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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 #214952
Title: Initial fiber quality comparison testing of the power roll gin stand to three different makes of conventional gin stands

Author
item Holt, Gregory
item LAIRD, J - RETIRED USDA-ARS, LUBBOCK

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2008
Publication Date: 5/5/2008
Citation: Holt, G.A., Laird, J.W. 2008. Initial fiber quality comparison testing of the power roll gin stand to three different makes of conventional gin stands. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 24(3):295-299.

Interpretive Summary: The fiber quality of cotton declines during harvesting and ginning; thus the cotton industry desires ginning technology that minimizes damage and preserves fiber quality. The Powered Roll Gin Stand (PRGS) is a new ginning technology developed at the USDA-ARS, Cotton Production and Processing Research Unit in Lubbock, TX, designed to reduce fiber quality damage resulting from mechanical processing without adversely affecting processing rate. This paper documents the initial field studies performed on three different makes of commercially available gin stands that were retrofitted with the PRGS technology compared to the original setup of each gin stand. The commercial gins involved in the studies covered the spectrum of harvesting and ginning operations seen in the cotton ginning industry (California – Acala cotton, Arkansas – Picker cotton, Texas – Stripper cotton). Results showed the potential of the PRGS technology to gin at a greater production rate while maintaining if not reducing fiber damage. Some findings revealed areas where additional work is needed in order for this technology to work on the variety of existing makes and models of gin stands with predictable performance. This gin stand has the potential to be the first dynamically controlled gin stand that can "custom" gin cotton based on fiber quality parameters; however, mechanical refinement is needed to verify that this technology can be effectively installed on all makes and models of existing gin stands.

Technical Abstract: The powered roll gin stand is a new saw-type ginning technology that has undergone numerous studies evaluating its use for ginning seed cotton. Past results have shown increased production and turnout without adversely affecting fiber properties. In some cases, improvements in fiber properties over a conventional gin stand were demonstrated. This paper reports High Volume Instrument and Advanced Fiber Information System fiber property results from three field tests evaluating the technology on three different makes of gin stands. Results indicate the make of gin stand where optimization studies have been performed to determine optimal operational settings performed significantly better than the conventional gin stand in processing rate, lint turnout, and some fiber properties. Current and planned future studies are also discussed, including the potential to use this technology for real-time process control of fiber properties.