The feasibility of crushing cottonseed oil for use in drying cotton

The Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development (CAED), College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia was contacted by Mr. Mr. Lloyd Strickland and asked to conduct a feasibility analysis of the proposal for taking cottonseed produced at the Bulloch Gin, Inc in Brooklet, Georgia and converting it into fuel for use in drying cotton at the gin. The gin produces about 5,000 tons of cottonseed in a typical year of operation and uses considerable amounts of butane to dry the cotton prior to ginning. Mr. Strickland wanted to know if it was economically feasible to extract the oil from the cottonseed and use it to replace the purchase of butane used to create the heat for drying cotton. Mr. Strickland proposes to create a separate business entity to process the cottonseed produced at Bulloch Gin, create a crude cottonseed oil and market it and other co-products to Bulloch Gin and other buyers.