Objective Machine-harvested seed cotton always undergoes compression and baling procedure to augment fiber packing density and diminish volume, thereby enhancing the efficiency of cotton transportation and storage. However, determining an optimal range for compression parameters, then ensuring minimal damage to the cottonseed and maximal preservation of cotton fiber quality, holds significant importance for cotton production. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the morphology of the compressed cottonseed and the cotton fiber quality.
Method To determine the primary and secondary relationship and the influence law of the compression parameters on the seed cotton quality, this study took the moisture content, trash content and compression density as the factors, and the cotton seed crushing rate, fiber length, micronaire value, elongation, reflectance (Rd), yellowness (+b), uniformity, and fiber strength as the indexes. Machine-harvested seed cotton was obtained through the cotton picking performance test, the cotton was compressed through the compression equipment, and the compressed cottonseeds and cotton fibers were obtained through ginning. The compressed cottonseed was chemically defluffed and dried to obtain the polished cottonseed, which was observed and screened with a microscope to obtain the cottonseed crushing rate; the compressed cotton fiber was sent to the testing laboratory to obtain the cotton fiber quality test results.
Results The results of variance analysis indicate that the order of the affecting factors of the crushing rate of cottonseed after compression is compression density, moisture content, and trash content. The order for fiber length is trash content, moisture content, and compression density. The order for micronaire value is moisture content, trash content, and compression density. The order for the elongation was moisture content, trash content, and compression density. The order for reflectivity was moisture content, trash content, and compression density. The order for yellowness was trash content, moisture content, and compression density. The order for uniformity was trash content, compression density, and moisture content. The order for fiber strength was compression density, trash content, and moisture content. The effect of moisture content, trash content, and compression density on cotton seed crushing rate was significant (P<0.05). The cotton seed crushing rate increased with increasing compression density, and decreased with in-creasing moisture content at a higher compression density. Trash content had no significant effect (P>0.05) on uniformity, fiber strength, elongation, reflectance. And compression density only had a significant effect (P<0.05) on cottonseed crushing rate and reflectance. Fiber length increased with increasing compression density and increasing moisture content, but decreased with increasing trash content. The micronaire value increased with the increase of trash content, decreased with the increase of compression density, and increased with the increase of moisture content. Elongation increased with increasing trash content, decreased with increasing compression density, and decreased slowly with increasing moisture content. The reflection rate increased with increasing compression density and decreased with increasing moisture content. The cottonseed crushing rate is the smallest when the moisture content is 14%, the trash content is 16%, and the compression density is 200 kg/m3. The maximum fiber length is obtained when the moisture content is 14%, the trash content is 8% and the compression density is 400 kg/m3. The elongation is minimized when the moisture content is 14%, the trash content is 8%, and the compression density is 400 kg/m3. The reflectance is minimized when the moisture content is 14%, the trash content is 8%, and the compression density is 200 kg/m3. The minimum yellowness is obtained when the moisture content is 6%, the trash content is 16%, and the compression density is 200 kg/m3. The micronaire value is between 4.50 and 4.90, which is at the standard level.
Conclusion Finally, we obtained that under the premise of ensuring higher compression density, increasing moisture content and trash content can ensure a smaller cotton seed crushing rate, while increasing moisture content will lead to a decrease in elongation, and increasing trash content will reduce fiber length and increase reflectivity. The research results have certain theoretical value for the determination of the working conditions of cotton picker and the design and selection of the parameters of compression molding device of cotton picker.