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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #213542
Title: Seed Cotton Moisture Restoration in a Commercial Gin

Author
item Byler, Richard

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/5/2007
Publication Date: 7/1/2007
Citation: Byler, R.K. 2007. Seed Cotton Moisture Restoration in a Commercial Gin. National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. CD ROM pp. 700-706.

Interpretive Summary: Our previous work has shown that spraying atomized water on seed cotton that is drier than ideal in a research gin will result in cotton fiber with longer fiber, less short fiber content and stronger fiber. Atomizing spray nozzles were installed in a commercial gin plant and water was sprayed on the seed cotton for some bales and not sprayed on otherwise similar bales on six different occasions. The amount of water added was controlled by the atomizing air pressure used. The system applied between 0.2 and 1.1 percentage points of moisture to the lint measured after the gin stand. The seed cotton moisture restoration resulted in improved fiber length properties, lower fiber entanglements, and lower short fiber content but higher trash levels in the ginned lint. This seed cotton moisture restoration resulted in improved fiber length for the commercial gin in which it was installed. Improved fiber length quality will make the cotton fiber more competitive in the marketplace.

Technical Abstract: Previous work has shown that ginning with the lint portion of seed cotton at higher moisture contents (mc) resulted in improved fiber length properties in a research gin. These results were independent of whether the increased mc was achieved with decreased drying or with moist air or atomized water spray moisture restoration. These data were consistent with other studies found in the literature. For this study commercially available atomizing nozzles were installed in a commercial cotton gin to apply water to seed cotton between the dropper after seed cotton cleaning and the conveyer-distributor before ginning. The moisture content (mc) of lint samples collected between the gin stand and the first lint cleaner was increased by between 0.2 and 1.1 percentage points with the system. The lint samples which had been ginned at higher mc had higher Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS) length by weight and upper quartile length with lower short fiber content. The AFIS non-lint content was higher when ginning higher mc lint and the AFIS nep content was lower. This seed cotton moisture restoration resulted in improved fiber length for the commercial gin in which it was installed.