Evaluating Alternative Seed-Cotton Reclaimers for High-Speed Roller Ginning

Abstract

HighlightsExperimental high-capacity seed-cotton reclaimers were evaluated for the growing high-speed roller-ginning industry.The experimental reclaimers minimized the amount of seed-cotton loss compared to the conventional reclaimer, but had more seed loss than a conventional reclaimer.The conventional reclaimer had the lowest combined seed and lint loss when processing Pima cotton.An experimental reclaimer based on a current cotton gin machine had seed and lint losses nearly $10 per cotton bale less than the conventional reclaimer when processing Upland cotton.Abstract. In a roller ginnery, a reclaimer machine removes partially-ginned or unginned seed cotton (carryover) from the mixture of carryover and ginned cottonseed that is expelled from the roller-gin stand during operation and returns the carryover to the gin stand for re-ginning. Conventional seed-cotton reclaimers are marginally adequate in their capacity to handle the increased carryover that high-speed roller ginning produces. Overloading a reclaimer often leads to choke-ups and downtime for the ginnery. The objective of this study was to develop and test high-capacity reclaimers. A modified 3-saw cylinder stick machine and a modified 2-saw cylinder gin-stand feeder were tested and compared to a conventional reclaimer. The saw-cylinders in the modified machines were operated at standard full speed, 1/2 of full speed, and 3/4 of full speed. Both Pima and Upland cotton were included in this study because there is a sizable amount of roller-ginned Upland cotton. Results showed that the experimental reclaimers reclaimed more carryover than the conventional reclaimer. An effective reclaimer will 1) reclaim carryover without also capturing residual seed that will likely be removed with cotton trash when returned to the gin stand feeder (seed loss) and 2) allow seed to pass through to the seed storage while minimizing the amount of residual carryover that escapes with the seed (carryover loss). The experimental reclaimers minimized the amount of residual carryover loss, but they had more residual seed loss than the conventional reclaimer. Increasing the saw-cylinder speeds of the experimental reclaimers decreased the residual seed loss but increased the residual carryover loss. Estimates of the value of the lost seed and of the lint on the lost carryover revealed that the conventional reclaimer had the lowest combined loss of $3.56 per bale when processing Pima cotton and the experimental 2-saw feeder with saw-cylinders operating at full speed had the lowest combined loss of $6.89 per bale when processing Upland cotton. The results suggest that losses of lint and seed may be further reduced by using a combination in series of different types of reclaimers to take advantage of each of their respective best features. Keywords: Cotton ginning, Roller ginning, Seed-cotton reclaimer.