Source: SUMMIT SEED, INC. submitted to NRP
LOW COST PROCESSING OF COTTON GIN BYPRODUCTS FOR USE AS A HYDROMULCH, AN EROSION CONTROL BLANKET, AND A ANNUAL BEDDING PLANT MULCH
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0201168
Grant No.
2004-33610-15078
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
2004-02677
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 15, 2004
Project End Date
Sep 14, 2007
Grant Year
2004
Program Code
[8.8]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
SUMMIT SEED, INC.
3676 W 9000 N ROAD
MANTENO,IL 60950-3340
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
For every cotton bale produced an average of 375 lbs of cotton gin byproduct byproduct is generated. This translates into approximately 3 million tons of cotton gin waste every year. The accumulation of byproducts behind a gin, during the ginning season, can be substantial. Cotton gin byproducts are also a health, management and ecological problem for the cotton industry. The limited and inadequate means of disposing it are costing the cotton industry and ultimately the public money. The proposed SBIR project will translate into economic gains for the cotton industry and environmental gains wherever erosion control is needed. Support the sustainment of the cotton industry by meeting their need to recycle cotton gin byproducts. Further, it will accomplish this in such a way as to reduce the need to burn and bury the byproducts. Finally, it will reduce the cost of producing cotton by creating a beneficial and profitable method to recycle cotton gin byproducts. It is expected to result in the production of several value-added mulch products that are superior to the current industry standards for erosion control and green industries.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1041719202020%
2051719202020%
5111719202060%
Knowledge Area
511 - New and Improved Non-Food Products and Processes; 104 - Protect Soil from Harmful Effects of Natural Elements; 205 - Plant Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
1719 - Cotton, other;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this SBIR Phase II research is to develop and test two new mulch products and an erosion control blanket made from the surplus of byproduct from the cotton ginning industry. The purpose of this Phase II SBIR proposal is to research and develop a bedding plant mulch, a hydraulically applied mulch, and an erosion control blanket all made from the same parent material. The base material for these three different products is an extruded material made from cotton gin byproducts. This business opportunity exists because there is a growing surplus of byproducts from the cotton industry and a significant need in the ornamental and erosion control industry for improved mulch products. The processed cotton gin byproducts unique attribute its ability for the cotton waste fibers to provide superior entanglement, creating an advanced mechanical interaction within the mulch matrix. The expected outcome of this Phase II SBIR proposal is the development of superior mulches and erosion control blanket products compared to products being currently marketed. The research proposed is obligatory to close the gap between the surplus source material and a marketable product.
Project Methods
The variations of the same based material will be used for hydro mulch, annual bedding mulch and fibers for an erosion control blanket. The approach for each application has its own unique challenges. Even though the extruded gin waste lack soil coverage (C-Factor) compared to the industry standard paper or wood hydro mulch our Phase I research proved that the extruded fibers controlled erosion better than when comparing the same application rates. Our first research will be in determining optimum methods to condition the gin trash to produce maximum soil coverage while providing equal to or better than erosion control. Various prototype fibers will be produced and the tested under controlled erosion control evaluations at the ARS-USDA Lubbock, Texas facility. Seed germination and establishment studies will be conducted in three locations once the fiber process has been determined and the erosion control studies are successfully completed. The annual bedding mulch evaluations will evaluate at what mulch rates produced the highest quality flowers while reducing weed competitions and conserving soil moisture. The bedding mulch research will be in two locations that will represent a warm and cool season climate to determine how well the mulch bio-degrades to become bio-mass in the soil. Our ultimate goal is to development mulches that produces short term reduction in weed competition and water conservation but ultimately decomposes to become a soil amendment for the next years annual flower bed. The same based material used to make hydro mulch will be used for an erosion control blanket. ASTM - D 6459 testing for hillside protection will be used for evaluation guide lines for product performance standards.

Progress 09/15/04 to 09/14/07

Outputs
Our product research focused on developing products for Hydro Mulch: An alternative to wood and paper mulches, Erosion Control Blanket and Annual Bedding Plant Mulch. Most of our research efforts have been in the development of the Hydro Mulch. Our initial belief was it would be the simplest product to develop and would be the most likely to be readily accepted by the market. Since our original research the cotton based product offered superior fiber entanglement, however we continued to struggle in achieving comparable soil coverage compared to industry standards of wood and paper hydro mulch. Increasing the fibers coverage directly related to fiber processing. It was determined a combination product that could produce a marketable product which includes straw and processed gin trash would be needed to make the product work. This concept leads to patent application through the ARS-USDA in May of 2005. Even though a combination product could be made to work, we believed that more work was needed to produce a product with a higher percentage of gin trash than straw to be cost effective. The CRADA with the ARS-USDA has been extended one additional year to final the research conducted.

Impacts
The hydro seeding industry started in the 1950 using wood and paper fibers that lacked structure in the fiber matrix leading to sub standard performance. Our research development with the cotton - straw hydro mulch product that offered superior fiber entanglement with improved erosion control and vegetation establishment is a significant innovation. The spring of 2006 a plant the construction of a production plant was completed in Centre, Alabama that began market a cotton - straw product.

Publications

  • Holt,G.A., M.Buser, Pelletier, M., Harmel, R.D., Potter, K. and Lee, E. 2004. The COBY process: erosion control study results. Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf. San Antonio, TX. Natl. Cotton Counc. Am., Memphis, TN. 994-1000.
  • Holt, G.A., M. Buser, M. Pelletier, R. D. Harmel, K. Potter, and Lee, E. 2004. The COBY process: bedding mulch study results. Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conf. San Antonio, TX. Natl. Cotton Counc. Am., Memphis, TN. 986-993.
  • Holt, G.A., M. Buser, R. D. Harmel, K. Potter, and Pelletier, M. 2005. Comparison of cotton-based hydro-mulches and conventional wood and paper hydro-mulches-study I. J. of Cotton Sci.. 9:121-127.
  • Holt, G.A., M. Buser, R. D. Harmel, and Potter, K. 2005. Comparison of cotton-based hydro-mulches and conventional wood and paper hydro-mulches-study II. J. of Cotton Sci.. 9:128-134.
  • Holt, G.A., M. Buser, R. D. Harmel, K. Potter, M. Pelletier, and Duke, S.E. 2006. Weed Suppression Potential of Dry Applied Mulches Used in Bedding Plant Applications: Processed Cotton Gin Byproducts Versus Conventional Wood. J. of Cotton Sci. In Press.