The use of cotton gin waste as a fuel is an attractive solution to the problems of disposing of a surplus agricultural waste as well as supplementing energy resources. Because a qualified alternative fuel must meet both environmental emission standards and industrial fuel standards, the physical characteristics of cotton gin waste and its toxic element concentrations are important for its initial objective evaluation as a fuel. Constituent components, moisture contents, and ash contents of four separate parts of cotton gin waste were determined and evaluated, closely following the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) test methods. The three most toxic heavy metals, arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb), chosen for quantitative analyses were also determined by using an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and a microwave oven sample digestion method. This study revealed that the lint component is the leading candidate for fuel, which closely meets both environmental emission and industrial fuel standards.

Cotton Gin Waste Fuel Heavy Metals Environmental Emission Standards Industrial Fuel Standards

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