Author
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Le, Sanh |
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Submitted to: Journal of Cotton Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 3/18/2008 Publication Date: 7/21/2008 Citation: Le, S. 2008. Lint Cleaning Performance of a Modified Cylinder Cleaner. Journal of Cotton Science. 12: 126-133. Interpretive Summary: The saw-type lint cleaner is widely used to clean Upland cotton to improve fiber appearance and values. Unfortunately, this highly effective lint cleaner also causes fiber damage and reduces yield. To maintain the U.S. technology lead and competitive advantage in the global market that demands quality fiber and long staple length, new lint cleaning technologies are needed. A modified cylinder cleaner, was developed to meet the challenges. A set of grid bars with a sharp cleaning edge was designed and evaluated in the modified cleaner. Experiments conducted to evaluate the cleaning performance of the modified cylinder cleaner found that the sharp grid bars were more efficient in cleaning than the flat-square grid bars. Both types of grid bars generated fewer entanglements and higher turnout than the standard saw-type lint cleaner. In another test, lint cleaning performances of one and two cylinder cleaners connected in series were compared to those of a baseline saw-type lint cleaner. The cleaners were operated at either a single or two different speeds. Results showed that the impact of adding a second cylinder in the cleaning was greater than that of changing cylinder speeds. Technical Abstract: The objectives of the experiments were to evaluate the lint cleaning performance of a modified cylinder cleaner with sharp cleaning-edge grid bars and compare the performance of one cylinder cleaner to two cylinder cleaners in series operating at one or two speeds. Overall, in comparison to the baseline, saw-type lint cleaner (SLC), cylinder cleaners in various configurations cleaned less efficiently and aggressively. The cleaner with flat-square grid bars was the least aggressive and had the lowest cleaning efficiency. The grid bars with a sharp cleaning edge cleaned more efficiently and aggressively. The modified cylinder cleaner equipped with the sharp cleaning-edge grid bars generated more neps and higher short fiber content. Its waste also contained more fiber in proportion than that of the flat-square grid bars. Turnout of the cylinder cleaners was significantly higher than that of the SLC. Comparing to the SLC, these cleaners generated less waste and contained less fiber in their waste. The impact of adding another cylinder cleaner in lint cleaning was greater than the effect of changing cleaner speed. While turnout from the one cylinder or the two cylinder configuration operating at either one speed or two speeds, was not significantly different from that of the SLC, the waste they generated was much lower. In comparison to the hairy-leaf cultivar, the smooth-leaf cultivar was high in fiber reflectance, neps and short fiber content. It had fewer seed coat neps and shorter fiber. Lint of the smooth-leaf cultivar was generally easier to clean as shown by its low dust and visible foreign matter. |
