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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #115630
Title: IMPROVING THE HVI STRENGTH MEASUREMENT BY ADJUSTING FOR MEASURED MOISTURE CONTENT

Author
item Byler, Richard
item Anthony, William
item MANGIALARDI JR, GINO - RETIRED

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/11/2000
Publication Date: 3/11/2002
Citation: Byler, R.K., Anthony, W.S., Mangialardi Jr, G.J. 2002. Improving the hvi strength measurement by adjusting for measured moisture content. Applied Engineering In Agriculture. 17(6): 821-826

Interpretive Summary: In order to promote commerce of agricultural products, including cotton, many products are classed based on properties important to the purchaser. One important property of cotton fiber is its strength, which is measured by clamping a group of fibers and measuring the force required to break them. The moisture content of the fibers at the time of testing affects the strength of cotton fibers substantially. For this reason, elaborate and expensive equipment is used to control the temperature and relative humidity of the rooms where the samples are stored and where the classing is done. This research was the first step in using substantially relaxed conditioning of the samples, by measuring the moisture content of the samples, and adjusting the strength measurement. This research showed that the strength could be predicted under relaxed conditions, with reasonable error. This approach allows much less expensive air conditioning equipment to be used in the classing offices while producing similar results in a more timely manner.

Technical Abstract: A three-part study was conducted to improve the measurement of strength in the High Volume Instrument (HVI) classification system for cotton by adjusting the measured strength for moisture content. First, a resistance-type moisture meter was used to develop the HVI strength- moisture relationship and formulate correction equations based on data from 275 cotton samples conditioned at 5 relative humidity levels. The first model validation was conducted at a U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Office to verify the algorithm on cotton samples that were not used in the model development. The second model validation involved field-testing the approach in an AMS Classing Office to determine if moisture conditioning could be relaxed. The study showed that the resistance moisture meter system allowed HVI strength readings to be corrected with reasonable error on samples that had not been preconditioned to a standard relative humidity.