Smart Hoppers
Building Hoppers for 60 years +
Cotton coming to your gin is drier than ever with the speed and efficiency of today’s round module harvesters and protective wrap. Dry cotton is certainly better than the alternative, but gins over the entire cotton belt are experiencing ginning conditions similar to West Texas and other arid regions. “Bone dry” cotton as it is often called is generally good for cleaning, but can be trouble at the gin stands and press. And with many new varieties every year, it’s a struggle to know what “treatment” each variety needs. Some hopper users find themselves in a love-hate relationship with hoppers, wishing that they had smart operators on every shift to oversee their hopper system. Smart Hoppers (SH) were designed to address that problem:
Drying Boost - SH automatically turns off the water and delivers a boost of dry heat when cotton feed turns wet
Gin Faster - SH sets the moist air output at a moderate level to reduce amp loads on the gin stands for fast ginning.
Cleaning better - SH automatically turns off the water and runs dry hot air when trash or bark levels are a concern. We’ve documented significant reductions in bark calls in stripper cotton regions with this mode of hopper operation. SH works hand-in-hand with the Trash Tracker serving as its “eyes” on grade.
Bale Moisture Boost - Do you notice that you often can't achieve the bale moisture that you are used to? SH senses this challenge and automatically pre-conditions dry fibers with moist air for much longer than is possible at a press. With this pre-treatment, your press Humidaire doesn't have to be so aggressive, which can cause excess bale surface moisture “ugly bales,” and excessive moist air applicator hairing.
Moisture at the gin stands handled automatically preserves staple length, and reduces short fiber content. It also preserves fiber strength, increases ginning rate by up to 20%, and reduces airborne dust from the gin aprons. This makes life at the press much more pleasant. This is the “love” side of the love-hate relationship. There are many reasons to love hoppers and the SH is designed to eliminate the hicccups, particularly when surprise conditions come about. Turning hate into love is what the SH does best,
