Author
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Buser, Michael |
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Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 1/24/2000 Publication Date: 6/1/2000 Citation: Buser, M.D. 2000. Update on the impact of modern gin stands on fiber quality. National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. Volume 2:1585-1593 (2000) Interpretive Summary: Fiber quality is a primary concern in the cotton industry. In ginning, saw-type gin stands are the most common machines used to separate the fiber from the seed and are a primary source of fiber damage. During the last 40 years gin stand designs have become more compact (more gin saws per foot), creating high ginning rates. A preliminary evaluation of the effects of several modern gin stands on fiber quality was performed to determine if modern designs produced greater fiber damage than their predecessors. Fiber analyses from this test showed that modern gin stands produce more fiber damage than previous designs. Additional tests verified that the fiber properties associated with the earlier model gin stands were superior to the fiber properties associated with the modern gin stands. In addition, the fiber and cottonseed quality of cotton processed with gin stands with wider saw spacings tend to be better than the cotton processed on the modern gin stands, which have a narrower saw spacing. Based on these tests, additional research to determine the effect of primary design components on fiber quality will be performed. This research will ultimately lead to a better understanding of the effect of modern gin stand design on fiber quality and development of alternative designs to reduce fiber damage associated with ginning. Technical Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the fiber length reductions, short fiber content, fiber entanglements (neps), and cottonseed damage associated with modern gin stands. This two-year study focused on five different gin stands of differing makes and models. The ginning rates of two of the super-high capacity gin stands were approximately 30% below the manufacturers recommended rates, so the achievable rates were used for these gin stands. The average seed cotton moisture content prior to ginning was between 5.5% and 6.7%. Generally, gin stand D (high capacity) produced fewer neps than the super-high capacity gin stands. Fiber length was typically longer in the high capacity gin stands as compared to the super-high capacity stands. There was characteristically less short fiber content in the cotton ginned in the high capacity gin stands as compared to the super-high capacity gin stands. One gin stand routinely produced fiber with less trash in the lint than the other gin stands. It appears that the cottonseed exited the seed roll much more quickly in that gin stand, since they had a high residual linters content and low seed damage, as compared to one of the super-high capacity gin stands, which had low residual linters and high seed damage. Further studies will be conducted to narrow these results to specific or specific combinations of saw-type gin stand characteristics. |
