DETERMINING OPTIMAL PARAMETERS OF THE COTTON SEPARATION PROCESS FROM AIR

This paper investigates methods for determining the optimal parameters of the cotton-air separation process. To improve process efficiency, a 2⁴⁻¹ fractional factorial design (FFD) was applied, reducing the number of required experiments from 16 to 8, thus saving time and resources. The influence of four factors — mesh belt speed, guide angle, throughput capacity, and cotton moisture — on seed mechanical damage and fiber loss was statistically analyzed. Adequate regression mathematical models were obtained for the output variables, which serve as a basis for establishing optimal operating parameters of the separator.