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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #179277
Title: TRASH IDENTIFICATION AT THE CARD

Author
item Foulk, Jonn
item McAlister Iii, David

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/4/2005
Publication Date: 6/1/2005
Citation: Foulk, J.A., Mcalister III, D.D. 2005. Trash identification at the card. Proceedings of the Beltwide Cotton Conference, Cotton Quality Conference, January 4-7, 2005, New Orleans, LA, p. 2244-2253.

Interpretive Summary: THE OVERALL AIM OF THIS ARTICLE WAS TO SUMMARIZE THE PROPERTIES OF COTTON TRASH AT EIGHT CLEANING POINTS ON A CARD WITHIN A MULTI-BALE LAYDOWN. THE USDA COTTON QUALITY RESEARCH STATION OFTEN COLLABORATES WITH LOCAL TEXTILE INDUSTRIES TO UNRAVEL THEIR PROCESSING PROBLEMS. AS PROCESSING SPEEDS INCREASE, HIGH-SPEED SPINNING MACHINERY IS LESS TOLERANT OF SHORT FIBER, TRASH, AND DUST SO CONTINUED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COTTON CARD ARE DESIRABLE. NEW PROCESSING TECHNIQUES AND/OR INSTRUMENTS ARE NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RAPID, CONSISTENT, AND QUANTITATIVE COTTON FIBER AND TRASH RESULTS. WASTE SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED FROM A CARD USING A BLOW ROOM WASTE COLLECTOR (BR-WC) AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: 1.) LICKER-IN 1, 2.) LICKER-IN 2, 3.) LICKER-IN 3, 4.) FLATS, 5.) BACK HOOD, 6.) TOP FRONT HOOD, 7.) FRONT BOTTOM HOOD, AND 8.) TAKE-OFF ROLL. MICRO-DUST AND TRASH MONITOR (MTM), HIGH VOLUME INSTRUMENT (HVI) TRASHMETER, AND ADVANCED FIBER INFORMATION SYSTEM (AFIS) RESULTS INDICATE THAT FIBER LENGTH, DUST, AND TRASH SIZES VARY BY LOCATION WITHIN A CARD WITH COLLECTED FIBER AND TRASH PARTICLES REDUCED IN SIZE THROUGH PROCESSING.

Technical Abstract: TRASH REMOVAL IS REQUIRED DURING PROCESSING FOR IMPROVED TEXTILE-PROCESSING EFFICIENCY. COTTON TRASH HAS OFTEN BEEN A LEADING CAUSE OF ENDS-DOWN DURING SPINNING. TRASH ARISES FROM VARIOUS PLANT SOURCES AND FIELD CONTAMINATION. TO COMBAT TRASH AND EFFICIENCY PROBLEMS TEXTILE MILLS OFTEN SPECIFY COTON BALES, WHICH THEY ACQUIRE, SHOULD HAVE A LEAF CLASSIFICATION NO HIGHER THAN 3 FOR PROCESSING ON THEIR AIRJET OR VORTEX SPINNING SYSTEMS. IN PROCESSING, THE CARD IS AN EXCELLENT LOCATION TO OPTIMIZE COTTON CLEANING DUE TO THIN WEBS OF COTTON FIBERS. THIS STUDY INVOLVED A MILL RUNNING A 40 BALE LAYDOWN FROM WHICH SAMPLES WERE TAKEN AT EIGHT SEPARATE CLEANING POINTS ON A CARD ON THE SAME CLEANING LINE RUNNING A (50/50) COTTON/POLYESTER BLEND. THIS RESEARCH EVALUATED SEVERAL MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES TO CHARACTERIZE TRASH PARTICLES AT NUMEROUS CLEANING POINTS ON FIVE DIFFERENT MODERN CARDS. THIS STUDY COMPARED THE TYPE, SIZE, AND DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICLES AT EIGHT CLEANING POINTS. FURTHER WORK IS NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF COTTON TRASH REMOVAL AT THESE EIGHT CLEANING POINTS ON HIGH SPEED TEXTILE SPINNING.