Field Evaluation of High-Performance Ginning and Lint Cleaning Machinery

The reduction in the number of cotton ginning facilities across the United States has precipitated an emphasis on higher and higher capacity gin machinery, primarily in the ginning and lint cleaning systems.  It its essential not to lose sight of the fact that sheer capacity will not prove to be the sole key to success in a ginning operation if it is achieved at the expense of reliable performance and fiber quality preservation.  It is not unlike a seed company breeding an extremely high-yielding cotton cultivar with suspect or marginal fiber properties – it might prove to be high-yield, but if it does not meet the quality needs of the textile mill, it will not find repeat buyers in the marketplace.  Current-production, high-performance ginning and lint cleaning machinery of various designs, operating side-by-side, were compared on a variety of levels to evaluate machinery performance.  Additionally, fiber quality properties were monitored to determine the effects of varying machine speeds and feed rates.