Scouring of Sheep Wool Using an Acoustic Ultrasound Wave

Abstract

The paper describes a method of scouring sheep wool using ultrasound.The inspiration to start work on the use of ultrasound in the process of scouring sheep wool was positive results that had already been achieved for alpaca wool. Due to the fact that sheep wool has many more impurites than alpaca wool, the scouring process is divided into two stages. The first involves the removal of faeces from the wool, which may be up to about 35% of the impurities of sheep wool, while the second stage involves the scouring cycle, wherein the remaining impurities are removed. The ultrasonic scouring process uses domestic merino wool heavily clad, particularly, by faeces. In this study, detergent solutions, alkali soap and sodium carbonate were used. The scouring of wool was carried out with a special apparatus equipped with an ultrasonic generator, at a frequency of 40 kHz. To determine the optimal conditions for scouring sheep wool that could affect the amount of impurities removed, the following parameters were examined: the effect of the scouring time, the concentration of detergents, and the scouring bath ratio. The study resulted in achieving optimal scouring parameters that ensured a satisfactory level of the removal of wool impurities.