Eco-friendly rubberized cotton fabric roller development for cotton roller gins

This paper realizes the hazards of chromium contamination and pollution caused by the use of Chrome Composite Leather-Clad (CCLC) rollers commonly used in cotton roller ginning industries and attempts to eliminate the chromium contamination and pollution during the complete process. Most of the cotton ginning operations are performed by using double roller (DR) ginning machines which serve an important role in the cotton ginning industries. The rollers used in these industries are made of Chrome Composite Leather-Cladding (CCLC) covering fixed to a shaft. The CCLC coverings contain about 18 000 to 36 000 mg/kg (ppm) as total chromium of trivalent and hexavalent forms which are toxic and carcinogenic to human health. When the seed-cotton is processed in DR ginning machines, the lint cotton is contaminated with chromium of about 140 to 1990 ppm as against the safety limits of 0.1 ppm. During the cotton ginning process due to persistent rubbing of leather over stationary knife the chromium particles are carried into lint cotton such that the spun yarns and cotton by-products contain about 100 to 200 ppm, which according to world environmental standards should not be more than 0.1 ppm. Gin and mill workers are directly exposed to this carcinogenic substance and are vulnerable to health hazards. To offset this problem, pollution-free rubberized cotton fabric (RCF) rollers both for laboratory and commercial studies have been fabricated, experimented and used in roller gins. In this the roller covering is made of multiple layers of fabrics bonded together using white rubber compounding which has a surface finish conducive to high ginning efficiency. This nullifies chromium contamination and pollution during the cotton ginning process process. On the basis of the design and development of various rollers with subsequent performance evaluation studies, pollution-free RCF washers/rollers have been demonstrated with a reference to techno-commercial and eco-friendliness in ginneries. Cotton technological parameters are well proven for commercial acceptance. This cleaner technology is a source-at-control preventive measure such that the cotton ginning and textile industries meet the requirements of environmental standards being enforced by many countries and high quality yarns and fabrics meeting international standards are produced. This found better in all aspects with reference to cotton technological properties, dye-catch properties, physical and chemical properties. Eco-friendly rubberized cotton fabric rollers can be used commercially as an alternative to the present CCLC rollers in the cotton roller ginning industries for the benefit of environment, society, gin and textile mill owners, traders, workers, employees and the government.