IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE) e-ISSN: 2278-1684, p-ISSN: 2320-334X PP 27-29 www.iosrjournals.org International Conference on Advances in Engineering & Technology – 2014 (ICAET-2014) 27 | Page Design of Experimental Model for the Process of Cotton Pre- Cleaning with a View to Generate Design Data Arvind Bodhe 1 , Dr. J. F. Agrawal 2 1 Mechanical, BDCOE, Shevagram, India 2 Mechanical, Shri Sai College of Engg & Tech., Bhadrawati, India ABSTRACT:Cotton is the most important textile fiber in the world, The Indian cotton has relatively high level of contamination about 10-12% despite being handpicked from the farm. There are wide ranges of contaminants in cotton numbering over 20 types. The contaminant are added in different stages of processing of cotton at ginnery like during pre-ginning (46%), ginning (44%) and during pressing (10%).To reduce the contamination, it is necessary to provide the best possible technical solution at initial level of processing the cotton at ginnery. So that a good quality of yarn can be produced in textile mill and will get the realization of their produce and develop indigenous and cost effective, commercially viable technology packages. This paper reports the experimentation carried out on cotton pre-cleaner to establish the approximate generalized models for generating design data. Keywords: Cotton Pre-Cleaner, Trash Reducer, Cotton Contamination, Pre-Ginning Processer, Trash Remover. I. INTRODUCTION The Cotton is the most important textile fiber in the world; It is one of the world’s most important agriculturally produced raw material. About 70% of cotton production contributed by four major countries which include China, India, USA and Pakistan. World cotton production is expected to 26.7 million MT. Out of this production India is expected to produce 5.9 million MT cotton. India has the largest cotton cultivated area and also second largest exporter after USA. Five million Indian cotton formers have made India the world’s second largest producer and second largest exporter of cotton. As per the cotton contamination survey-2011 of International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) the Indian cotton has relatively high level of contamination despite being handpicked from the farm. There are wide range of contaminants in cotton numbering over 20 types. Cotton cleaning before ginning is an important unit operation to retain quality of lint. The market value of cotton is decided by the quality and purity of its fibers. To fetch a good price in market, the baled cotton should contain minimal trash and be free from contamination [1]. The hand picked cotton initially has lower trash content as compared to mechanically harvested cotton in developed countries. If pre-cleaning is not done, trash particles will adhere to the fiber during the high pressure bailing process. Cotton is seriously contaminated with organic matter, i.e., leaves, feathers, paper, leather, etc., string and pieces of fabric made of jute/hessian, woven plastic and plastic film [4]. The other contaminants of concern, in descending order of incidence are sand, dust, grease, rust, metal wire and rubber [2]. The contaminant are added in different stages of processing of cotton at ginnery like during pre-ginning (46%), ginning (44%) and during pressing (10%). The contaminants present in cotton are removed with the help of pre-cleaners prior to ginning operation in ginneries. Spiked cylinder and saw band type of pre-cleaners are the two well known machines used for pre- cleaning of cotton to remove contamination from cotton. The spiked cylinder pre-cleaner is mainly used for removing fine foreign matters like sand, dust, immature locks [6]. In the spiked cylinder cleaner the cylinders open up and convey the cotton scrubbing across the surface of grid bars [7]. The saw band pre-cleaner is normally used for removing for removing coarse and heavy foreign matter like stems, burrs, hulls, immature locks, stones etc. from cotton. In the saw band pre-cleaner cotton is cleaners with the help of combing action of saw[3]. Research on seed cotton cleaning equipment over the years indicates that extractors and cylinder cleaners have little influence on fiber length characteristics while positively influencing color and leaf grades. The cleaning efficiency of seed cotton cleaning equipment is influenced by many factors including initial seed cotton foreign matter content, processing rate, moisture content, machine configuration and distribution[4]. Although ginners strive for maximum production and thus tent to push the processing rate limits of their cleaning equipment, compromises must be made to balance seed cotton cleaning rate with cleaning efficiency and seed cotton loss. The excessive mechanical actions on cotton fibre in pre and post ginning process have been shown to increase the amount of neps and short fibers.