Author
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Byler, Richard |
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Submitted to: Engineered Fiber Selection Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 6/3/2007 Publication Date: 6/5/2007 Citation: Byler, R.K. 2007. Moisture Management at the Gin for Quality Preservation. In proceedings of Engineered Fiber Selection Conference, Greenville, SC. CD ROM 9pp. Interpretive Summary: Proper control of the lint moisture content (mc) as part of the cotton ginning process is crucial to maintaining the fiber quality. If the mc is too high the fiber will be damaged by microbial action and will result in poor color as well as poor spinning properties of the lint. At lower mc, but still higher than desirable, the cotton will be more difficult to clean and will have more non-lint content which will reduce the value to the seller. At the other mc extreme seed cotton may be harvested after natural drying at a mc lower than ideal for ginning or may be excessively dried in the gin. This overly dried lint will tend to be damaged during the vigorous lint-seed separation process which will result in lower fiber strength, lower fiber length and increased short fiber content. These fiber quality problems result in lower yarn quality. So, the production of optimum lint quality depends on the knowledge of the properties of the incoming seed cotton and an understanding of the effect on fiber and non-lint quality of processing of that seed cotton. The ginner manages the drying and cleaning systems in the gin based on the seed cotton presented for ginning and the capabilities of the gin plant available to him. Automated control allows the manager to concentrate on the larger control issues while allowing the control system to manage the details. Technical Abstract: Proper control of the lint moisture content (mc) in the cotton gin is crucial to maintaining the fiber quality. If the mc is too high the fiber will be damaged by microbial action and will result in poor color as well as poor spinning properties. At lower mc, but still higher than desirable, the cotton will be more difficult to clean and will tend to have excessive non-lint content which will reduce the value to the seller. At the other extreme seed cotton may be harvested dryer than ideal for ginning or may be excessively dried in the gin. This overly dried lint will tend to be damaged during the vigorous ginning process which will result in lower fiber strength, lower fiber length and increased short fiber content. These fiber quality problems also lead to lower yarn quality. So, the production of optimum lint quality depends on the knowledge of the properties of the incoming seed cotton and an understanding of the results on fiber quality and non-lint quality of processing of that seed cotton. The ginner manages the drying system and cleaning equipment based on the seed cotton presented for ginning and the capabilities of the gin plant available. Automated control allows the manager to concentrate on the larger control issues while allowing the control system to manage the details. |
