Impact of Storage On Fiber Quality

The vast majority of cotton produced in the United States is exported for processing.  The exporting of the crop results in long storage and shipping times which introduces a new challenge for cotton quality.  The duration and environmental conditions of cotton storage and shipping can impact cotton quality in terms of color and processing.  The most notable change is that the +b value for many bales increases between classing and processing overseas.  The increased yellowness can result in appearance defects in the finished yarn as well as impact yarn strength and performance.  A method has been created to easily update the original +b grade with a more recent +b grade measured using a handheld instrument at the mill.  A long term project is underway to store multiple bales, produced from the same module, under various conditions and monitor the effects of storage condition on color and other physical properties as well as processing performance through to finished fabric.  Twelve bales were ginned from a single module and are being subjected to 18 months of storage under various conditions.  Standard physical testing as well as a variety of chemical and morphological analyses will be performed on the samples with the goal being to predict and model the quality changes due to storage time and condition.