Comparative Evaluation of Laboratory Fiber Moisture Measurement Methods

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.