ARS | Publication request: Preliminary Evaluation of Fiber Quality in Seed Cotton Cleaner Material in a Commercial Gin

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: May 1, 2012
Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Citation: Byler, R.K., Delhom, C.D. 2012. Preliminary Evaluation of Fiber Quality in Seed Cotton Cleaner Material in a Commercial Gin. In: 2012 Beltwide Cotton Conference, January 3-6, 2012, Orlando, Florida. p. 633-637.

Interpretive Summary: The main processes in cotton ginning are to dry the fiber, as necessary, remove extraneous material, and separate the fiber from the seed. During the seed cotton cleaning process some valuable fiber is inadvertently removed along with the undesirable plant parts. In recent years some gins have installed equipment to reclaim the fiber in the material removed by the seed cotton cleaners. Data and samples were collected at one commercial gin which had installed such equipment. In this study for some samples the reclaimed material was mixed with the seed cotton and ginned to form cotton bales but for others the material was not mixed with the seed cotton. Three cultivars were used in the data collection. These data showed that about 19.0 lbs of material was reclaimed from the seed cotton cleaners and most of the cleaned material was loose lint and motes, tufts of mostly short and immature fiber, with little seed cotton. The material was of lower quality than the lint obtained from the seed cotton but contained considerable valuable fiber. Some differences due to cultivar were detected but no differences were detected with basic fiber quality measurements or in card waste preparing the fiber for spinning depending on whether the reclaimed material was mixed with the seed cotton being ginned.

Technical Abstract: The main product of cotton gins is the bale of ginned lint but valuable fiber exists in several additional streams in the gin. In recent years more gins have installed equipment to reclaim the fiber in the material removed by the seed cotton cleaners. Data and samples were collected at one commercial gin which had installed such equipment. Three cultivars were used in the data collection. These data showed that about 19.0 lbs of material was reclaimed from the seed cotton cleaners and most of the cleaned material was loose lint and motes with little seed cotton. The material was of lower quality than the lint obtained from the seed cotton but contained considerable valuable fiber. Some differences due to cultivar were detected but no differences were detected with HVI or AFIS measurements of the bale lint quality or in card waste depending on whether this material was mixed with the seed cotton being ginned or not.