Modeling and optimization of high-capacity experimental reclaimers to minimize the seed and lint loss during roller ginning of Upland and Pima cotton

Authors: Tumuluru, Jaya Shankar; Armijo, Carlos; Whitelock, Derek; FUNK, PAUL - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: Processes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/24/2023
Publication Date: 9/29/2023
Citation: Tumuluru, J., Armijo, C.B., Whitelock, D.P., Funk, P.A. 2023. Modeling and optimization of high-capacity experimental reclaimers to minimize the seed and lint loss during roller ginning of Upland and Pima cotton. Processes. 11(10), p. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11102868.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11102868

Interpretive Summary: Reclaimers are specialized machines used at roller ginning facilities to separate unginned seed cotton that escapes the ginning process from the ginned seed and send it back to the gin stand for re-ginning to minimize the potential loss of lint. The challenge with conventional reclaimers typically used by industry is that they can have difficulty handling the larger quantities of material produced during high-speed roller ginning processes, leading to material loss and increased chock-ups causing downtime. Operation of two experimental high-capacity reclaimers (3-saw and 700) was statistically modeled and optimized to reduce seed and lint loss during high-speed roller ginning. The models indicated that the 700 minimized losses of lint and seed best for Upland cotton, reducing the value of the loss per bale by about 50 % compared to conventional reclaimer ($ 8.67 versus $15.97 per bale). When processing Pima cotton, the 700 and conventional reclaimers had about the same $ per bale loss (about $3.5 per bale). Placing the two high-capacity reclaimers in a parallel arrangement resulted in lower total (seed + lint) loss than a series arrangement. These results indicate that Western U.S. cotton producers could realize significant economic benefits from future adoption of this technology.

Technical Abstract: In the present study, two high-capacity experimental roller gin reclaimers, a) a modified 3-saw cylinder stick machine (3-saw) and b) a modified 2-saw cylinder gin stand feeder (700), were op-timized with respect to reclaimer speed and carryover to seed ratio. (A conventional roller gin re-claimer was included in the study.) Regression models developed adequately described the seed and lint loss phenomena during the reclaiming process. Surface plots indicated that the reclaimer cyl-inder speed and carryover-to-seed ratio impacted the seed and lint loss for both the 3-saw and 700 reclaimers. At optimized conditions, the 700-reclaimer resulted in lower lint and seed loss compared to the 3-saw reclaimer when using Upland cotton. In the case of Pima cotton, at optimized conditions, the 3-saw reclaimer had 38% lower lint loss and 24% higher seed loss compared to the 700 reclaimer. Optimization of the two high-capacity experimental reclaimers in parallel arrangement resulted in lower total (seed+lint) loss compared to a series arrangement. With Upland cotton, the economic loss was about 2.5 times greater with the conventional reclaimer compared to the 3-saw and 700 reclaimers ($15.97/bale loss for the conventional, $8.63 for the 3-saw, and $6.44 for the 700 reclaimers). With Pima cotton, the conventional reclaimer resulted in a lower economic loss ($3.60/bale) compared to the 700 reclaimer which had a loss of about $4.00/bale.