Engineering and economic analyses for cotton gin compliance with air pollution regulations

Abstract

The implementation of the Federal Clean Air Act (FCAA) amendments of 1990 have affected every source of air pollution in the U.S. including cotton gins. The goal of this project was to develop guidelines, that will help cotton ginners comply with FCAA amendments at reasonable cost. Several alternate abatement strategies were proposed for removing particulate from cotton gin exhausts. Emission factors from these abatement strategies were estimated. The cost of investing in these strategies was estimated. The reduction in emissions, achieved by installing a better abatement strategy were calculated. The costs per tonne of reduction in emissions when changing from one abatement strategy to a more efficient strategy were estimated. Gins with a ginning capacity from less than 10 bales per hour to greater than 35 bales per hour were analyzed. These figures help in defining the "economic reasonableness" of investing in a particular strategy. The performance of rotary drum filters was evaluated using a small scale model at different inlet loadings of fine dust only and fine dust and trash combinations. Their performance was compared with cyclones and preseparator cyclone systems. Results from these tests suggest that cyclone systems are more efficient and less expensive than rotary drum filters in controlling particulate from cotton gin exhausts.