Cotton mass flow measurement: Experiments with two optical devices

Mass flow measurement of pneumatically conveyed cotton is important in at f east two processes: yield monitoring during harvesting, and input and outpu t determinations at various stages of ginning. In this work, two experiment al devices were constructed and tested for measuring the flow of pneumatica lly conveyed cotton. One (device A) was used to collect data in the seed-co tton unloading duct of a gin, a cotton picker duct, and a lint-cleaner-wast e duct. The other (device B) was used to collect data in the seed-cotton un loading duct of a gin and a lint-cleaner-waste duct. Tests were conducted i n which known amounts of cotton were conveyed through the duct over a known time period, making it possible to calculate the average actual material f low rate. The average output of each device during the test runs was also c alculated. Actual flow rate wars compared to measured flow rate with linear regression. For seed cotton in the unloading duct, both devices performed well. For seed cotton in the picker chute, device A performed well, but dev ice B was not tested. For waste in the lint-cleaner-waste duct, device A pe rformed well and better than device B. In most cases, the correlation betwe en sensor output and cotton mass flow was strong. Both devices look promisi ng for application in appropriate locations in a cotton picker or gin.