Cotton ginning

How cotton is ginned

From seed cotton to bale, on our own machines.

A guided tour of our ginning plant: the whole process in one handful of cotton, then each of our machines in 3D beside photographs from the plant.

Take the tour4 stages · 24 slides

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1. 01How it worksFrom seed cotton to clean fibre.Start here→

   Stage 1 of 4 · How it works

   From seed cotton to clean fibre.

   Stage 1 of 4 · How it works

   

   1. Stalks and leaf
   2. Seed cotton
   3. Stalks and leaf
   4. Seed cotton
   5. Lint
   6. Seeds
   7. Trash
   8. Lint
   9. Seeds
   10. Trash
   11. Bale
   12. Seeds

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   3D illustration

   Exit tour

   

   1. Seed cotton arrives

      Fibre, seeds, leaf, sticks and dust, as picked. Only a third to about 40% of its weight is fibre. Dried or moistened to the right moisture first.

   2. Cleaning

      Husks, sticks, leaf and dust are knocked out. Done on the seed cotton, where it costs the fibre least.

   3. Ginning

      Toothed saws pull the fibre through narrow gaps between ribs. The seeds are too big to pass, and drop away.

   4. Lint cleaning

      Small trash and seed-coat fragments come out. One or two stages: each one more costs some length.

   5. Pressed into bales

      The clean lint is pressed into dense bales and wrapped for storage and transport.
2. 02Roller ginningA roller draws the fibre off the seed past a knife: slower than saws, and gentler on the fibre.Start here→

   Stage 2 of 4 · Roller ginning

   A roller draws the fibre off the seed past a knife: slower than saws, and gentler on the fibre.

   Stage 2 of 4 · Roller ginning

   

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   3D illustration

   Exit tour

   

   1. The roller gin

      One of our plant’s two ginning divisions works on SUMER roller gins.

   2. Feeding

      Seed cotton comes down a feed grid onto the ginning roller.

   3. The fixed knife

      The fibre catches on the roller and is drawn under a knife pressed hard against it. The seeds are too big to pass the knife’s edge.

   4. The moving knife

      A second knife beats up and down beside the edge and knocks the bare seeds off. The seeds fall through the grid to a screw conveyor.

   5. Off the roller

      The lint goes round on the roller and leaves it over the doffing bar.

   6. Length kept

      The fibre is pulled, not cut, so it keeps its length.
3. 03Saw ginningCircular saws pull the fibre through ribs that hold the seeds back.Start here→

   Stage 3 of 4 · Saw ginning

   Circular saws pull the fibre through ribs that hold the seeds back.

   Stage 3 of 4 · Saw ginning

   

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   3D illustration

   Exit tour

   

   1. The gin stand

      Our plant’s other ginning division works on ДПЗ-180 saw gins.

   2. The feeder

      Feed rollers meter the seed cotton; a spiked cylinder opens it into the roll box.

   3. The seed roll

      The cotton turns as a roll against a gang of circular saws.

   4. Saws through the ribs

      The teeth catch the fibre and pull it between the ribs; the seeds are too big to follow.

   5. The seeds

      The bare seeds drop out under the roll onto a screw conveyor.

   6. The lint

      An air blast strips the lint off the saws into the lint flue.
4. 04PressingThe clean lint is pressed into dense bales, tied and wrapped.Start here→

   Stage 4 of 4 · Pressing

   The clean lint is pressed into dense bales, tied and wrapped.

   Stage 4 of 4 · Pressing

   

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   3D illustration

   Exit tour

   

   1. The press

      The ginned lint is pressed into bales for storage and transport.

   2. Into the box

      The lint comes down the lint slide into the press box.

   3. Tramping

      A tramper packs it down, stroke after stroke, until the box holds a bale’s worth.

   4. Pressing

      The main ram pushes up and presses the lint into a dense bale.

   5. Ties

      Ties go round the bale while it is held pressed.

   6. Out of the press

      The box opens and the bale comes out onto the line.

   7. Wrapped

      Each bale is wrapped and stacked; a sample from it goes to the laboratory.