A continuous process for the wet chemical treatment of fibers employs one or more squeezing/opening operations post chemical treatment to provide even chemical distribution on the fibers being processed. For squeezing the fiber batt impregnated with chemicals, one or more sets of squeeze rollers which include at least one roller with grooves are used to remove the liquid chemicals from the fiber batt efficiently. The squeezing operation can be coupled with the ability to collect and recycle chemicals for reuse in the chemical treatment process. The continuous process for the chemical treatment of fibers may employ the use of a blending box for the dried chemical-treated fibers in order to compensate for any uneven chemical distribution on fibers occurred during the chemical treatment process.

A system and corresponding method are provided for controlling production in a blow room, the blow room including a controller, a supplying machine having a supplying part, and a machine to be supplied that has a filling level measurement. The supplying machine and the machine to be supplied are connected to the controller. A production area is defined for the supplying machine and includes a minimum production and a maximum production. Production of the supplying part of the supplying machine is determined based on a filling level of the filling level measurement. When production of the production area drops below the minimum production, the supplying part of the supplying machine is shut down, the shutdown taking place independently of the filling level of the machine to be supplied.

A method of, and apparatus for, unwrapping a module of cotton or other fibrous material from a wrapping having at least one layer of plastics-sheet material, the method including the steps of: raising the module to a first, or elevated, position on a lift conveyor or vertically-movable support surface; advancing a plurality of gripper heads, mounted on a support frame, to an advanced position, into gripping engagement with the layer(s) of the sheet material wrapping; lowering the lift conveyor or vertically-movable support surface from the first position towards a second, or lowered, position; and retracting the plurality of gripper heads, to expand the wrapping to progressively release the cotton or other fibrous material from the lower portion to the upper portion of the module.

A nonwoven material is composed of a nonwoven batt of a plurality of bundles formed of carbon fibers. At least some of the bundles have a curved progression that includes a curved vertex area of a first curvature between the bundle ends and at least one bundle end area of a second curvature extending from said one bundle end to the vertex. The first curvature is greater than the second curvature, in particular it is greater by at least 50%.

A nonwoven material is composed of a nonwoven batt of a plurality of bundles formed of carbon fibers. At least some of the bundles have a curved progression that includes a curved vertex area of a first curvature between the bundle ends and at least one bundle end area of a second curvature extending from said one bundle end to the vertex. The first curvature is greater than the second curvature, in particular it is greater by at least 50%.