STUDIES ON CALIBRATION & STANDARDIZATION ...

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STUDIES ON CALIBRATION & STANDARDIZATION PROCESS OF SONIC

FINENESS METER FOR THE JUTE FIBER

Mohammad Abdullah Kaysar*1, Md. Fakhrul Abedin*2, Md. Anisur

Rahman Dayan*3, Md Mahmudul Habib*4, Md. Mahbubur Rahman*5

*1Senior Scientific Officer, Physics Department, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute,

Dhaka, Bangladesh.

*2,3Scientific Officer, Physics Department, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

*4Scientific Officer, Electronics and Equipment Development and Maintenance Department,

Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

*5Senior Scientific Officer, Fibre Chemistry Department, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute,

Dhaka, Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT

Fineness is an important physical parameter for determining the processability of a particular fiber. The

fineness of jute fiber is determined through various processes. The Sonic Fineness meter which is specially

designed for wool fiber, in this study is investigated to standardize and calibrate for jute fiber varieties. The

Sonic values are correlated using the WIRA airflow fineness meter instrument commonly used for the fineness

of cotton fiber. The fineness of both White or Corchorus capsularis L. and Tossa or Corchorus olitorius L. jute

was measured by Airflow method (reading in micron) and Sonic fineness tester (reading in millivolts). The

values were correlated for standizatation so that the microns are readily obtained from the millivolt.

Keywords: White Jute, Tossa Jute, Sonic Fineness Tester, Micronaire Value, CSIRO Sonic Fineness Tester Model

A, WIRA Fineness Tester.

I. INTRODUCTION

Jute (Corchorus spp.) is the golden fiber of Bangladesh [1]. Jute, and allied fiber cultivation, trade, and industry

provide sustenance to over 4 million people of Bangladesh [2]. It is a kind of natural bast fiber [3]. Natural

fibers are categorized into three groups: vegetable (cellulose) fiber, animal hair (protein) fiber, and mineral

fiber [4]. Bast or stem fibers from plants such as flax, hemp, kenaf, jute, and ramie are more likely to be used for

functional and technical applications. Jute is found in two species of the genus Corchorus belonging to the

family Tiliaceae. Jute is often denoted for both the plant and fiber extracted from the plants, Corchorus

capsularis L. also known as the White Jute and Corchorus olitorius L. also known as the Tossa jute. Besides

these two, there are over 30 species, from the genus Corchorus [5]. These bast fibers are advantageous over the

other cellulose-based fibers (seed fiber, leaf fiber or fruit fiber) due to their high modulus, tensile strength and

low specific gravity [6]. Jute is abundantly available in tropical countries like India, Bangladesh, China, Nepal,

and Thailand [7]. For industrial, reinforcement, diversified and commercial purposes [8], the fineness of the

jute fiber is required to be investigated.

For the determination of fineness, the microscopic method of fiber cross-section is found to be the most

accurate process. But it is a time-consuming and lengthy process [9]. For the determination of the fineness of

cotton and jute fiber, the airflow method is commonly used. The airflow method is an indirect method of

determining fiber fineness. In the airflow method, air passes through a calculated passage of fiber mass

resulting in a perception of the cross-sectional area. The main problem of the airflow method is, the

unavailability of diameter variability as the average diameter is found as the output. So, this airflow method is

used for the conceptual result of fineness [10].

Using the concept of airflow method Sonic Fineness Testing has been developed for the measurement of fiber

diameter in micronaire value. The Sonic Fineness meter is developed for the measurement of wool fiber

diameter [11]. This section discusses the calibration and standardization process of the Sonic Fineness meter

for the jute fiber.





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The airflow method uses the principle that through a uniform plug of fiber mass, the pressure difference

created by the constant airflow is proportional to the total volume of fiber mass and the same way to the fiber

cross-sectional area or the diameter [12]. Utilizing this principle, a sonic fineness tester was developed for the

fineness of the wool sample [13]. However, the sonic fineness tester has been standardized and calibrated for

the jute fiber in this study.

In this tester, the low-frequency sinusoidal audio signal is allowed to pass through a sample chamber of

adjusted dimension to give a volume that keeps the packing density constant for the testing sample. The

sinusoidal audio signal is used to achieve a better result and to overcome the limitation of airflow instruments

as the result given in the airflow instrument is derived through the manual method. The sinusoidal audio signal

being transmitted changed according to the average testing diameter. The signal is received by a transducer

and after amplification and rectification, the output is shown in terms of a digital millivolt meter [14]. The

millivolt is adjusted with the correspondent fiber diameter in micronaire value from the calibration chart [15].

The CSIRO Sonic Fineness Tester Model A is calibrated using the fleece samples.

For the survival of jute, it is necessary to diversify the uses of jute and development of new jute products by

blending jute with other natural and man-made fibers. One of the criteria for blending jute with other fibers is

their similarity in fineness. But there is no suitable way by which we can easily measure the fineness of jute

within a very short time. Fiber fineness can be defined in terms of micronaire value which measures units of

mass per unit of length to assess linear density. It is an indirect method of measuring fiber fineness [16].A sonic

fineness tester is used to measure the fineness of wool within a very short time. Jute fiber has a higher

micronaire value [17]. If we can calibrate and standardize this Instrument for jute, the fineness of jute can be

measured within a short time and with good accuracy.

II. METHODOLOGY

Materials:

Two types of jute species, tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius) and white jute (Corchorus capsularis) are collected

from Foridpur regional station, BJRI, Bangladesh. Fiber specimen of tossa and white jute is given in figure 1(a)

and 1(b).

Figure 1(a): Sample preparation of Tossa jute fiber. Figure 1(b): Sample preparation of White jute fiber.

Figure 1(c): Sample holder with fiber sample. Figure 1(d): Crisco Sonic fineness tester.





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Methods:

The Sonic fineness tester specially meant for the testing fineness of wool was calibrated using the calibration

chart. A calibration chart for wool was supplied by the manufacturer of sonic fineness tester that has been given

in Table 1. In order to standardize and calibrate this equipment for testing the fineness of jute, the fineness of

both white and tossa jute were first determined by airflow method. From previous experience, it is known that

fineness determined by a projection microscope always displays a higher value. Moreover, the value of fineness

measured by two different methods shows a large difference. Therefore, the fineness of jute fibre obtained by

the airflow method has been considered a known value of fineness for calibration.

Figure 2: Flow diagram of sonic fineness tester testing technique.

From each of the two different varieties of jute (white and tossa) specimen of 2.5gm was prepared by cutting

fibres of 7cm in length. Five readings of fineness were taken for each of the two varieties. The mean of the five

readings of each sample was calculated and recorded in millivolts. The fineness of both white and tossa jute

measured by the Airflow method (reading in micron) and Sonic fineness tester (reading in millivolts) has been

shown in two adjacent columns of Table 2 and Table 3.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1. Calibration Chart for Wool

d (micron) V (mv) d (micron) V (mv) d (micron) V (mv) d (micron) V (mv)

15.00 24.43 21.00 154.01 27.00 277.37 33.00 398.83

15.25 30.08 21.25 159.38 27.25 282.42 33.25 403.29

15.50 36.00 21.50 164.23 27.50 287.45 33.50 408.98

15.75 41.14 21.75 168.83 27.75 290.64 33.75 414.42

16.00 46.28 22.00 174.45 28.00 297.81 34.00 418.63

16.25 50.90 22.25 179.05 28.25 303.35 34.25 423.07

16.50 57.84 22.50 184.66 28.50 308.39 34.50 428.74

16.75 62.47 22.75 189.77 28.75 312.66 34.75 432.93

17.00 68.12 23.00 194.87 29.00 318.44 35.00 438.35

17.25 74.03 23.25 200.22 29.25 322.97 35.25 443.26

17.50 78.39 2350 205.20 29.50 328.24 35.50 448.42

17.75 83.27 23.75 210.15 29.75 333.50 35.75 453.82

18.00 88.66 24.00 214.73 30.00 338.51 36.00 458.48





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18.25 94.05 24.25 219.57 30.25 343.52 36.25 463.37

18.50 100.98 24.50 223.89 30.50 347.77 36.50 467.78

18.75 106.11 24.75 229.23 30.75 352.53 36.75 472.18

19.00 110.98 25.00 234.81 31.00 358.02 37.00 476.81

19.25 116.62 25.25 239.89 31.25 363.26 37.25 481.93

19.50 122.01 25.50 245.73 31.50 368.00 37.50 487.05

19.75 127.64 25.75 255.30 31.75 372.74 37.75 491.67

20.00 133.02 26.00 255.87 32.00 378.21 38.00 497.26

20.25 138.65 26.25 260.43 32.25 382.94

20.50 143.26 26.50 261.94 32.50 387.66

20.75 148.12 26.75 272.32 32.75 393.87

Table 2. Comparative chart for White jute fineness measured between Airflow method (reading in micron) and

Sonic Fineness Tester (reading in millivolts)

Sample No Reading in micron by air flow method Reading in millivolt by sonic fineness

tester

1 31.70 235.00

2 32.00 247.00

3 32.40 255.30

4 32.75 264.50

5 33.10 275.00

6 33.40 285.50

7 33.75 300.50

8 34.00 312.00

9 34.40 325.00

10 34.70 339.00

11 35.00 350.00

12 35.20 363.00

l 3 35.50 375.00

14 35.75 387.00

Table 3. Comparative chart for Tossa jute fineness measured between Air flow method (reading in micron) and

sonic fineness (reading in millivolt)

Sample No Reading in micron by air flow method Reading in millivolt by sonic fineness

tester

1 38.25 445

2 38.75 455

3 39.00 460

4 39.50 470

5 40.00 485

6 40.55 496





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7 41.00 505

8 41.50 516

9 41.75 520

10 42.00 524

11 42.50 536

12 42.75 545

13 43.00 550

14 43.25 561.3

Figure 3: Sonic values in millivolts (X-axis) vs average

fiber diameter (measured by Airflow Method) in micron

(Y axis) for white jute

Figure 4: Sonic values in millivolts (X-axis) vs.

average fiber diameter (measured by Air Flow

Method) in Micron (Y axis) for Tossa jute

The calibration chart for wool was given in table 1. The manufacturer of sonic fineness tester supplied this

chart. Two comparative charts (one for white jute and another for tossa jute) for the fineness of jute measured

by airflow method (reading in micron) and Sonic fineness tester (reading in millivolts) were given in table 2

and table 3. In figure 3 the values of fineness (for white jute) expressed in micron were plotted versus fineness

expressed in millivolt. It shows almost linear relationship between micron and millivolt readings. In figure 4 the

values of fineness (for tossa jute) expressed in micron were plotted versus fineness expressed in millivolt. It

also shows almost linear relationship between micron and millivolt readings. So correlation among sonic values

(mv) and micronaire values (um) for white jute is y = 0.0264x + 25.695. On the other hand, correlation among

sonic values (mv) and micronaire values(um) for Tossa jute is y = 0.0444x + 18.549. The diameter or fineness of

white is finer than that of Tossa jute fiber (Jute basic 2010).

IV. CONCLUSION

The fineness of both tossa and white jute were measured by sonic fineness tester in millivolts. Then micronaire

values of airflow method were plotted vs. sonic values in millivolt for both white and tossa jute and correlation

was found. From this correlation we can easily measure millivolt and convert to micronaire values.

V. REFERENCES

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[2] M. Mahbubul Islam, “Varietal Advances of Jute, Kenaf and Mesta Crops in Bangladesh: A Review,” Int. J.

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[4] A. K. Mohanty, M. Misra, and G. Hinrichsen, “Biofibres, biodegradable polymers and biocomposites: An

overview,” Macromol. Mater. Eng., vol. 276–277, pp. 1–24, 2000.

[5] M. Islam, A. Bjri, M. M. Islam, and A. Saheb, “Economic Importance of Jute in Bangladesh: Production,





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[16] J. G. Montalvo, “Textile technology: Relationships between micronaire, fineness, and maturity. Part I.

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