EVALUATION OF THE SHIRLEY TRASH SEPARATOR FOR MEASURING FOREIGN MATTER CONTENT IN LINT COTTON

The objective of this study was to determine whether the Shirley Trash Separator (STS) could be used to measure fine trash not captured by the standard Shirley Analyzer (SSA) and if the STS could be used to predict waste content expected using the SSA. Three experiments were conducted to compare waste quantities from the two machines. Visible waste contents were significantly lower with the STS in the first and second tests, but invisible and total waste contents were higher in the second test. All waste contents were significantly lower with the STS in the third test. This is more in line with what was expected because the STS was designed to catch what previously went out as invisible waste in the SSA. These tests have shown that the STS can be used to measure fine trash not collected by the SSA and that the STS can predict visible waste from the SSA satisfactorily.