7--YIELD-TESTING OF GREASY-WOOL CORE SAMPLES PART I: AN IMPROVED SAMPLE WASHER OF NOVEL DESIGN.

The increasing volume of yield-testing of greasy wool indicates the need for equipment that has a greater rate of handling samples and is more automatic than that employed in methods in current use. New washer equipment has been developed in which samples are washed by being dispersed and circulated around a long pipe by a special pump; the arrangement ensures thorough treatment of the whole sample and facilitates complete collection after washing. Released dirt is removed continuously from the system during washing. After being washed, the sample is discharged directly into a can, dewatered by suction, and dried in the same can by forced convection of hot air. Experimental prototypes have been built and have been extensively tested in a commercial testing laboratory. When the washer is used in a conventional yield-testing arrangement with one operator, samples can be handled at a rate of 20 samples/hr, and the total time required to process a sample to obtain a washing-yield value is about 25 min. It is intended that the rate of testing will be 30 samples/hr when the equipment is used as a section of a Wool-base Analyser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]