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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Cotton Production and Processing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #137322
Title: THE USE OF TAGUCHI'S METHOD FOR EVALUATING OPTIMAL OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS FOR THE POWERED ROLL GIN STAND

Author
item Holt, Gregory
item Laird, Joseph - Weldon
item WEDEGAERTNER, T - COTTON INCORPORATED

Submitted to: ASAE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Monograph
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2002
Publication Date: 10/31/2002
Citation: HOLT, G.A., LAIRD, J.W., WEDEGAERTNER, T.C. THE USE OF TAGUCHI'S METHOD FOR EVALUATING OPTIMAL OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS FOR THE POWERED ROLL GIN STAND. 2002. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERS. PAPER NO. 021146.

Interpretive Summary: The powered roll gin stand is a new ginning technology developed at the USDA-ARS, Cotton Production and Processing Research Unit in Lubbock, TX. In earlier studies, the gin stand demonstrated increased processing rates and lint turnout without adversely affecting fiber properties. In some instances, fiber properties where improved. The gin stand has three main components; the paddle roll, the saw, and the seed finger roll. The speed and loading rate of these components have a significant effect on the ginning rate, turnout, and fiber properties of the seed cotton being ginned. Consequently, the optimal speed and loading rate settings for these components is critical for maximum performance from the gin stand. This study evaluates three operational settings for each component and determines the best setting based on the ginning rate, turnout, and fiber properties. The optimal settings varied depending upon the importance placed on production rates or fiber properties. The Taguchi Method was used to determine the setting that would be least sensitive to variations in the seed cotton being ginned.

Technical Abstract: The powered roll gin stand is a new saw-type ginning technology that has shown increased production and turnout without adversely affecting fiber properties. This new gin stand has three primary components: paddle roll, saw, and seed finger roll. The operational settings of these components has been shown to affect both production rates and fiber characteristics of the seed cotton being ginned. This research focused on determining the optimum speeds and loading rates for the paddle roll, saw, and seed finger roll components of the powered roll gin stand, while ginning seed cotton, based on turnout, processing rate, and fiber quality data. An experiment using seed cotton stripper-harvested with and without field cleaners from two different fields was evaluated using Taguchi's method. Evaluation was based on eleven response variables consisting of processing rate, turnout, and fiber quality measurements. In addition to optimizing the operational settings based on the individual response variables, six different combinations of the response variables were evaluated. Results vary depending upon the resoponse variable of interest. Overall, results indicated the most "robust" configuration included the 900-rpm saw speed. The other parameters of paddle roll speed, seed finger roll speed, and paddle roll loading rate varied based on the response variables. The results emphasized the potential application of this gin stand to a real-time dynamic control system that improves processing rate, turnout, and fiber quality.