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Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 1/8/2000 Publication Date: 6/15/2000 Citation: HOLT, G.A., BARKER, G.L., BAKER, R.V., BRASHEARS, A.D. VARIOUS PARAMETERS OF COTTON GIN BYPRODUCTS PRODUCED FROM THE GIN PROCESSING MACHINERY. PROCEEDINGS OF THE BELTWIDE COTTON PRODUCTION RESEARCH CONFERENCES. 2000. V. 2. P. 1595-1602. Interpretive Summary: Utilization of waste produced from cotton gins has been a topic of research for a number of years. Some of the research has yielded applications that show great promise. However, limited or regional use of these applications is all that has been realized thus far. One obstacle to utilization is terminology. Very few end users want to use "trash", but byproducts are altogether different. The term cotton gin byproducts (CGB) is more descriptive of the product being produced since it is not "trash", but a product that does not currently have a high demand market. Every research and utilization effort of the byproduct produced from the ginning operation has begun with an evaluation of the material. Typically, all research pertaining to utilization of CGB has evaluated or measured some aspect of the product to determine a desired or needed characteristic pertaining to a specific objective or goal. Cotton gins produce various streams of byproducts due to the design and layout of the equipment used in the cotto ginning process. Historically, the byproducts from the different gin processes are combined into a single waste stream and conveyed to a central location. The objective of this research was to characterize the various parameters of the byproducts coming from the individual waste streams prior to being combined to ascertain if the ginning equipment was sorting the byproducts into components that had more desirable characteristics to potential end users. Results indicated that the extractors, along with the lower gin motes, gin stand feeder, overflow separator, and lint cleaners, produced a product with more desirable characteristics than was produced from the unloading system and inclined cleaners. Technical Abstract: The byproducts produced by the cotton ginning process have commonly been referred to as cotton gin trash, or waste, because of the costs associated with their disposal and their limited value in current utilization applications. However, cotton gin byproducts (CGB) have been the subject of extensive research and have found some limited applications as a roughage in livestock feed, compost material, and as a soil amendment. Typically, all research pertaining to utilization of CGB has evaluated or measured some aspect of the product to determine a desired or needed characteristic pertaining to a specific objective or goal. Cotton gins produce various streams of byproducts due to the design and layout of the equipment used in the cotton ginning process. Historically, the byproducts from the different gin processes are combined into a single waste stream and conveyed to a central location. The objective of this research was to characterize the various parameters of the byproducts coming from the individual waste streams prior to being combined to ascertain if the ginning equipment was sorting the byproducts into components that had more desirable characteristics to potential end users. Results indicated that the extractors, along with the lower gin motes, gin stand feeder, overflow separator, and lint cleaners, produced a product with more desirable characteristics for livestock feeding and fuel utilization than those byproducts from the inclined cleaners and unloading system. |
