Location: Cotton Ginning Research
2016 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1: Enable, from a technological standpoint, new commercial methods and processes to reduce energy use, labor costs, and environmental impact, while preserving cotton fiber and seed quality, during the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton.
Subobjective 1.A. Develop a fan speed control system for conveying fans used at gins to reduce energy inputs.
Subobjective 1.B. Develop improved systems for drying seed cotton to optimum moisture levels with reduced energy inputs.
Subobjective 1.C. Determine effect of higher than recommended processing rates on fiber quality and losses.
Objective 2: Enable new commercial methods and machinery to improve product quality in the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton.
Subobjective 2.A. Develop machinery and processes to remove plastic contamination at the gin.
Subobjective 2.B. Determine causes of increased bark content of picker-harvested saw- ginned cotton.
Subobjective 2.C. Improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage.
Subobjective 2.D. Apply high-speed roller ginning equipment for use with picked cotton in the humid region of the United States.
Objective 3: Identify material properties that have a significant impact on fiber and seed quality during saw-ginning, and enable new or improved, commercial methods for measuring product moisture content and process mass flow rates during ginning.
Subobjective 3.A. Develop a mass flow rate sensor for seed cotton.
Subobjective 3.B. Improve seed cotton moisture content measurement during the ginning process.
Subobjective 3.C. Identify cotton properties or measurable process parameters indicative of fiber damage occurring in the gin stand.
Subobjective 3.D. Develop a system to measure the fiber removed by gin cleaning machinery.
Approach
The work includes a variety of specific activities. A fan speed control system will be developed to reduce energy inputs. With this system fan electricity use will be reduced by using a control system with no negative effects on gin operation. An improved system for drying seed cotton will optimize moisture levels with reduced energy inputs using computational fluid dynamics models.
Acceptable leaf grades and extraneous matter levels will be achieved with higher processing rates through seed cotton and lint cleaners using the recommended sequence of ginning machinery. A new ginning system is under construction at the CGRU that will allow testing of processing rates comparable to commercial gins through the extractor-feeder and lint cleaner.
Machinery and processes will be developed to remove plastic contamination at the gin. Work will concentrate on developing a retrofit or change in operation of existing seed cotton cleaning equipment. We will examine causes of increased bark content of picker-harvested saw-ginned cotton. We will improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. We will use high-speed roller ginning equipment with certain cultivars grown in the humid region of the US which will result in longer fiber with less short fiber and fewer neps.
Seed cotton mass flow rate will be accurately predicted using a system based on air velocity, conveying system static pressure, and temperature measurements. The weight of seed cotton used for each test run will be recorded and linear regression will be used to identify model parameters in the improved model, which will include the static pressure measurement. More accurate prediction of seed cotton moisture will be made using the temperature drop that occurs during the drying process.
Power measurements of individual gin stand components and fiber properties determined from HVI or AFI will be used to predict short fiber and nep content occurring due to different processing conditions, such as moisture and ginning rate. Samples will be ginned and electricity use will be monitored. Predictive models for fiber quality parameters, particularly short fiber and nep content, will be developed for each genotype based on energy data and moisture content.
Measurement of fiber loss during cleaning is an important part of understanding the ginning process and control of that fiber loss may be related to other factors being studied. The proposed measurement system for the quantity of fiber lost from cleaning machinery includes a measurement of the proportion of material with cotton fiber color and a measurement of the total cleaner waste mass flow rate.
Progress Report
Preliminary monitoring of commercial gin drying systems was conducted, data analyzed, and a publication made in conference proceedings. Data were analyzed and a manuscript submitted on plastic removal by a cylinder cleaner. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of higher seed cotton cleaner speeds on foreign matter removal. A presentation and proceedings article were made on the effect of seed cotton cleaner speeds, air flow rates, and material flow rates on fiber and seed loss. Tests were conducted over two years to determine the effect of ginning treatments on bark removal to improve lint cleaning. Results from testing an improved mass flow rate sensor for seed cotton were published in conference proceedings. Further improvements have been made to the mass flow measurement system and additional testing conducted. A seed cotton moisture measurement system has been tested in a commercial gin. A study of five cotton genotypes was conducted to determine variations in energy use in the gin and textile mill and the relationship to quality parameters in cooperation with cotton breeders. Preliminary results of this study were published in conference proceedings. Additional cultivars were ginned with the high-speed roller gin stand comparing three different lint cleaners after the gin stand and the results presented at a conference.
Accomplishments
1. Electricity use reduction in cotton gins. Electricity and fuel account for 25% of cotton gins’ variable costs, second only to seasonal labor. Extensive monitoring by ARS researchers at Stoneville, Mississippi of energy use at selected gins began in 2010 to replace outdated data on energy used by specific gin processes and identify areas for future improvement. This research found that maximizing a gin’s processing rate is critical to reducing energy use, and this information and recommendations for achieving that goal have been communicated to ginners through publications by Cotton, Incorporated, cotton ginners’ associations, and presentations at ginners’ meetings and schools. The monitoring studies have shown that the minimum air velocity required in gins was significantly lower than recommended. Decreasing air velocity could reduce conveying fan energy use by more than 50%, and total gin energy use by over 10%. A prototype seed cotton mass flow sensing system has been developed. This system could be used by itself to assist managers in maximizing gin capacity, or as in input for process control systems.
None.
Review Publications
Bechere, E., Zeng, L., Hardin IV, R.G. 2016. Combining ability of ginning rate and net ginning energy requirement in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Crop Science. 56:499-504.
Bechere, E., Zeng, L., Hardin IV, R.G. 2016. Relationships of lint yield and fiber quality with ginning rate and net ginning energy in upland cotton. Journal of Cotton Science. 20:31-39.
Von Hoven, T.M., Montalvo Jr, J.G., Santiago Cintron, M., Dowd, M.K., Armijo, C.B., Byler, R.K. 2016. Fundamental research on spiking, recovery and understanding seed coat nep counts in AFIS analysis of pre-opened cotton. Textile Research Journal. Pg. 1-14. doi: 10-1177/0040517516657057.
