What is cotton ginning and its types?

The process of ginning of cotton fibers is done to separate the cotton fibers from the cotton seeds. This is done while protecting the seeds and fibers even from the slightest injury. The process of separating the cotton fibers from the seeds is either done by hands or by a cotton ginning machine. The good seeds after the separating process are used again to grow more cotton plants and the damaged ones are either disposed of or are decomposed.
In the first step of ginning, the freshly picked cotton arrives at the gin along with seed and other foreign substances in the fiber. Then the moisture in the cotton is measured to know the amount of heat that will be applied to open the fiber. Then air is used to mix the heat with cotton and seed to remove bigger impurities. Then cotton is dropped in a gin stand to remove the seed from the lint using saw blades.

And lastly the lint removed from the seed is further cleaned to remove smaller sized foreign material. Then hydraulic press is used to press the cotton fibers into bigger blocks which are known as bales.

There are two basic types of cotton Ginning process available i.e. Saw Ginning and Roller Ginning.

• Saw Ginning of Cotton
This process of ginning provides more clean and uniform cotton fibers when compared with manual or handheld processes of separating seed from cotton.

• Roller Ginning of Cotton
This process of ginning is also known as the modern ginning or automatic ginning process. In this process the productivity is maximized because of the use of advanced technology in the ginning process. This type of ginning process is mainly used for industrial purposes.