Four Points Gin was kind enough to allow us to set up the experiment and take data during the 2000 ginning season.
Four Points Gin, Mesilla, NM.
The location of the mass flow instrumentation was in a
vertical pipe just after the dryer and cylinder cleaner,
before
seed cotton is diverted to the overhead distributor of the saw or
roller gin lines.
One of two pressure tap rings in the vertical pipe. The six holes are plumbed together to compensate for turbulence in the pipe.
Air tanks dampen rapid fluctuations in air pressure much as a capacitor in an electrical circuit.
The differential pressure transducers, press turn relay and
data logger in their enclosure.
Data was downloaded every 24
hours while the gin was idle for morning cleanup.
2000. Funk, P. A., Gillum, M. N., Hughs, S. E. and Pelletier, M.G. Mass flow measurement of seed cotton. ASAE Transactions. 43(6):1401-1407.
2001. Wilkerson, J. B., Moody, F. H., Hart, W. E. and Funk, P. A. Design and Evaluation of a Cotton Flow Rate Sensor. ASAE Transactions. 44(6):1415-1420.