Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research

Vol. 28 , December 2003, pp. 377-384

Roller and beater speed combinations for higher lint out-turn in

double roller gin
S B Jadhav' , S Vancheswaran, N C Vizia & K R K Iyer
Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Adenwala Road, Matunga, Mumbai 400 019, India
Received 8 August 2002; revised received 11 November 2002; accepted 12 December 2002

The conventional double roller gin (DR) has been modified to have separate drives for roller and beater. The
improvements relate to modification in the gear system of DR gin for permitting independent control on the speed of roll er
and the oscillation frequency of beater. The modification leads to desired flexibility while ginning cottons with different
staple lengths. This modified gin has increased the lint output by 50-80% when appropriate speeds are chosen to suit the
different staple lengths. The important fibre parameters remain unaffected.

Keywords : Cotton , Double roller gin , Fibre parameters, Ginning out-tum, Variable speed gin

1 Introduction 2 Materials and Methods

Ginning rate in double roller (DR) gins is 8-10
times lower than that in saw gin'. Although DR
ginning is slower, it is far gentler to the fibre and
preserves the quality of lint as compared to saw
2
ginning . Indian ginning industry processes 80% of
cotton with roller gin 3 , whereas in the world roller
ginning accounts for 15 % . However, the slow ginning
rate of roller gin has made it expensive to maintain
and operate. In this gin, the roller and the beater are
driven with a single drive such that the speed ratio
remains fixed. There is no provision for the alteration
of this ratio which, as researches have revealed4-6,
controls the efficiency of the process while ginning
different varieties of cotton.
Attempts to increase the ginning rates have been
made by Gillium and Armij07 and Chellamani et a1 8 .
They used a rotary knife system instead of oscillating
knife for beating the seeds to separate them out from
the fibre.
The present work was aimed at designing an
improved version of double roller gin by providing
separate drives for the roller and the beater to increase
the ginning rate in roller gin. This provision is not
available in any of the existing commercial model in
the ginning industry.
"To whom all the correspondence should be addressed.
Phone: 24127273; Fax : 0091-022-24130835 ;
E- mail: sbjadhav3 @rediffmail.com
2.1 Materials
Cotton samples of different varieties with w id e
variation in staple length were collected from th e
major cotton growing zones in India. In all , e ig ht
varieties of cotton comprising DCH.32, Jayadha r
and DHB.105 from Karnataka ; G.Cot.lO, H .8 and
G.Cot. DHy.7 from Gujarat; and JKHy . Land K.2
from Madhya Pradesh were chosen for the stud y.
The experiments consisted of three roller speed s
(160, 130 and 110 rpm) each with two bea te r
frequencies (1000 and 750 oscillations/min). In a ll ,
eight different combinations were tried on each of
the eight cottons. Thus, the number of ginnin g tri a ls
becomes 64. The levels were chosen to en sure a n
adequate response both in ginning rate and qu a lit y
performance above the normal roller speed of 95
rpm and beater frequency of 950 opm of th e
conventional DR gin.
A lot of 10 kg of seed cotton was used in eac h
ginning trial. Three tests were performed for each lot
and the average readings are given in Table 1. The
seed cotton lots used in ginning trials were the
mixtures from the three pickings. The crops we re
raised in research farms under the recommended
agronomical practices. The seed cotton was not
processed through pre-cleaner, but was carefull y
opened and hand-cleaned before ginning. The
moisture content in seed cotton was maintained at 8%
during ginning.
378 INDIAN 1. FIBRE TEXT. RES ., DECEM BER 2003

Table I - Ginning out-turn at various roller speeds with 1000 oscillations / min beater speed
Cotton Sample Ginning rate Ginning Ginn ing Power % increase % increase
code kg/h out-turn % kWh in ginning ralc in lin t
kg/h out-turn
SI 170 60 35. 0 5. 1 73.4 71.4
S2 189 69 35.8 5. 1 92 .8 97. 1
H.8
S3 160 52 35.8 5.0 63 .3 48 .5
C 98 35 35.0 4.9
SI 166 60 35.6 5.2 44.3 50.0
S2 175 62 35.2 5.4 52.5 55.0
DHB . I05
S3 In 62 35.5 51 49.5 55.0
C 115 40 35 .8 5. 0

SI 220 n 33.3 5.3 158.8 140.0

S2 167 58 332 5.0 77.6 766
DCH .32
S3 151 53 33.5 5.2 96.4 93 .0
C 85 30 33.5 5.0
SI 254 82 31.8 4.9 69 .3 60 .7
S2 171 60 3 1.6 4.9 14.0 17.6
Jayadhar
S3 240 73 31.8 5.0 60.0 43. 1
C 150 51 32.0 48
SI 163 60 35.9 5.4 103 .7 106.8
S2 143 45 357 5.4 78.7 55. 1
K.2
S3 100 38 35.9 5.2 25.0 3 1.0
C 80 29 36.0 5.0
SI 180 n 33.7 5.0 71.0 80.0
G.Cot.DHy.7
S2 180 n 33.8 4.9 71.0 80.0
S3 180 n 33.6 4.9 7 1.0 80.0
C 105 40 34.0 5.0
SI 200 65 35.4 5.3 94.1 75.6
S2 138 53 35 .5 5.2 33 1 43 .2
JKHy.1
S3 137 53 35 .4 5.2 33 0 43 .2
C 103 37 35 .6 5.0

SI 160 58 32.6 5.4 66.7 61.1

S2 100 36 32.4 5.3 4. 1 0.0
G. Cot. 10 13.8
S3 112 41 32.8 5.3 16.6
C 96 36 33.0 5.1
Roller-to-beater s12eed ratios: SI - 160: 1000, S2-130: 1000. S3- 1 10: 1000 and C- 95:950

2.2 Methods automatically leads to 3 corresponding change in the

2.2.1 Redesigned Gin
The gear box in the DR gin was suitably
redesigned a nd installed on the gin stand of a DR gin.
The modification, thlls imparted, allows independent
drives for the roller and the beater, whereby any
desired speed of the roller and beater is possible. This
redes igned gin is known as variable speed (VS) gin .
The improvements relate to the modification in
gea r system of a conventiona l DR gin for permitting
inde pend ent control on the speed of roller and the
osc illation frequency of beater. The modification
leads to desired flexibility while ginning cottons with
di ffe rent staple lengths. In the conventional double
roller gin, any attempt to change the speed of rollers
frequency of oscillation of the beater suc h that the
speed ratio remains un c hanged .
The mac hine employed for modification is a
commercial Platt's DR gi n. The modified g in retain s
the same machine e lements of the DR g in , except the
gear box. In the conventional DR g in , th e gears
rotating the roller and the beater are linked to a sing le
shaft and thu s have their angul ar frequency fi xed
(generally in the ratio of I : lO), whereas in VS p- in
these are connected to two indepe nd e nt shafts. one for
driving the gears conn ec tin g rollers and the ot he r for
innuencing rec iprocating motion of the beate r by
mean s of a crank. The machine diagram o f the VS gin
is show n in Fi g. l
 JADHAV et at.: LI NT OUT-TURN IN DOUBLE ROLLER GIN
t- P w idth between fixed knives and moving kni ves va ri ed
F K -'
Fig. I - Mod ified DR gi n [G-Gear box . W-Gear wheel. P- Pul-
k yo R- Roller. M - Mo vi ng knife. 0 - Bealer shaft , F-Fixed kni fe.
and C- Con necling arm 1
The VS gin is a ne w concept and is an
improve ment over the conventional g in that permits
a ny desired roller and beater freq uency combll1ation .
For exa mple. it is possib le to get un iform and
cont in uou s lap of lint under spec ial combination s.
Vibrati ons in machine can also be reduced by [he
proper se lection of beater freq uency.
The produ ct ivity of the gin mach ine is o f
co mme rc ial importance and is expressed in terms of
lint produced per hour ca ll ed g inning out-turn (GOT).
By appropriate se lection of ro ll er and beater speeds,
impressive increase in GOT ha s been o bta in ed.
2.2.1. 1 Machine Specifications
T he motor. that dri ves the rollers in VS g in , rotates
with the speed of 1420 rpm, and is fi tted w ith a srep
puil ey. The di ameter o f th is pu ll ey varies in steps of
7.5,6.0 and 4.5 inch , while the d ia meter of the ro ll er
d ri ver pull ey connectin g the gears in box is kept at 6
inc h. This pulley drives the rollers with the speeds of
i60 , 130 and 110 rpm .
T he othei' motor, wh ich dri ves the beater asse mb ly,
is al so fitted with a step pull ey having diameters of 6
a nd 4.5 inch. The bea ter d ri ver with a pu ll ey of 9 inch
diamete r thu s osci ll ates the beater with the frequency
of 1000 and 750 opm. In conve ntional DR gin, ro ll e r
speed of 95 rpm and beater speed of 950 opm are
ma intai ned . This combi nat io n was kept as a control
for a ll the e ight cottons in the present experiment. T he
slid ing we ig hts , wh ich exert force on the ro ller, were
kept 30 inch away from the fulcrum of the leve r at a
pre-determin ed positi o n for maintaining co nsta nt
p:'essure between roller and f ixed knives. The overlap
379
between 9 mm and Ilmm, suitabl e for the va ri eli es
processed for g inni ng.
2.2.2 Procedure
Expe riments were conducted w it h the imp roved
va riable speed g in discu ssed earli er in section 2.2. 1 to
determine the o ptimum roller speed a nd bealer
frequency in relation to vari o us cha rac teristics or seed
cotton being g inned . The staple lengt h, sho rt fibre
conten t in th e resulta nt lin t, incide nce of ne ps. seed
coat fragments , g innin g percentage, a nd gi nnin g o ut-
lurn have been conside red fo r the opti mi za tion tud y.
The overall ex perime nt was carried o ut in the
fo ll owing three steps. T he first experi me nt was
cond ucted with a constant beater frequency of I ()()()
op m and successively coupled with roller speed s of
160, 130 and 11 0 rpm . T he osci ll ating beater during
its upward motion push es the seed cotton towards the
ginning poin t, where fibres are g ripped in the ro ller
g rooves and carried fo rward by the rotating ro ll'r.
During its downwa rd mo ti o n, the beate r strike ' tile:
seed at the g inning poi nt. se pa rating it tro m the lint.
The bare seed s pass through the 510ts of seed grid and
are collected in the c hute. The ex pe ri ment II as
repeated w ith reduced ro ll er speeds of 130 and 11 0
rpm by shifting V be lt for the appropriate pull ey fi xed
o n the motor shaft. The seco nd set of tests W:.lS
conducted with the bea ter frequency of 750 opm for
the sa me three ro ll er speeds ( 160, 130 a nd 1 1() rpm )
us ing another pu ll ey combination for bea te r dri ve r.
Here a lso, 10 kg of seed cotton fro m each vari ety was
processed tb rice at eac h co mbinati on of roller a nd
beater speeds. The third and final set of te st was
conducted on the same g inning mach ine o pe rat ed with
the manufacture r' s reco mme nded speed for ro lle r (9 5
rpm) and osc ill ation frequency (950 opm) of the
beater. This se t of tests was used as the co ntro l whi Ie
critically analyz ing the res ults.
T he results of the combina tion s of [he rolle r to
beater speeds. viz. S L S2, S3 and C. are g i I'e n ill
T abJ es 1 and 2. The lin t ollt-turn (g inning rat!:' ). powe r
co nsumed and gi nni ng perce ntage we re o bse rved for
the st udy and the result s are shown in Tables ! and 2.
Tables 3 and 4 show important lint properti es such as
2.S % span le ngth , micronaire, fibre te na c it y and
uniformity ra ti o determined using High Vol ume
Instrume nt (HV I) a mi maturity rati o. short fi bre
co nte nt, ne ps a nd seed coat neps determin ed using the
Ad vanced F ibre Info rma ti o n System (l\FIS ). Three
tests were carried o ut fo r eac h o f the co nt rol a nd
380 INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES .. DECEMBER 2003

Table 2- Ginning out-turn at various roller speeds with 750 oscillations / min beater speed
Cotton Sample code Ginning rate Ginning out-turn Ginning Power % increase % inc rease
kg/h kg/h % kWh in gin ning rate in lint
Olll- lurn

Sl 120 46 35.0 5.0 22.4 3 1.4

S2 116 45 35 .8 5.0 18.4 28 .5
H.8
S3 113 45 35 .8 4.9 15.3 28.5
C 98 35 35.0 4.8
SI 125 50 35.6 5. 1 8.6 250
S2 124 50 35.2 5.0 7.8 250
DHB.105
S3 120 48 35.5 5.0 4.3 20.0
C 11 5 40 35.8 4.9
Sl 150 48 33.3 5.0 80.7 60.0
S2 150 48 33 .2 5. 1 80.7 60 .0
DCH .32
S3 120 46 33.5 5.0 44 .6 53 .3
C 83 30 33.5 4.9
SI 180 66 31.8 4.9 20.0 29 .4
S2 160 58 3 1.6 4.9 6.7 13.7
Jayadhar
S3 164 57 3 1.8 48 9.3 15.7
C 150 51 3 1.0 4.8
S! 109 42 35.9 5.2 45.3 44.8
S2 82 35 35.7 5.2 9.3 20.6
K.2
S3 82 31 35.9 5. 1 9.3 6.8
C 75 29 36.0 4.9
Sl 145 57 33. 7 4.9 38.0 42 .5
S2 140 56 33.9 4.9 33.3 40.0
G.Col.DH y. 7
S3 120 48 33.6 4.8 14.3 20.0
C 105 40 34. 0 4.8
SI 130 52 35 .4 5. 1 44.4 368
S2 100 41 35 .5 5. 1 I I. I 78
JKH y. 1
S3 100 41 35.4 4.8 11.1 7.8
C 90 38 35.6 4.8
SI 11 3 40 35.6 5.0 17. 7 III
S2 105 37 35 .4 5.0 9.4 2.8
G.CoI.IO
S3 105 38 33 .8 4.8 9.4 55
C 96 36 33.0 4.7
Roller-lo-bealer speed ralios: S 1- 160:750. S2 - 130:750, S3 - 110:750 antI C- 95 :950

treated sa mpl es and the average of three va lues for
quality parameters was recorded . All these tests were
performed at stand ard conditions of humidity and
te mperature (65 ± 2% RH and 27 ± 2 0 C).
3 Results and Discussion
3.1 Influence of Machine Parameters on Lint Out-turn
The two important machine parameters that
influence the gi nnin g rate and lint qua lity in ginning
are the speed of rotating roller and the frequency of
osc ill at ing beater. The effect of roller speed and
beater freq uency on ginning rate and lint quality is
show n Tables 1 and 2. The bar chart (Fig. 2)
represents the pictorial view of roller speed vs GOT
(ginnin g rate).
Table 1 shows that the GOT and the lint out-turn in
almos t a ll the experimen ts with changed speed
parameters are 50-150% hi gher th an those obtain ed
under normal speeds of roller and beater. Among the
three roller-to-beater speed ratios (S 1-1 60: 1000.
S2- 130: 1000 and S3-110: 1000), the hi g hes t rati o
(160: 1000) gives the maximum ginni ng rate (Fig. 2)
and lint out-turn for the longest staple cotton such as
DCH.32 fo llowed by K.2, JKHy . l and Jayad har. Th e
increase in lint out-turn ranges from a minimum of
50% for DRB .105 to a maxi mum of 140% fo r
DCH.32. The speed rat io 130: 1000 gives the hi ghest
GOT for the medium staple cottons like G.Cot. DH y.7
(80%) followed by H.8 (71 %) and DHB .105 (55 % ).
In the second experiment with changed beate r
 JADHAV e/ at.: LINT OUT-TURN IN DOUBLE ROLLER GIN 381

Table 3- Quality parameters of lin t at various roller speeds with 1000 oscillations I min beater speed

Colton 5ample 2.5 % span 5hort fibre Micronaire Maturity Fi bre strength Neps/g 5eed coat
code length, mm % x 10.6 , gli n. ratio g/tex fragment. g.1

51 25 .5 14. 1 4.4 0.79 22.5 156 17

52 25.3 13 .7 4.4 0.94 20.8 115 II
H.8
53 24.7 15 .0 4.5 0.89 22.5 92 15
C 25.8 10.3 4.5 0.86 22 .8 91 12
5! 28.8 9.9 2.9 0.87 23.5 185 22
52 27 ,4 13.4 3.2 0.80 21.6 170 23
DHB . 105
53 27.0 16.6 3.3 0.87 19.9 175 21
C 27 .9 10.0 3.4 0.78 20,8 159 15
51 32.7 13.6 2.9 0.78 25.5 212 19
52 31.8 13.1 3.2 0.78 21.6 190 18
DCH .3 2
53 30.9 12.3 3.3 0.77 21.4 200 19
C 33.1 10.5 3.4 0.77 21.5 170 16
51 24.7 15.0 4.3 0.90 19. 1 193 19
52 23.3 15.8 4.4 0.88 16.1 182 16
Jayadhar
53 22.7 13.7 4.3 0.89 15.7 195 18
C 24.7 10.7 4.4 0.9 1 15.4 161 16
51 24.4 20.0 4.3 0.79 20.8 261 48
52 24.2 19.7 4.2 0.8 3 20.4 250 55
K.2
53 22 .6 18.3 4.2 0.79 22.5 280 40
C 23 .8 15.2 4.0 0.77 21.6 243 44
51 22.3 13.5 52 0.89 20.8 95 II
52 23.3 13.4 5.3 0.90 2 1. 6 128 20
G.Cot.DHy.7
53 23.2 14. 1 5.3 0.87 194 139 27
C 20.3 Il.l 5.3 0.87 21.5 118 16
51 28.2 15.6 3.8 0.80 23,7 185 24
52 26. 1 18.5 3.6 0.79 21,6 192 31
JKH y. 1
53 25.6 10.9 37 078 23.6 157 17
C 25.5 12.7 3.7 0.86 23 .6 144 26
51 25.6 13 .9 4.3 0.86 20.9 167 48
G.Cot.IO
52 24.8 14.7 4.4 0.85 19.9 138 38
53 25.0 13.4 4.0 0.89 17.9 155 51
C 26,4 10.2 4.3 0.86 18.9 124 24
Roller-to-beater speed ratios: 51 - 160: 1000, 52- 130: 1000, 53- 110: 1000 and C- 95:950

JOO ~--------------'---'--------------r===================~======,

~ 250t---------------------~_2.~========================~
~

<ll 200 +---.J......:----:;:-:;--------i'.?f---i .

ro
n:: 150
OJ
c
'c 100
c
(.9 50

H.8 DHI3 . 105 DCH .32 .IayaJhar K ~ G.COl.Dll y.7 .IKI-ly.1 G COL 10
Cotton Sample
Fi g. 2 - Roller speed vs GOT (Ginning rate)

freq ue ncy of 750 opm coupled with the same roller
speeds of 160, 130 and 110 rpm, the ginni ng rate and
(he lint o ut-tu m are again higher in 160: 750 speed
combination (Table 2). The highest increase in the lint
out-turn over the control is found in DCH.32 (60 % )
followed by K.2 (43 % ) and G.Cot. DHy.7 (42.5 %).
It can be seen from Tab le 5 that 111 the first
experiment, the average increase in both g innin g rate
a nd lint out-turn for all the cottons is 85.2 ~· and
80.7% respectively more in SI speed rati o. For the
other speed ratio, it is about 50% more th an that of the
control. In the seco nd set of experiment, the a ve rage
382 INDIAN 1. FIBRE TEXT. RES .. DECEMBER 2003

Table 4- QuaJ ily parameters of lint at various roller speeds with 750 oscillations 1 min beater ~peed

Colton Sample 2.5% span Short fibre Micronaire Mal'.Irily Fibre strcngth Ne ps/g Seed coat
code Icngth . mm % x 10.6. glin . ralio g/tex i"ragfllclll. g !

SI 24.0 16.9 3.4 0.79 18.3 135 35

S2 25 .2 15 .2 4.1 0.84 22.9 137 15
H.8
S3 25 .:1 12.7 4.3 0.84 20.8 138 17
C 25.8 10.3 4.5 0.86 22.8 9i 12
SI 27 .7 12 .. 9 3. 1 0,75 2 1.5 179 :10
S7. 28 .3 17.. 1 2.7 0.75 24.8 164 21
DI-IB. 105
S3 27/6 14.7 2.6 0.75 22 .9 200 41
C 27 .9 10.0 3.4 0.78 20.8 159 15
SI 35.4 ! 1.4 2.8 0.79 28 .2 202 18
S2 33 .4 12.6 28 0. 77 27. 1 190 17
DC I1.32
S3 33.3 9.8 2.5 0.78 23.8 200 16
C 33. 1 7.5 2.9 0.77 2 1.5 170 16
SI 24.4 9.8 4. 3 0.89 196 140 12
S2 24.5 11.5 4.8 0. 88 19.9 229 Ii
JayacJhar
S3 24..4 13.6 4.1 0.87 18.4 202 23
C 24.7 6.7 4.4 0.9 1 15.4 161 II
SI 25.8 11.5 4. 1 0.87 22.4 205 :15
S2 23 . 1 18. 9 3.9 0.78 192 305 50
1< .2
S3 23 .2 18.9 3.4 0.78 19.9 410 50
C 23 .8 15.2 4.0. 0.79 2 1.6 243 44
SI 22.8 7.8 5.0 0.93 2 1.0 i21 14
G.Cot. S2 22.7 13.5 4.9 0.91 2 1.0 147 Ii)
DHy.7 S:I 23 .2 11.1 5.5 0.94 2 1.6 165 ]0
C 20.8 11.1 5.3 0.97 2 1.5 11 8 16
SI 27.3 13. 6 3.3 0. 79 24.8 196 42
S2 24.5 17.9 3.2 0.75 24.7 259 38
JKH y.1
S3 26.4 10.6 3.2 0.8 1 24.4 326 ~8
C 25 .5 14.4 3."1 0.86 23. 6 144 26
SI 25 .2 14.8 3.5 080 23 .7 116 27
S2 23 .7 i3 .6 3.2 0.78 25.2 17 1 17
(i .Cul.IO
S3 2:1.6 16.9 30 0 82 22 .4 194 :I I
C 26.4 12.4 4.0 0.86 18.9 . 124 24
Roll er-to-beater speed ratios : S 1- 160.750. 52 - 130:750. S3 - 110:750 and C- 95 :950

T JfJl c 5- Ave rage increase in ginning rate and lilll out-turn

over the control
ginning percentage of cottons. It is c lear from the
tabl e that the hi g hest roll e r peed of 160 rpm coupleJ
..
Spced ratio % incrcasc % increase w ith the beate r frequency of LOOO opm yie ld more li nt
in ginn ing rate in lint oUI-lurn out -turn .
Ex pcrimcnt 1 It IS well known th at for a g tven variety wi th
S I (160: 1000) 85 .2 80.7 ave rage staple length of 24 mm or 32 mm , the re a re
2 S2 ( 130: 1000) 52.9 49.8 some fibres ha vi ng le ngth more tha n 30-38 mm. The
3 S3 ( I 10: 1000) 51.8 50.8 tips of such fibres a re most like ly to be picked up and
Ex pc,-jmcnt 2 gripped first. Other sho rte r fi bres are en tan g led w ith
S I ( 160:750) 27.4 29.7 the m and dragged forward near the g tnnll1 g po in t
2 S2 (J30:750) 20.3 22.5 a lo ng with the seed and then a re ginned.
3 S3 ( 11 0:750) 12.1 13 .2 The rollers emp loyed in the convent iona l double
ro ll e r gin are of 6.5 inch ( 16.5 cm) diamete r(d).
In crease tn gi nning rate ra nge from 12% to 27 % rota ting at a speed (n) of 95 rpm suc h tha r the s urface
which is less than the correspond ing rates obta ined speed (V=d 2rtn/2) li es betwee n 48 m/min and 50
from the first experiment. The differences in g innin g mimin and the beater osc ill ates with a frequ e ncy o f
rate and lint out-turn are due to the va ri ation 111 950 opm. S ince the beater osc illates sy mmetrica ll y.
 JADHAV et at. : LINT OUT-TURN IN DOUBLE ROLLER GIN
half of the time is utilized for feeding seed-cotton and
the other half is utilized for ginning. This means that
durin g the feeding interval of 1/3001 of a second , the
ro llers move a distance of 26 mm. If it is assumed that
during the feeding interval , the probability of a fibre
of average length bei ng picked up by the roller is p
(O<p< I) . the length L of the fibre picked and pulled
would probably be 26 mm.
It may be noted that for effici ent ginning, the
fibres must be fully drawn out for a firm grip and
fo r thi s the staple le ngth of the cotton should be
equal to parameter L. Thus, it is clear that the
probab ility p mu st be as high as possible for
gi nning cottons with nearl y 24 mm stapl e length .
To improve the va lue of parameter L, it is
sugges ted that the roll er speed may be increased if
the stapl e length is more than 26 mm.
It is a fact that as the roller diameter gets
dim ini shed due to the continuous rotation against the
fri ction , the surface speed (V= dwl2) of the same
reduces in proportion to the diameter (d). In such
cases, it is suggested that the ro ller speed (w) may be
increased without altering the gin cycle. But this
req uires independent control on the rol ler and the
beatel (movi ng knife-edge). In the present stud y, due
to the independent control on the two parts of the
machine, it is poss ible to achieve very hi gh lint out-
turn sometimes exceed ing 70 kg/h per machine. It
may be mentioned that the lint out-turn in existing
gins of one meter long roll ers is about 40 kg/h .
One representati ve example will reveal how a
roller speed of 160 rpm in combi nation with an
osc illation frequency of 1000 opm is better suited for
ex tra long smple cottons .like DCH.32. The surface
speed (V) of the roller is give n by
V =dw /2.
If 11 is the number of revolutions per minute, then
- the above relation becomes
V =d 2rc n/2
where d is the di ameter of roller ; an d w (2rc 1/), the
angul ar ve loc ity of the roller. If the roller dia meter is
15 cm and it rotates with 160 rpm,
V = 15 x 2 x 3. 142 x 160/2
= 7540cm/min
= 7541/60 cmls
=125.68 cm/s .
Similarly, for 130, 110 and 95 rpm of the roller
speeds the correspondin g surface speeds are 102.1,
96.4 and 74.6 cmls.
383
In the first set of ex periments, the beater frequency
is 1000 opm and the time period (time per osc ill at ion)
is given by
t = 0.06 s .
Since the feeding time per gin cycle (I;) is half of
th is time f, the
fJ =0.03 s.
The time needed by a fibre on a seed to be caught
between the roller and the knife-edge is a statist ica l
parameter and can be taken as
px 1./
where p is the probability factor. The total
movement of roller during the time lJ is 125.6xO.03=
3.768 cm =37.7 mm.
Similarly, for 130, 110 and 95 rpm of roll er speeds
the corresponding move ment of roller durin g the sa me
time is 30.6, 25 .9 and 22.3 mm (Table 6).
At the roller speed of 160 rpm, the fibres of
average length ( :s p x 37.7 mm) are ca ught between
roller and fixed knife- edge, and for them gi nnin g
starts in the first cyc le itself. Thus, fo r ginning lo ng
and extra long stap le cottons havi ng some fibres
longer than the average length, the hi ghest speed of
160 rpm is justified and is ex pected to yield highe r
lint out-turn than by employing the lower speeds.
It may be mentioned here th at the ex periments
performed with a roller speed of 130 rpm always
res ult in hi gher yield for the medi um staple cottons
where the staple length vari es between 24 mm and
30mm. It is thus concluded that the hi gher speed has a
positive impact on the probabili ty facto r.
Most of the Indian cottons are of medium stapie
category and for them a roller speed of 125-1 30 rpm
coup led with ~n osc ill ation frequency of 1000 opm
for the beater is found to be optimum fo r givi ng
hi gher lint out-turn. The sa me condition cannot be
taken for long sta ple lengt hs of cotton. In such cases.
eve n if the grip is strong enough to prevent fi bre
Table 6-- Roller speed, surface speed and correspo ndi ng. length
of the ro ll er surface availabie during feedin g time ( I,)
Roll er speed Suri"acc speed Length . 111 III
rplll (\I). clll/s
9S 74.6 22.3
11 0 86.4 25 .9
130 102. 1 30.6
160 125 .7 37.7
384 INDIAN J. FIBRE TEXT. RES, DECEMBER 2003
slippage, the seed may fail to get ginned in the first
cycle. Nevertheless, it will utilize subsequent gin
cyc les entirely and then gets ginned. This means that
there will be delayed ginning and the lint out-turn will
be cOlTespondingly lower.
The other experiment with the same roller speeds
combined with the lower oscillation frequency (750
opm) also gives output comparatively higher (Table
2) than that of the control experiment but lower than
th at of the experiment with higher beater frequency
(1000 opm). In thi s case, the feeding rate of seed
cotton is more but cOlTesponding asci ll at ion
freq uency is less, thereby decreasing the ginning rate.
The power consumption (kWh) at higher speed rat io
is slightly more for most of the speed ratios than that
of the control ratio. But looking at the increase in
ginning rate and lint out-turn, the increase in po\ver
consumption is negligible.
4 Conclusions
The VS gin is an excellent replacement of the
conventional DR gin presently being employed in
Indian ginning industry. It has the flexibility to permit
optimization of settings to increase the productivity
for all types of cotton, such as short, medium and long
stap les. This gin machine can be set for optimum
productivity on the basis of staple length of the cotton
by employing the appropriate roller speed.
4.1 In most cottons, the ginning out-turn has in-
creased from 60% to 140% over the production possi-
ble with the old model gin .
4.2 The roller speed of 160 rpm combined with an
osc illati on frequency of 1000 opm for the beater is
best for gi nning extra long Indian cottons.
4.3 For medium staple cottons of the length 24-2 8
mm, a roller speed of 125-130 rpm in co mbin ation
with LOOO opm oscillation frequency for the beater is
the most appropriate.
4.4 The combination of 110 rpm roller speed and
1000 opm osci llation frequency for the beater is id eal
for the cottons of 20-23 mm length .
4.5 Important fibre parameters suc h as 2.5 % span
length, fibre tenacity, mic ronair va lue. etc remain un-
affected.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to Dr S Sreenivasan.
Director, CIRCOT, for providing the sc ientific
guidance during the entire work. They are also
thankful to Dr K M Parlikar, Dr R P Nachan e and Mrs
Manisha Kurhade for useful suggestion s.
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