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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #183130
Title: BALE MOISTURE ADDITION WITH A ROTOR SPRAY SYSTEM

Author
item Baker, Kevin
item Hughs, Sidney
item McAlister Iii, David

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/7/2005
Publication Date: 1/7/2005
Citation: Baker, K.D., Hughs, S.E., Mcalister, D.D. 2005. Bale moisture addition with a rotor spray system. In: Proceedings of the Beltwide Cotton Conference, January 4-7, 2005, New Orleans, Louisiana. p. 808-812. 2005 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary: Cotton producers and ginners are interested in adding moisture to cotton lint as it is packaged into bales after ginning in order to increase profitability. Systems which use steam to add moisture have been used for many years. Recently, systems which spray a water mist have been marketed for adding moisture to cotton lint. A concern has arisen among the cotton textile industry about the storability of cotton bales that have had moisture added. Certainly, there is a level at which the added moisture will result in microbial growth that can affect the lint color. Steam systems are limited in the amount of moisture that can be added, and color changes have not been a problem to date. The new spray systems are capable of adding many times more water than a steam system, and some problems have been noted. This research is one of several projects to generate data foe which a voluntary, industry-wide standard can be forged regarding the acceptable level of moisture addition to cotton lint with spray systems. This study also reports on results from a rotor spray system rather than the alternate spray nozzle system that can be used. The rotor spray system is better for adding moisture to lint because finer droplets are produced and the spray is distributed more evenly across the width of the cotton bale.

Technical Abstract: Tests were conducted using a rotor spray system to apply moisture in the form of fine water droplets to cotton lint at the lint slide just before bale packaging. Initial cotton moisture content ranged from 5.0 to 5.5%, dry basis. Bales in this study were stored for 6 months and cotton quality degradation determined after each of these storage periods. Five levels of moisture addition were studied, including 6.3, 6.5, 7.0, 7.7, and 7.9 % moisture (after rewetting), in addition to bales with no additional moisture added. No significant changes in micronaire, strength, or color Rd were found. At moistures of 7.5% and greater, the color +b value decreased slightly and the decrease was statistically significant. When considering the moisture range used in this study, results are consistent with earlier studies.