Mechanical Processing Division (MPD)

"The cotton is grown to be spun. If cotton spins well, obviously it is good, otherwise it is not!". These iconic words are of Mr. William Lawrence Balls, an eminent researcher, who can aptly be termed as the Father of Cotton Technology. These words also embody the nature and spirit of research work in the Mechanical Processing Division which began operations in 1924 and is the first and the oldest division of CIRCOT. The research and activities of this division have in many ways guided and charted the research direction of the Institute throughout its existence.

The cotton lint received in bale form from gin yards or cotton warehouses need to be subjected to a series of mechanical processing before it is converted into products like yarn / fabric. Mechanical processing of cotton starts with raw bales of cotton and process them in stages until it is converted into yarn or cloth. Mechanical processing Division of CIRCOT is equipped with state of art cotton processing machineries for undertaking research and development on various stages of mechanical processing of cotton. Mechanical Processing Division of CIRCOT also plays a key role in evaluation of spinnability of cotton samples received from breeding programmes under All India Coordinated Research Programme on Cotton (AICRP-cotton) and thereby helping cotton breeding program of the country.

Mandate of Mechanical Processing Division

To undertake basic and applied research on post-harvest processing, spinning and technical textiles for better utilization of cotton and its byproducts.
To extend technological support to breeders for assessment and improvement of spinning behaviour of newly developed strains of Indian cottons.
To test and evaluate commercial and research samples of fibres, yarns and fabrics.
To offer technical consultancy and undertake contract research with textile industry.
To participate in the technology transfer and extension activities of the institute.

Head of Division

Sr.No.	Name	Designation	Photo
1	Dr. N. Shanmugam	Principal Scientist (Textile Manufacture and Technology)

Scientists

Sr.No.	Name	Designation & Research Interest
1	Dr. Vishnu G. Arude	Principal Scientist (Farm Machinery & Power)
2	Dr. Senthilkumar T.	Senior Scientist (Textile Manufacture)
3	Dr. G. Krishna Prasad	Senior Scientist (Textile Manufacture)
4	Dr. G. T. V. Prabu	Senior Scientist (Textile Manufacture)
5	Dr. Jyoti Dhakane-Lad	Scientist (Agricultural Structures & Process Engineering)
6	Mr. Himanshushekhar Chaurasia	Scientist (Computer Application)

Technical Staff

Sr.No.	Name	Designation
1	Mr.Sharad Vaman Kokane	Assistant Chief Technical Officer
2	Mr.Dilip Uttamrao Kamble	Assistant Chief Technical Officer
3	Mr. Santosh Vaman Kokane	Senior Technical Assistant
4	Mr. Mahabir Singh	Senior Technical Assistant
5	Mr. Manohar Maruti Kadam	Technical Assistant
6	Mr. Sanjay Gopal Phalke	Technical Assistant
7	Mr. Yogesh Punnulal Nagpure	Senior Technician
8	Shri. D. G. Gole	Technician (T-1)

Administrative Staff

Sr.No.	Name	Designation	Photo
1	Mrs. Viniya Rajesh Naik	Personal Assistant

Modern spinning preparatory machines
Ring spinning machines
Compact ring Spinning machine
Core yarn spinning machine
Rotor spinning system
DREF spinning system
Automatic winding machine
Miniature spinning machines
Circular knitting machines
Compression moulding machine
Electro-spinning machine Facilities for Nanofibre Production
Fluidized bed reactor for activated carbon preparation
BET analyser for surface area measurement
Garment Laboratory

Towards the end of the 20th century and continuing into this millennium, the Division diversified its activities and continue to carry out research work on blends of cotton with various natural and man-made fibres, technical textiles, nonwovens etc. Major technologies developed include:

A Miniature Spinning System consisting of various table-model machines with state-of-the-art technology at about one-fourth the cost of imported one
Technology for utilisation of indigenous short fine wool including Angora rabbit hair fibres in blends with cotton.
Modified spinning process to produce finer cotton-ramie yarns in commercial cotton spinning system to produce knits
Development of newer type of coir-cotton composite yarn and its utilisation for production of rubberised conveyor belting
Modified splicer for production of better quality splice joints
Interactive Meeting with Scientists of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for Collaboration
A novel textile-rubber composite for use in technical textile applications like rubber dam
Improved machine for disintegration and defibering of coconut fibre
Novel coconut fibre segregator machine
A lap preparation machine for micro Spinning of small samples
Development of CIRCOT mini-card
Development of cotton/PLA, cotton/bamboo viscose blended yarns and fabrics for sports apparel.
Indigenous Electrospinning setup for production of Nano fibres.
RFL free technology for preparation of rubber composites
Development of activated carbon from cotton stalk
Lignocellulosic fibre reinforced composite for agricultural application
Development of high performance wound dressing Pad

Major achievements of the Division (Past and Present)

1924 : First spinning test conducted in Asia
1927 : Study of Blowroom treatment on Indian cottons – results have been used extensively for development of modern blowroom line
1928-1931 : Specimens of fabric over an ancient relic recovered from the archaeological Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro – Investigated and the fibres identified as ‘cotton’
1925-1933 : Full Spinning technique developed and standardised
1927 : Research on Spinning Environment (65% R.H. & 27ºC Temp. optimum for spinning process)
1929 : Project on evaluation of representative trade varieties of Indian cottons started
1932 : First training course on cotton technology for persons deputed by industry conducted
1933 : The First Edition of the Handbook on ‘Methods of tests on fibre, yarn and cloth’ published
1935 : Research on cotton combing – the process causes reduction in neps and significant improvement in spinnability by increase in mean fibre length
1936 : R & D on using curved path during drafting, enabling better control over floating fibres resulting in yarn of higher strength. This basic concept with suitable modifications has been used extensively in the spinning industry
1938 : A thumb rule for cotton mixing established
1949 : Causes of neps in Indian cotton yarns
1950-1962 : Development of the unique ‘Micro spinning technique’, where a small quantity (as low as 42 g) of lint obtained from an individual plant could be subjected to actual spinning test. This enabled the breeders to obtain comparative spinning values of quite a large number of new strains in a short period of time and at an earlier stage of propagation
1956-1957 : Reports on the experiments carried out on Amber Charkha, at the laboratory, Effects of storage of baled Indian cottons at Bombay and at their respective growth centers on the lint quality, A review of the studies of the relationship between the spinning value and the chief fibre properties of a cotton
1958 : Degradation of cotton during mechanical processing
1962 : Studies on the relationship between fibre properties and spinning value of cottons of Staple 1-1/16” and above
1967 : It became one of the major hub of activity of the All India Coordinated Research Project on Cotton (AICCIP) initiated by and breeders
1974 : Research trials on blending of the then newly developed Indian cotton varieties such as Sujata, Suvin, PSH, Varalaxmi and Hybrid-4 with polyester fibre for producing medium to fine count yarn, comparable to blends obtained from imported Giza-45 and Sudan cotton
1976 : ICAR award for team research and the Indian Merchants’ chamber award for outstanding contribution in the field of agriculture
1979 : Advent of Rotor Spinning technology in India, setting up of research facility at MPD
1980-2005 : Relentless work in evaluating spinning potential of new strains of cotton developed by breeders from all over the country. Dedicated work was done to maintain the quality, and attempts to improve the potential of existing varieties of cotton through AICCIP, Standard and Trade variety sample processing and testing. Over 22,000 new and improved strains have been tested for the fibre properties, spinning performance, or both, and over 5,000 technical reports have been issued to the cotton breeders, which have contributed to place the breeding work for quality cottons on a sure and scientific foundation.
1980-1985 : Studies on: Efficiency of high draft on short spinning sequence, Blending of cotton with similar and dissimilar fibres, Development of: Cotton-Jute fibre and Cotton-Pineapple fibre blended products
1985-1989 : Extensive Rotor spinning trials: Fine spinning, Mixing, Spinning of Man-made Fibres and blends, Development of Cotton/Viscose Hollow Polyester Fibre Blended Light Weight Suiting Fabrics
1989-1993 : Studies on Causes and Control of Yarn Faults – Results were well received by the industry, helped it to attain 5% Uster Norms
1993-1995 : First Air-jet spinning of Indian cottons and their Blends with Polyester
1995-1997 : Cotton Knitting Studies
1996-2000 : Research on-
Design Modification and Optimization of Pneumatic Splicer for Production of Better Quality Splice Joints
Spinning and Fabric Manufacturing Trials from Naturally Coloured Cottons
2000-2005 : Upgradation of the existing machinery to be in line with industry standards
2007 : Setting up of Friction Spinning (DREF-3) facility and beginning of research on technical yarns/textiles
2007-2012 : Research on two prestigious NAIP funded sub-projects-
Design & Development of Flexi-Check Dam (Rubber Dam) for watershed management
A Value Chain projects for Coconut fibre and its by-products
2009-2012 : Setting up of Modern Blowroom, Carding and Drawframe facility, Core Spinning and Compact spinning facilities
2013-2014 : Setting up of Electrospinning facility for nanofibre production
2014-2.15: Setting up of fibre reinforced composite Laboratory
2014-2015: First training course on Electrospinning
2015-2016: Developed activated carbon production facilities
2016-2017: Started First training course on knitting and fibre reinforced composite for academician and industry people
2017-2018: Created Garment Laboratory for stitching of research samples and Garment production

Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit (AKMU) of ICAR-CIRCOT supports information technology needs of the Institute by maintaining Internet Services, Email, Video Conferencing and other computer related facilities. AKMU also periodically updates Institute Website. AKMU also Local Area Network (LAN) and WiFi Network of the Institute. ICAR-CIRCOT is connected with 1000 mbps lease line under National Knowledge Network (NKN) provided by Govt. of India and 10 mbps ILL from RailTel to provide all the ICT services around the clock for the employees of the Institute.

AKMU provides server based enterprise class security to all the connected PCs for protecting the IT assets from malware threats and other external sources of threats. Institute internal IT assets are also protected using a state of the art Next Generation Firewall which protects from intrusion attacks originating from Internet.

AKMU manages ICAR-CIRCOT Website: circot.icar.gov.in. The website highlights research activities and achievements of the institute and act as an interface between institute and stake holders. The contents of the Institute Website are periodically updated with information on training programmes, recruitment of temporary staff, tender notices and other circulars of the institute. IP based video conferencing facility of ICAR-CIRCOT is operated and maintained by AKMU.

AKMU is also work closely with ICAR ERP, ICAR Unified Communication System and Government of India initiatives like Aadhar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) and Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) by providing technical support to end users of these systems.