Cotton fiber length distribution modality alteration in ginning and mill processing

Abstract

Mechanical damage in cotton fiber processing both shifts the fiber length distribution and alters its shape. This leads to length distributions with complex shapes, often bimodal, that cannot be classified based on simple summary statistics. In this research, we quantified the distribution departure from unimodality and its alteration from the seed to the card sliver in order to determine where in the cotton process the complex bimodal shape appears, and to identify its potential sources of variability observed at the bale stage. Results presented in this paper indicate that bimodality is a transient state associated with intermediate fiber damage levels starting from the gin stand. The distribution is unimodal or shows a non-significant departure from unimodality at both the low and high damage levels, i.e. seed and card sliver, respectively. Fiber maturity plays a major role in determining the variability of the distribution modality at any processing stages. A mature cotton typically shows an extended intermediate damage state associated with a bimodal distribution, while an immature cotton will reach an advanced damage level from the early stages of mechanical processing, and thus will not exhibit the bimodality that is characteristic of an early/intermediate stage of the fiber breakage process.