ARS | Publication request: NEW LINT CLEANER FOR REDUCED FIBER LOSS

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: December 9, 2004
Publication Date: January 7, 2005
Citation: Anthony, W.S. 2005. New lint cleaner for reduced fiber loss. National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. CD ROM pp. 684-693.

Interpretive Summary: Standard lint cleaners for cotton gins improve the appearance and market value per pound but reduce bale weight which often reduces farmer income. Standard lint cleaners also degrade some desirable mill qualities and create problems at textile mills. This study compared the standard controlled-batt, saw-type lint cleaner with a new lint cleaner that combines features of a cylinder cleaner used for seed cotton with elements of a standard lint cleaner. The new lint cleaner mitigated some of the adverse features of a standard lint cleaner. The material wasted per 500-pound bale was 15.2 and 7.0 pounds for standard lint cleaner and the new cleaner, respectively, for an increased bale weight of 8.2 pounds. Monetary returns were increased $10.85 per bale by the new cleaner. Adoption of this technology in the industry could increase monetary returns by $217 million and cotton production by 328,000 bales as well as make the U.S. cotton industry more competitive globally.

Technical Abstract: This study compared the standard controlled-batt, saw-type lint cleaner with a recently patented lint cleaner that combines features of a cylinder cleaner used for seed cotton with elements of a standard lint cleaner. Standard lint cleaners improve the appearance and market value per pound but reduce bale weight and degrade some desirable mill qualities. The new lint cleaner mitigates those adverse features. Two varieties of cotton were used in the evaluation. Turnout and waste percent were significant at the 5% level of probability for machine treatments. The HVI factors of micronaire, reflectance, plus b, leaf, percent area and length were statistically significant for machine treatments. Nep size, neps per gram, seed coat neps per gram, total dust and dust per gram were significant for machine treatments; most AFIS factors were significant for cottons, and the interaction for machine treatment and cotton yielded significant interactions for nep size, neps per gram, and seed coat neps per gram. The waste per 500-pound bale averaged across varieties was 15.2 and 7.0 pounds for one stage of saw-type lint cleaning and the CCLCLC, respectively, for an increased bale weight of 8.2 pounds. For both cottons 1 and 2, the CCLCLC yielded the highest monetary return with an increase of $5.36 and $16.34 per bale, respectively.