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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #77844
Title: PRELIMINARY COMPARISON OF WASTE AND COTTON FIBER LOSS USING A SHIRLEY ANALYZER AND SHIRLEY TRASH SEPARATOR

Author
item Thomson, Steven
item MANGIALARDI,JR, GINO - RETIRED USDA-ARS AG ENG

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/18/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: A machine called the Shirley Analyzer has been used for years to determine the waste content of lint cotton. Waste that remains in cotton after ginning influences the market value and utility of the cotton. These are a function of cotton variety, cultural practices, harvesting procedures, and performance of the ginning and lint cleaning system. A machine of newer technology called the Shirley Trash Separator (STS) uses a similar cleanin principle to the Shirley Analyzer but is also supposed to capture more trash that would otherwise be lost if the standard Shirley Analyzer were used. The Shirley Trash Separator's potential capability for capturing more trash and difficulty in obtaining or creating replacement parts for the older Shirley Analyzer necessitate evaluation of the newer machine for its capabilities in measuring waste. This study compared amounts of visible waste, invisible waste, and total waste for both machines using many cotton types and lint cleaning treatments. After lint was passed through the machine, visible waste was collected in one large trash tray with the Shirley Analyzer, and in 4 different locations representing different trash particle sizes with the Shirley Trash Separator. Invisible waste is the amount of trash not accounted for when adding visible waste to the weight of lint obtained after cleaning in either machine. The study's goal was to determine whether the Shirley Trash Separator could be used to measure fine trash not captured by the Shirley Analyzer and if the Shirley Trash Separator could be used to predict total waste content expected using the Shirley Analyzer. Analysis of data indicated that the STS collected significantly more trash that would normally go out as invisible waste. Observed trash amounts were also correlated between the two machines.

Technical Abstract: Waste measurements obtained on lint cotton using a Shirley Trash Separator (STS) were compared to those obtained using the standard Shirley Analyzer (SSA). The objective was to determine whether the STS can be used to measure fine trash not captured by the SSA and if the STS can be used to predict total waste content expected using the SSA. Two studies and preliminary tests for a third study were conducted to compare the two machines. Tests showed that visible waste contents were significantly lower with the STS and invisible and total waste contents were slightly lower in the first study but higher in the second study. Preliminary results of the third study indicate a significant temperature rise may have occurred in the STS lint box thereby reducing initial weights of cleaned lint. This would, in turn, inflate invisible and total waste values indicated in studies 1 and 2. Tests showed that weighing the lint after conditioning and using those weights instead of those obtained immediately after lint collection decreased calculated invisible waste quantities substantially. This is more in line with what is expected since the STS was designed to catch what previously went out as invisible waste in the SSA. These tests have shown that the STS can be used to measure fine trash not collected by the SSA.