ARS | Publication request: Small Trash Identification in Cotton

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings/Symposium
Publication Acceptance Date: January 13, 2003
Publication Date: June 1, 2003
Citation: Proceedings 2003 Beltwide Cotton Conference, Cotton Quality Measurement Conference, National Cotton Council, Memphis, TN, 1986-1995 pp.

Interpretive Summary: COTTON IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT NATURAL FIBERS. SINCE COTTON IS PRODUCED IN THE FIELD RATHER THAN AT A MANUFACTURING FACILITY, IT IS DIFFICULT TO CONTROL ALL CONTAMINATION FROM PRODUCTION, HARVEST, OR GINNING. BULK TESTING OF MULTIPLE COTTON FIBERS WITH THE HVI HAS LED TO A BROAD UNDERSTANDING OF COTTON FIBER PROPERTIES IN PRODUCT PROCESSING. WITH INCREASED PROCESSING SPEEDS, COTTON FIBER CLASSIFICATION IMPROVEMENTS ARE REQUIRED. THIS STUDY EVALUATES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NEW HVI TRASHMETER SOFTWARE AND THE USE OF MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY TO IDENTIFY PROBLEMATIC TRASH TYPES. MANY EVENTS IMPACT COTTON FIBERS, SO RESULTS FROM THESE TESTS MAY HELP EXPEDITE PROCESSING IN TEXTILE MILLS.

Technical Abstract: COTTON ALWAYS HAS A CERTAIN LEVEL OF TRASH ASSOCIATED WITH ITS FIBERS AND THIS TRASH IS KNOWN TO AFFECT PROCESSING EFFICIENCY. THE ELIMINATION OF TRASH, REMOVAL OF CERTAIN TRASH TYPES, OR TRASH SIZES HAS OFTEN BEEN A MEANS TO IMPROVE PROCESSING EFFICIENCY. THE GOAL IS TO DETERMINE THE TOTAL DEGREE OF FIBER CONTAMINATION AND UNDERSTAND HOW EACH FRACTION IMPACTS TEXTILE PROCESSING. THIS RESEARCH WILL DETERMINE IF NEW TRASHMETER SOFTWARE DEVELOPED FOR THE HVI CAN EVALUATE TRASH AND ITS PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION. COUPLED WITH THIS TRASH IDENTIFICATION SOFTWARE IS THE USE OF MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY THAT COMPARES TRASH PARTICLES OF DUST TO A SPECTRAL DATABASE OF AUTHENTIC SAMPLES TO BETTER DETERMINE PROBLEMATIC TRASH TYPES. THE HVI TRASHMETER HAS EMERGED AS A ROBUST IMAGE ANALYSIS PROGRAM BALE TO SUCCESSFULLY LOCATE, COUNT, AND SIZE TRASH PARTICLES IN COTTON. MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY APPEARS TO BE ABLE TO PREDICT TRASH TYPE AND DEMONSTRATES THAT THE ROTOR DUST ACCUMULATING IN OPEN-END SPINNING APPEARS TO BE HULL AND SHALE RATHER THAN SEED COAT FRAGMENTS.