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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Cotton Production and Processing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #120642
Title: COMPARING ABRASIVENESS OF COTTON GIN BYPRODUCTS USING THE COBY PROCESS

Author
item Holt, Gregory
item Laird, Joseph - Weldon
item Barker, Gary
item Buser, Michael

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/10/2001
Publication Date: 4/10/2001
Citation: HOLT, G.A., LAIRD, J.W., BARKER, G.L., BUSER, M.D. COMPARING ABRASIVENESS OF COTTON GIN BYPRODUCTS USING THE COBY PROCESS. PROCEEDINGS OF BELTWIDE COTTON CONFERENCES. JOINT COTTON ENIGNEERING-SYSTEMS AND COTTON GINNING CONFERENCES. CD-ROM. MEMPHIS, TN: THE NATIONAL COTTON COUNCIL OF AMERICA. 2001. V. 2. P. 1388-1392.

Interpretive Summary: The abrasiveness of byproducts produced from the cotton ginning industry result in maintenance and repair costs that can equal half of the total cost to process them. A patent pending process, known as the COBY (COtton BYproducts) process, was developed for the purpose of adding value to byproducts produced from industries handling seed cotton, lint, and/or cottonseed. In short, the process involves applying a gelatinized and/or dry starch to cotton byproducts, running them through and extruder, and then to either a dryer or pellet mill. The envisioned products produced from the process would be livestock feed, fuel, and or fertilizer/mulch. During the development of the process, it became apparent that addition of the gelatinized starch resulted in using less power to operate the extruder than did using hot water. Consequently, a test plan was devised to determine if indeed the starch reduced the abrasiveness of the byproducts or something else was taking place, such as insufficient feeding of the extruder. The test plan involved applying three treatments, two using gelatinized starch solutions and one using hot water, to byproducts produced from two ginning research locations, Stoneville, Mississippi and Lubbock, Texas. The gins at these two locations provided cotton gin byproducts (CGB) that were representative of those obtained both in picker and stripper harvesting areas of the country. The results indicate that the addition of a gelatinized starch solution reduced wear by 27 to 29 percent over using hot water.

Technical Abstract: Abrasiveness of Cotton Gin Byproducts (CGB) has been a major cost factor associated with processes designed to add value or handle them. Costs associated with CGB cleaning and equipment wear often amount to half the cost of processing. A value-added process, known as the COBY process, developed at the Lubbock, TX, USDA-ARS Cotton Ginning Laboratory, showed signs of reducing the abrasiveness of CGB. In an effort to determine if, and to what degree the abrasiveness was reduced, wear tests were performed using COBY process equipment. Reduction in abrasiveness was evaluated using three different treatments applied to CGB. The treatments included applying: 1) 4 percent hot water, 2) a 4 percent gelatinized starch and hot water mixture, and 3) a 4 percent gelatinized starch and 4 percent dry starch mixture (4 percent-4 percent). Results indicate that wear was significantly reduced, 27 to 29 percent, by adding gelatinized starch to the CGB being processed.