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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Structure and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #234340
Title: Comparative Evaluation of Laboratory Fiber Moisture Measurement Methods

Author
item Rodgers Iii, James
item Cui, Xiaoliang
item MARTIN, VIKKI - COTTON, INC.
item WATSON, MICHAEL - COTTON, INC.

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/5/2009
Publication Date: 6/15/2009
Citation: Rodgers III, J.E., Cui, X., Martin, V., Watson, M. 2009. Comparative Evaluation of Laboratory Fiber Moisture Measurement Methods. Proceeding at the National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. 1179-1184 CD-ROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In the global marketplace, the accurate and precise measurement of cotton fiber moisture is becoming more important. Moisture is a key quality and processing parameter for cotton fiber, and several moisture measurement techniques and commercial instruments are readily available, but how well do they agree with each other? A program was implemented to compare and determine the capabilities of various laboratory moisture instrumentation and measurement methods. Several moisture instruments were evaluated and validated with a common set of domestic and international cotton samples. The moisture techniques were divided into 4 broad categories—thermal, chemical, spectroscopy, and “electric.” The moisture results were compared with those obtained by a thermal/oven drying method. Results to date indicate that most fiber moisture techniques agree to within ±0.5% moisture with the oven method for greater than 90% of the samples analyzed, but only a few agree to within ±0.3% moisture with the oven method for greater than 80% of the samples analyzed. A preliminary comparative matrix has been developed.