Progress 06/01/15 to 05/31/20
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Enable, from a technological standpoint, new commercial methods and processes to reduce energy use, labor costs, and environmental impact, while preserving cotton fiber and seed quality, during the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. 1.A. Develop a fan speed control system for conveying fans used at gins to reduce energy inputs. 1.B. Develop improved systems for drying seed cotton to optimum moisture levels with reduced energy inputs. 1.C. Determine effect of higher than recommended processing rates on fiber quality and losses. 1.D. Develop Seed-Cotton Separator for Optimizing Fiber Quality. 1.E. Improve and evaluate air-bar lint cleaner. 2. Enable new commercial methods and machinery to improve product quality in the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. 2.A. Develop machinery and processes to remove plastic contamination at the gin. 2.B. Determine causes of increased bark content of picker-harvested saw- ginned cotton. 2.C. Improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. 2.D. Apply high-speed roller ginning equipment for use with picked cotton in the humid region of the United States. 2.E. Develop intelligent system to identify and remove plastic particles in cotton fields and in gins. 3. Identify material properties that have a significant impact on fiber and seed quality during saw-ginning, and enable new or improved, commercial methods for measuring product moisture content and process mass flow rates during ginning. 3.A. Develop a mass flow rate sensor for seed cotton. 3.B. Improve seed cotton moisture content measurement during the ginning process. 3.C. Identify cotton properties or measurable process parameters indicative of fiber damage occurring in the gin stand. 3.D. Develop a system to measure the fiber removed by gin cleaning machinery. Approach (from AD-416): A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be purchased. An imaging system will be coupled with UAV to take aerial images of cotton fields. Methods and algorithms to identify the plastic particles using the aerial images will be developed and evaluated. Development of an intelligent device which consists of UAV, imaging system, robotics will be explored to identify the plastic particles and remove the particle at the same time in situ. Sensor and control systems will be developed to detect and remove plastic objects during the ginning process. Seed-cotton separator will be designed and fabricated to separate the seed-cotton based on cotton quality. Using the seed-cotton separator, seed-cotton will be separated into two portions. One portion is high quality seed-cotton (HQSC) while the other is low quality seed-cotton (LQSC). Samples of HQSC and LQSC will be collected and ginned for analysis of fiber properties, including micronare, fiber length, and short fiber content. Fiber properties of HQSC will be compared to that of LQSC to find the effectiveness of the seed-cotton separator. The density of the HQSC and LQSC will be measured. The ⿿throw-away distance from a saw wheel in the separator will be measured. The saw wheel performance parameters will be optimized to achieve the desired separation based on cotton quality. More air-bars will be built so that multiple bars are able to be used in one lint cleaner. Improved air-bars will be installed on lint cleaner and tested with different air pressures supplied to the air-bar. Fiber properties of the lint from the air-bar lint cleaner will be compared to that from the traditional lint cleaner. Design of the air-bar lint cleaner for commercial products will be explored. Power measurements of individual gin stand components and fiber properties determined from HVI or AFI will be used to predict short fiber and nep content occurring due to different processing conditions, such as moisture and ginning rate. Samples will be ginned and electricity use will be monitored. Predictive models for fiber quality parameters, particularly short fiber and nep content, will be developed for each genotype based on energy data and moisture content. Measurement of fiber loss during cleaning is an important part of understanding the ginning process and control of that fiber loss may be related to other factors being studied. The proposed measurement system for the quantity of fiber lost from cleaning machinery includes a measurement of the proportion of material with cotton fiber color and a measurement of the total cleaner waste mass flow rate. This is the final report for this project which was replaced by project #6066-41440-009-00D, "Cotton Ginning Research to Improve Processing Efficiency and Product Quality in the Saw-Ginning of Picker-Harvested Cotton." As this project comes to a close it has been a challenging time due to loss of manpower on the project team. However, significant progress has been made on the goals of this project over the last five years. In the last year significant progress has been made on the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) techniques for scouting cotton fields for plastic contaminants prior to harvest. Plastic bags representing the most common colors were placed in a cotton field and routinely monitored throughout the season. Image analysis was performed on the images collected by the UAV. Image analysis revealed the blue color band and near-infrared band of the cameras to be most effective in detecting the widest array of bag colors. Work continues on this project, in collaboration with research partners, to optimize UAV and camera parameters for contamination prevention technology to be integrated with other UAV precision agriculture parameters. A prototype air-bar lint cleaner (ABLC) was manufactured and its performance was compared to a conventional saw-type lint cleaner. The ABLC produced higher turnout (more lint per pound of seed cotton) with less foreign matter than the conventional saw lint cleaner; however, the ABLC samples also had shorter fiber length and higher short fiber content than samples from the conventional saw-type lint cleaner. Further work is needed to optimize the settings of the ABLC and to determine the net change in quality and efficiency. Progress has been made in a number of areas over the last five years on areas such as mass flow, energy use, drying systems, high-speed roller ginning, and plastic contamination, in addition to the work conducted in the past year. Work has been performed to better understand energy consumption during the ginning process, and ways to interpret energy consumption to improve fiber quality and move towards a reduction of energy consumption during ginning. Energy costs account for approximately 25% of the expenses of commercial gin. A large source of energy consumption is pneumatic conveyance of cotton. Work has been accomplished in partnership with collaborators to utilize modern fan speed control to reduce energy input while operating at ever increasing rates. Studies have been performed to relate fiber damage to energy consumption as well as to study the increased removal of foreign matter by conveying cotton at higher speeds. Work to assess drying systems for cotton has also shown the potential to reduce energy costs through improved drying of cotton. In addition to cost savings, proper drying of seed cotton leads to improved cotton fiber quality which improves returns for the producer and ginner. Foreign matter, in particular plastic contaminants and bark, have been an increasing problem to the industry during this project cycle. In collaboration with other ARS research units steady progress has been made to prevent plastic from entering the supply chain through the use of UAV to locate plastic in the field, develop machine modifications to eject plastic during the ginning cycle, and better understand the impact of bark and plastic contaminants on textile processing. Trials have been conducted to study the behavior of plastic films during processing which will allow for the air flow inside of ginning machinery to be modified to aid in the separation of plastic from cotton. Although a significant amount of plastic was removed by ginning machinery, the plastic that remained was reduced in size and increased in number which hampers further removal during processing. Work on implementing high-speed roller ginning on upland cottons grown in the humid southeast has continued with partnerships across ARS. The improvements in fiber quality and processing efficiency shown in the far- west have been replicated with cottons typical of the southeast. The quality improvements are detectable through textile processing furthering the benefit to the industry. Accomplishments 01 Partners in data innovation ⿿ cotton. Cotton is a complex crop with many steps which can impact quality between planting of the seed and consumption at the textile mill. The efficient communication of data between all aspects of the production chain will allow researchers to better understand the roles of genetics and environment in determining fiber and textile quality. These efficiencies will be further multiplied by reducing the time researchers spend entering and manipulating data as opposed to making advances in science by analyzing data. ARS researchers in Stoneville, Mississippi, are developing a demonstration project for the collection of cotton data from ⿿dirt to shirt. This application and data dashboard will be implemented for the 2021 cotton crop on select field trials. Knowledge of the production history of seed cotton prior to ginning will enable gins to optimize handling and ginning to preserve fiber quality and maximize returns for producers.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Sui, R. 2019. Use of pressured-air for cotton lint cleaning. Journal of Agricultural Science. Vol. 12, No. 1; 2020.
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Enable, from a technological standpoint, new commercial methods and processes to reduce energy use, labor costs, and environmental impact, while preserving cotton fiber and seed quality, during the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. 1.A. Develop a fan speed control system for conveying fans used at gins to reduce energy inputs. 1.B. Develop improved systems for drying seed cotton to optimum moisture levels with reduced energy inputs. 1.C. Determine effect of higher than recommended processing rates on fiber quality and losses. 1.D. Develop Seed-Cotton Separator for Optimizing Fiber Quality. 1.E. Improve and evaluate air-bar lint cleaner. 2. Enable new commercial methods and machinery to improve product quality in the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. 2.A. Develop machinery and processes to remove plastic contamination at the gin. 2.B. Determine causes of increased bark content of picker-harvested saw- ginned cotton. 2.C. Improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. 2.D. Apply high-speed roller ginning equipment for use with picked cotton in the humid region of the United States. 2.E. Develop intelligent system to identify and remove plastic particles in cotton fields and in gins. 3. Identify material properties that have a significant impact on fiber and seed quality during saw-ginning, and enable new or improved, commercial methods for measuring product moisture content and process mass flow rates during ginning. 3.A. Develop a mass flow rate sensor for seed cotton. 3.B. Improve seed cotton moisture content measurement during the ginning process. 3.C. Identify cotton properties or measurable process parameters indicative of fiber damage occurring in the gin stand. 3.D. Develop methods to enable the use of commercial cotton gin trash and seeds for bio-products and bio-energy. Approach (from AD-416): A unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be purchased. An imaging system will be coupled with UAV to take aerial images of cotton fields. Methods and algorithms to identify the plastic particles using the aerial images will be developed and evaluated. Development of an intelligent device which consists of UAV, imaging system, robotics will be explored to identify the plastic particles and remove the particle at the same time in situ. Sensor and control systems will be developed to detect and remove plastic objects during the ginning process. Seed-cotton separator will be designed and fabricated to separate the seed-cotton based on cotton quality. Using the seed-cotton separator, seed-cotton will be separated into two portions. One portion is high quality seed-cotton (HQSC) while the other is low quality seed-cotton (LQSC). Samples of HQSC and LQSC will be collected and ginned for analysis of fiber properties, including micronare, fiber length, and short fiber content. Fiber properties of HQSC will be compared to that of LQSC to find the effectiveness of the seed-cotton separator. The density of the HQSC and LQSC will be measured. The ⿿throw-away distance from a saw wheel in the separator will be measured. The saw wheel performance parameters will be optimized to achieve the desired separation based on cotton quality. More air-bars will be built so that multiple bars are able to be used in one lint cleaner. Improved air-bars will be installed on lint cleaner and tested with different air pressures supplied to the air-bar. Fiber properties of the lint from the air-bar lint cleaner will be compared to that from the traditional lint cleaner. Design of the air-bar lint cleaner for commercial products will be explored. Power measurements of individual gin stand components and fiber properties determined from HVI or AFI will be used to predict short fiber and nep content occurring due to different processing conditions, such as moisture and ginning rate. Samples will be ginned and electricity use will be monitored. Predictive models for fiber quality parameters, particularly short fiber and nep content, will be developed for each genotype based on energy data and moisture content. Measurement of fiber loss during cleaning is an important part of understanding the ginning process and control of that fiber loss may be related to other factors being studied. The proposed measurement system for the quantity of fiber lost from cleaning machinery includes a measurement of the proportion of material with cotton fiber color and a measurement of the total cleaner waste mass flow rate. The prototype device for quality-based seed-cotton separation which was built in FY18 was modified according to the previous testing results. The shape of the flow-pipe was changed from round to rectangular to make the seed cotton more evenly distributed as it passes through the pipe and enters the tunnel. Instead of blowing the cotton inside a pathway, a tunnel was constructed inside a building. The tunnel was 48⿿L x 12⿿H x 8⿿W. Using this updated device, tests were conducted. Seed-cotton with plastic films, including cotton round-module wrapper in various sizes and thicknesses, was fed into a pressured-air flow and blown out of a pipe. The seed-cotton and plastic films, which were blown out from the pipe, drifted down in the tunnel which was divided into 6 sections. Samples of cotton and plastic films in each section of the tunnel were collected and analyzed for fiber quality and behavior of the plastic films. The results indicate quality difference between the cotton collected from different sections. However, no obvious trend was observed in the plastic behavior in different sections of the tunnel. A DJI Matrice 600 Pro UAV has been equipped with a multiband RedEdge camera for aerial imagery of cotton field for detecting plastic contamination in the field. An iPad mini-4 equipped with an Atlas Flight application was connected to the UAV controller to setup flight parameters before each flight. Atlas Flight software controls the flight height, imagery capture boundaries and automatically takes off and lands the UAV. Flights have been completed at 60m, 50m, and 30m heights to determine optimal resolution and battery life conditions. The height of 50m was found to be the optimal by allowing for one set of batteries to fly over the entire testing area, leaving about 30% battery life for the return home and landing procedure. Also, the 50m flight height produces a 3.47 cm GSD per band. Once the set flight height is reached, the RedEdge camera begins taking images and stores them on a micro USB flash drive. Different color plastic bags, including white, yellow, tan, black, blue, were placed in between rows of a cotton field and randomized between right, left and center of the row and based on color in each of the 10 test plots, each plot having 3 bags for a total of 30 bags and 6 of each color. Images were taken for processing using Pix4D field software. Pix4D fields allows for different reflectance response, between vegetation, soil and plastic. One drawback found to using the Pix4D fields, was the last of customization and control over eliminating different reflective responses. So, another software, Pix4D mapper, was purchased to allow the images to be manipulated by reflectance band, set reflectance responses, and eliminating large quantities of responses which were not very useful, such as soil and large quantities of vegetation. Once images with each wavelength band were created, total responses within the images will be restricted to generate color-coded responses to only plastic and other non-plastics with a similar reflectance. Progress has been steadily increasing with detection of different plastics within different band reflectance responses. Multiple colors can typically be found in the Blue band and the NIR band. More testing and image processing will continue to take place to be able to construct a formula that can be entered into the Pix4D software to aid in detection with more accuracy. Accomplishments 01 Air-bar lint cleaner. Saw-type lint cleaners are now the most common lint cleaners used at gins because of their higher cleaning efficiency. Saw-type lint cleaning improves the grade of the fiber and increases the market value. However, during the cleaning process the saw-type lint cleaners damaged fiber in creating short fibers and neps. ARS scientists at Stoneville, Mississippi, developed an air-bar device and implemented it in a lint cleaner and tested it by comparing it to the conventional grid-bar lint cleaner. Samples of cotton lint processed with air-bar and conventional grid-bar were collected. HVI and AFIS properties of the samples including fiber length, strength, short fiber content, and trash content were tested. Results indicate that use of air-bar could significantly reduce the fiber content in motes and increase the ginning turnout.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Enable, from a technological standpoint, new commercial methods and processes to reduce energy use, labor costs, and environmental impact, while preserving cotton fiber and seed quality, during the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. 1.A. Develop a fan speed control system for conveying fans used at gins to reduce energy inputs. 1.B. Develop improved systems for drying seed cotton to optimum moisture levels with reduced energy inputs. 1.C. Determine effect of higher than recommended processing rates on fiber quality and losses. 1.D. Improve understanding of the fundamentals of pneumatic conveying of seed cotton and lint. 1.E. Determine the cause of fiber breakage prior to ginning, which results in fiber and seed losses during processing. 2. Enable new commercial methods and machinery to improve product quality in the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. 2.A. Develop machinery and processes to remove plastic contamination at the gin. 2.B. Determine causes of increased bark content of picker-harvested saw- ginned cotton. 2.C. Improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. 2.D. Apply high-speed roller ginning equipment for use with picked cotton in the humid region of the United States. 2.E. Improve foreign matter removal by lint cleaners, thus reducing the need to use an additional stage of lint cleaning. 3. Identify material properties that have a significant impact on fiber and seed quality during saw-ginning, and enable new or improved, commercial methods for measuring product moisture content and process mass flow rates during ginning. 3.A. Develop a mass flow rate sensor for seed cotton. 3.B. Improve seed cotton moisture content measurement during the ginning process. 3.C. Identify cotton properties or measurable process parameters indicative of fiber damage occurring in the gin stand. 3.D. Develop a system to measure the fiber removed by gin cleaning machinery. Approach (from AD-416): The work includes a variety of specific activities. A fan speed control system will be developed to reduce energy inputs. With this system fan electricity use will be reduced by using a control system with no negative effects on gin operation. An improved system for drying seed cotton will optimize moisture levels with reduced energy inputs using computational fluid dynamics models. Acceptable leaf grades and extraneous matter levels will be achieved with higher processing rates through seed cotton and lint cleaners using the recommended sequence of ginning machinery. A new ginning system is under construction at the CGRU that will allow testing of processing rates comparable to commercial gins through the extractor-feeder and lint cleaner. Machinery and processes will be developed to remove plastic contamination at the gin. Work will concentrate on developing a retrofit or change in operation of existing seed cotton cleaning equipment. ARS engineers will examine causes of increased bark content of picker- harvested saw-ginned cotton. ARS engineers will improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. ARS engineers will use high-speed roller ginning equipment with certain cultivars grown in the humid region of the U.S. which will result in longer fiber with less short fiber and fewer neps. Seed cotton mass flow rate will be accurately predicted using a system based on air velocity, conveying system static pressure, and temperature measurements. The weight of seed cotton used for each test run will be recorded and linear regression will be used to identify model parameters in the improved model, which will include the static pressure measurement. More accurate prediction of seed cotton moisture will be made using the temperature drop that occurs during the drying process. Power measurements of individual gin stand components and fiber properties determined from HVI or AFI will be used to predict short fiber and nep content occurring due to different processing conditions, such as moisture and ginning rate. Samples will be ginned and electricity use will be monitored. Predictive models for fiber quality parameters, particularly short fiber and nep content, will be developed for each genotype based on energy data and moisture content. Measurement of fiber loss during cleaning is an important part of understanding the ginning process and control of that fiber loss may be related to other factors being studied. The proposed measurement system for the quantity of fiber lost from cleaning machinery includes a measurement of the proportion of material with cotton fiber color and a measurement of the total cleaner waste mass flow rate. An experimental device was designed and constructed for quality-based seed-cotton separation. The device includes a fan, cotton feeder, pipes, and a passway. The prototype of the device was tested for performance. Results indicated that the device functioned as designed. Using this device, the experiments have been conducted. Seed-cotton was fed into a pressured-air flow and blown out of a pipe. To find its behavior in the airflow for detecting plastic contamination in ginning process, plastic films from the cotton round-module wrapper in various sizes and thicknesses were also dropped into the feeder along with the seed-cotton. The seed-cotton and plastic films, which were blown out from the pipe, drifted down into the 40-ft long passway which was divided into 6 sections. All the cotton and plastic films in each section of the passway was collected separately as the sample in that section. Approximately 1, 600 lb seed-cotton and 100 pieces of plastic films were used in the experiments. The seed-cotton samples were weighted and processed for lint properties including fiber length, fiber strength, short fiber content, and turnout rate. The plastic films from each section were counted for the film�s behavior analysis. The fan speed, air pressure, cotton-feeding rate were recorded as well. An air-bar prototype was designed and built. The air-bar developed was implemented in a lint cleaner to replace the traditional grid-bar. The air-bar lint cleaner (ABLC) was tested with different air pressures supplied. Experiments were conducted to compare the performance of air- bar lint cleaner with the traditional grid-bar lint cleaner (GBLC). Samples of the lint that was processed by the ABLC and GBLC were collected. HVI and AFIS properties of the samples including fiber length, strength, short fiber content, and trash content were tested and compared between the lint processed by the ABLC and the lint by GBLC. A UAV and multi-spectrum camera were purchased to build a UAV-based imaging system. Using this system, aerial images of cotton fields were acquired to detect plastic films in the field.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Hardin IV, R.G. 2018. Seed Cotton Mass Flow Measurement in the Gin. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 34(3): 535-541.
- Hardin IV, R.G., Barnes, E.M., Valco, T.D., Martin, V.B., Clapp, D.M. 2018. Effects of Gin Machinery on Cotton Quality. Journal of Cotton Science. 22:36-46.
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Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. Enable, from a technological standpoint, new commercial methods and processes to reduce energy use, labor costs, and environmental impact, while preserving cotton fiber and seed quality, during the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. 1.A. Develop a fan speed control system for conveying fans used at gins to reduce energy inputs. 1.B. Develop improved systems for drying seed cotton to optimum moisture levels with reduced energy inputs. 1.C. Determine effect of higher than recommended processing rates on fiber quality and losses. 1.D. Improve understanding of the fundamentals of pneumatic conveying of seed cotton and lint. 1.E. Determine the cause of fiber breakage prior to ginning, which results in fiber and seed losses during processing. 2. Enable new commercial methods and machinery to improve product quality in the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. 2.A. Develop machinery and processes to remove plastic contamination at the gin. 2.B. Determine causes of increased bark content of picker-harvested saw- ginned cotton. 2.C. Improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. 2.D. Apply high-speed roller ginning equipment for use with picked cotton in the humid region of the United States. 2.E. Improve foreign matter removal by lint cleaners, thus reducing the need to use an additional stage of lint cleaning. 3. Identify material properties that have a significant impact on fiber and seed quality during saw-ginning, and enable new or improved, commercial methods for measuring product moisture content and process mass flow rates during ginning. 3.A. Develop a mass flow rate sensor for seed cotton. 3.B. Improve seed cotton moisture content measurement during the ginning process. 3.C. Identify cotton properties or measurable process parameters indicative of fiber damage occurring in the gin stand. 3.D. Develop a system to measure the fiber removed by gin cleaning machinery. Approach (from AD-416): The work includes a variety of specific activities. A fan speed control system will be developed to reduce energy inputs. With this system fan electricity use will be reduced by using a control system with no negative effects on gin operation. An improved system for drying seed cotton will optimize moisture levels with reduced energy inputs using computational fluid dynamics models. Acceptable leaf grades and extraneous matter levels will be achieved with higher processing rates through seed cotton and lint cleaners using the recommended sequence of ginning machinery. A new ginning system is under construction at the CGRU that will allow testing of processing rates comparable to commercial gins through the extractor-feeder and lint cleaner. Machinery and processes will be developed to remove plastic contamination at the gin. Work will concentrate on developing a retrofit or change in operation of existing seed cotton cleaning equipment. ARS engineers will examine causes of increased bark content of picker- harvested saw-ginned cotton. ARS engineers will improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. ARS engineers will use high-speed roller ginning equipment with certain cultivars grown in the humid region of the U.S. which will result in longer fiber with less short fiber and fewer neps. Seed cotton mass flow rate will be accurately predicted using a system based on air velocity, conveying system static pressure, and temperature measurements. The weight of seed cotton used for each test run will be recorded and linear regression will be used to identify model parameters in the improved model, which will include the static pressure measurement. More accurate prediction of seed cotton moisture will be made using the temperature drop that occurs during the drying process. Power measurements of individual gin stand components and fiber properties determined from HVI or AFI will be used to predict short fiber and nep content occurring due to different processing conditions, such as moisture and ginning rate. Samples will be ginned and electricity use will be monitored. Predictive models for fiber quality parameters, particularly short fiber and nep content, will be developed for each genotype based on energy data and moisture content. Measurement of fiber loss during cleaning is an important part of understanding the ginning process and control of that fiber loss may be related to other factors being studied. The proposed measurement system for the quantity of fiber lost from cleaning machinery includes a measurement of the proportion of material with cotton fiber color and a measurement of the total cleaner waste mass flow rate. Commercial gin drying systems were monitored nationwide, data was analyzed, and a publication made in conference proceedings. Data from commercial gin conveying systems was collected to inform development of a fan speed control system. Tests were conducted to study the feasibility of using a static generator to charge plastic and separate from cotton in ginning equipment. Data was analyzed from an experiment conducted to determine the effect of higher seed cotton cleaner speeds on foreign matter removal and presented. Fiber and yarn quality data was analyzed comparing a conventional saw gin with the high-speed roller gin stand and multiple lint cleaners and the results presented at a conference. Data was analyzed from the improved mass flow measurement system, and an invention disclosure submitted, as system performance was suitable for process control needs. The second year of a study of five cotton genotypes was conducted to determine variations in energy use in the gin and textile mill and the relationship to quality parameters in cooperation with cotton breeders. Analysis of the first year�s data was published in conference proceedings. Images of the material removed by seed cotton cleaners were acquired to use in developing image analysis techniques for identifying individual components of the material. Accomplishments 01 Reducing plastic contamination in cotton gins. Plastic contamination is a significant problem for the U.S. cotton industry, likely costing over $100 million per year and the loss of access to certain markets. The introduction of a new harvester that produces a seed cotton module wrapped in plastic, as well as greater use of contamination detection equipment in mills, has increased industry concerns regarding plastic contamination. No research had previously been conducted on plastic removal in the cotton gin. A study by ARS researchers in Stoneville, Mississippi was conducted that determined that conventional ginning equipment removed some plastic from cotton; however, nearly 20% remained in the ginned lint, primarily from larger and thicker sources of plastic in the raw seed cotton. Studies were conducted to increase plastic removal of conventional gin equipment, as this could avoid the cost of additional machinery at the gin. Increasing the air flow rate through the cylinder cleaner 67% above the manufacturer�s recommended rate increased plastic removal between 20 and 30 percentage points. For each 100 rpm decrease in cylinder speed, plastic removal increased by 4 percentage points and fiber loss decreased. This information has been communicated to ginners through presentations at research conferences, cotton ginners association meetings, and gin schools.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Hardin IV, R.G., Byler, R.K. 2016. Removal of sheet plastic materials from seed cotton using a cylinder cleaner. Journal of Cotton Science. 20(4):375- 385.
- Bechere, E., Fang, D.D., Kebede, H.A., Hardin Iv, R.G., Islam, M.S., Li, P. , Scheffler, J.A. 2017. Quantitative trait loci analysis for net ginning energy requirements in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Euphytica. (213):160-171. doi: 10.1007/s10681-017-195-z.
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Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Enable, from a technological standpoint, new commercial methods and processes to reduce energy use, labor costs, and environmental impact, while preserving cotton fiber and seed quality, during the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. Subobjective 1.A. Develop a fan speed control system for conveying fans used at gins to reduce energy inputs. Subobjective 1.B. Develop improved systems for drying seed cotton to optimum moisture levels with reduced energy inputs. Subobjective 1.C. Determine effect of higher than recommended processing rates on fiber quality and losses. Objective 2: Enable new commercial methods and machinery to improve product quality in the saw-ginning of picker-harvested cotton. Subobjective 2.A. Develop machinery and processes to remove plastic contamination at the gin. Subobjective 2.B. Determine causes of increased bark content of picker- harvested saw- ginned cotton. Subobjective 2.C. Improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. Subobjective 2.D. Apply high-speed roller ginning equipment for use with picked cotton in the humid region of the United States. Objective 3: Identify material properties that have a significant impact on fiber and seed quality during saw-ginning, and enable new or improved, commercial methods for measuring product moisture content and process mass flow rates during ginning. Subobjective 3.A. Develop a mass flow rate sensor for seed cotton. Subobjective 3.B. Improve seed cotton moisture content measurement during the ginning process. Subobjective 3.C. Identify cotton properties or measurable process parameters indicative of fiber damage occurring in the gin stand. Subobjective 3.D. Develop a system to measure the fiber removed by gin cleaning machinery. Approach (from AD-416): The work includes a variety of specific activities. A fan speed control system will be developed to reduce energy inputs. With this system fan electricity use will be reduced by using a control system with no negative effects on gin operation. An improved system for drying seed cotton will optimize moisture levels with reduced energy inputs using computational fluid dynamics models. Acceptable leaf grades and extraneous matter levels will be achieved with higher processing rates through seed cotton and lint cleaners using the recommended sequence of ginning machinery. A new ginning system is under construction at the CGRU that will allow testing of processing rates comparable to commercial gins through the extractor-feeder and lint cleaner. Machinery and processes will be developed to remove plastic contamination at the gin. Work will concentrate on developing a retrofit or change in operation of existing seed cotton cleaning equipment. We will examine causes of increased bark content of picker-harvested saw- ginned cotton. We will improve foreign matter removal by seed cotton cleaners, thus reducing the need for lint cleaning and associated fiber damage. We will use high-speed roller ginning equipment with certain cultivars grown in the humid region of the US which will result in longer fiber with less short fiber and fewer neps. Seed cotton mass flow rate will be accurately predicted using a system based on air velocity, conveying system static pressure, and temperature measurements. The weight of seed cotton used for each test run will be recorded and linear regression will be used to identify model parameters in the improved model, which will include the static pressure measurement. More accurate prediction of seed cotton moisture will be made using the temperature drop that occurs during the drying process. Power measurements of individual gin stand components and fiber properties determined from HVI or AFI will be used to predict short fiber and nep content occurring due to different processing conditions, such as moisture and ginning rate. Samples will be ginned and electricity use will be monitored. Predictive models for fiber quality parameters, particularly short fiber and nep content, will be developed for each genotype based on energy data and moisture content. Measurement of fiber loss during cleaning is an important part of understanding the ginning process and control of that fiber loss may be related to other factors being studied. The proposed measurement system for the quantity of fiber lost from cleaning machinery includes a measurement of the proportion of material with cotton fiber color and a measurement of the total cleaner waste mass flow rate. Preliminary monitoring of commercial gin drying systems was conducted, data analyzed, and a publication made in conference proceedings. Data were analyzed and a manuscript submitted on plastic removal by a cylinder cleaner. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of higher seed cotton cleaner speeds on foreign matter removal. A presentation and proceedings article were made on the effect of seed cotton cleaner speeds, air flow rates, and material flow rates on fiber and seed loss. Tests were conducted over two years to determine the effect of ginning treatments on bark removal to improve lint cleaning. Results from testing an improved mass flow rate sensor for seed cotton were published in conference proceedings. Further improvements have been made to the mass flow measurement system and additional testing conducted. A seed cotton moisture measurement system has been tested in a commercial gin. A study of five cotton genotypes was conducted to determine variations in energy use in the gin and textile mill and the relationship to quality parameters in cooperation with cotton breeders. Preliminary results of this study were published in conference proceedings. Additional cultivars were ginned with the high-speed roller gin stand comparing three different lint cleaners after the gin stand and the results presented at a conference. Accomplishments 01 Electricity use reduction in cotton gins. Electricity and fuel account for 25% of cotton gins� variable costs, second only to seasonal labor. Extensive monitoring by ARS researchers at Stoneville, Mississippi of energy use at selected gins began in 2010 to replace outdated data on energy used by specific gin processes and identify areas for future improvement. This research found that maximizing a gin�s processing rate is critical to reducing energy use, and this information and recommendations for achieving that goal have been communicated to ginners through publications by Cotton, Incorporated, cotton ginners� associations, and presentations at ginners� meetings and schools. The monitoring studies have shown that the minimum air velocity required in gins was significantly lower than recommended. Decreasing air velocity could reduce conveying fan energy use by more than 50%, and total gin energy use by over 10%. A prototype seed cotton mass flow sensing system has been developed. This system could be used by itself to assist managers in maximizing gin capacity, or as in input for process control systems.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Bechere, E., Zeng, L., Hardin IV, R.G. 2016. Combining ability of ginning rate and net ginning energy requirement in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Crop Science. 56:499-504.
- Bechere, E., Zeng, L., Hardin IV, R.G. 2016. Relationships of lint yield and fiber quality with ginning rate and net ginning energy in upland cotton. Journal of Cotton Science. 20:31-39.
- Von Hoven, T.M., Montalvo Jr, J.G., Santiago Cintron, M., Dowd, M.K., Armijo, C.B., Byler, R.K. 2016. Fundamental research on spiking, recovery and understanding seed coat nep counts in AFIS analysis of pre-opened cotton. Textile Research Journal. Pg. 1-14. DOI:10-1177/0040517516657057.
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