures as well as on fabrics with and without a permanent set. Results showed that the fabrics tended to contract when they were subjected to increased temperature at saturated regain. The degree of contraction appeared to depend on the weave structure of the fabrics and permanent setting treatments. Dimensions of the wool fabrics were also found to be dependent on the pH. Greater fabric dimensions were observed at pH 7.2 than at pH 2.1. The contraction effect was almost reversible when unset fabric samples were measured in pH 2.1. The reasons for the changes of dimensional property were analyzed in terms of changes in wool fiber swelling, yarn crimp and polymer relaxation phenomena with changes in regain, temperature and pH. Industrial implications from outcomes of this research to practical wool processing are discussed in the paper.

THE CONCEPT OF AN ELECTRONIC TRADING PLATFORM FOR MANAGING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF WOOL PROCESSING

The relevance of the research is that in Russia there is a problem of underdevelopment of the system of purchasing wool and its processed products at all levels of the value chain. The purpose of the research is to develop a concept for creating a specialized electronic trading platform that allows organizing inter-industry interaction in the field of wool processing based on the principles of auction trade, excluding unnecessary intermediary links. The paper proposes the creation of a specialized electronic trading platform (exchange), specializing in the purchase and sale of wool and its products by analogy with the world’s leading (Australian, New Zealand and Chinese-countries that are world leaders in the production and processing of wool) wool exchanges. The differences between the author’s recommendations and those that are known and tested in the world practice are that the key participant of the exchange is the state national wool certification body, which creates the main condition for exchange trading — high-quality classification and batch standardization of wool. An electronic exchange that includes trading, settlement (guarantee) and payment systems must be an official trading platform licensed by the state as a professional Institute of the financial market; its main task is to facilitate market transactions between buyers and sellers of wool by overcoming information asymmetry for the parties to transactions. The difference between the proposed concept is that digital technologies and tools are used in exchange trading of wool: QR-coding of wool batches, the use of smart contracts, distributed registries (blockchain). The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time in the Russian market, the concept of organizing electronic exchange trade in wool using innovative digital technologies and tools (QR-coding, smart contracts, blockchain), where, along with buyers-processors of wool and sellers — producers of wool, there is a mandatory participant — the state national certification body, which organizes the certification process of exchange batches of wool. In practical terms, the author’s proposals allow us to: streamline the domestic wool market; organize certified wool trade both in accordance with the best world practices and in accordance with m

Alkaline hydrolysis of wool fat (lanolin) in a medium of proton and aprotic solvents

The raw material being studied is the woolen fat of the sheep of the Edilbay fine-fleece and Kazakh arkharomeric fine-fleece, which is excreted when washing wool in primary wool processing plants (PWP) in the regions of Kazakhstan, such as Semipalatinsk, Aktyubinsk, Zhambyl and Tokmak. Earlier we obtained anhydrous lanolin from the fat of various factories of the PWP. In both cases, positive results were obtained and a certificate of compliance of anhydrous lanolin FS RK was obtained. In terms of its chemical composition, wool fat is a mixture of C10-C16 carboxylic acid esters with aliphatic, terpenic, triterpene and sterol alcohols. It also contains vitamins, proteins, sterols and other physiologically active compounds. In the hydrolysis of wool fat, a mixture of sterol alcohols, triterpene alcohols and fatty acid salts are assumed. Valuable among them are sterol alcohols, which constitute up to 29% of the sum of all alcohols. Cholesterol and its derivatives are the raw materials for the synthesis of steroid drugs. Salts of fatty acids are used as an emulsifier in pharmacy and cosmetology. The aim of this paper is to complete the saponification of wool fat and the separation of a mixture of sterol alcohols. We show the patterns of alkaline hydrolysis of wool fat in the liquid phase in the presence of mixtures of various solvents. As a solvent, the ethanol-water, isopropanol-water system in which wool fat is only partially dissolved has been studied. In the wool fat-alcohol-water-NaOH system, a stable emulsion is formed. Ways that prevent the formation of an emulsion are proposed.