Evaluation of the Goldenlion Contamination Cleaner

A full-scale, commercially available seed-cotton contamination and leaf cleaner was purchased by Cotton Incorporated from Handan GoldenLion Cotton Machinery Company, Handan City, China and assembled in the USDA-ARS Southwestern Cotton Ginning Research Laboratory. Handan claims that the cleaner removes more than 80% of plastic contamination from incoming seed cotton. Initial tests showed poor extraction of plastic round module wrap which is stiffer and heavier than the plastic mulch that typically contaminates cotton in China. The machine was modified to improve airflow with goal of improving performance at removing round module wrap. This presentation will summarize testing conducted to fully evaluate the efficacy of the GoldenLion cleaner at extracting typical plastics and sizes encountered at U.S. cotton gins. If the GoldenLion performs well, it could be an off-the-shelf tool for U.S. gins to use in the fight against cotton plastic contamination.