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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 #303761
Title: Comparison of a wire belt conveyor and cross auger conveyor for conveying burr cotton on a stripper harvester

Author
item PORTER, WESLEY - University Of Georgia
item Wanjura, John
item TAYLOR, RANDAL - Oklahoma State University
item BOMAN, RANDAL - Oklahoma State University
item BUSER, MICHAEL - Oklahoma State University

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/16/2014
Publication Date: 3/30/2015
Citation: Porter, W.M., Wanjura, J.D., Taylor, R.K., Boman, R.K., Buser, M.D. 2015. Comparison of a wire belt conveyor and cross auger conveyor for conveying burr cotton on a stripper harvester. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 31(1):43-48. DOI 10.13031/aea.31.10658.

Interpretive Summary: A wire belt conveyor was compared to the standard auger conveyor on a stripper harvester for differences in fiber quality and foreign matter content. Minimal differences in foreign matter content and fiber quality were observed between the two conveyor systems. Foreign matter content of cotton conveyed by either system was substantially reduced by the use of a field cleaner with no damage to fiber quality. Future optimization work performed on wire belt conveyors could aid in increasing their cleaning ability over the cross auger. A wire belt conveyor has potential advantages over the standard auger conveyor including reduced weight, easy integration into a flexible stripper header design, and the potential for developing wider headers than are possible with an auger conveyor.

Technical Abstract: Cotton fiber quality begins to degrade naturally with the opening of the boll, and mechanical harvesting processes are perceived to exacerbate fiber degradation. Previous research indicates that stripper-harvested cotton generally has lower fiber quality including on average lower micronaire, length, strength, and uniformity, and higher foreign matter content than picker-harvested cotton. Results of previous work indicate that the cross auger and pneumatic conveying systems on stripper harvesters could be redesigned to help improve seed cotton cleanliness while preserving fiber quality. Thus, the cross auger was targeted for improvement. The main objective of this project was to design and test a wire belt to convey cotton laterally in a cotton stripper header. Tests were conducted to evaluate the influence of the wire belt conveyor on seed cotton cleanliness and fiber quality. Foreign matter content and fiber quality results from the wire belt were comparable to those of bur cotton conveyed by a standard cross auger. The results did not favor either the wire belt or the standard cross auger, meaning the wire belt must be optimized to perform better than the cross auger.