Controlling the amount of cotton moisture during the production process has become very important to cotton processors.  Too much moisture or too little can affect the end product.

With the help of industry partners and 30 years of knowledge and experience, MoistTech has developed the Cotton-Moist Sensor^TM  that is ideally suited to measure the moisture levels in cotton.

The Cotton-Moist SensorTM is an online, non-contact process control sensor designed to measure cotton both moisture and temperature.  This latest generation of MoistTech sensors contains the very latest surface mount electronics and are far less blend sensitive as they do not need all the calibration data graphs.  With MoistTech’s Cotton-Moist SensorTM , now processors have the answer to sensing cotton moisture, with better reliability and accuracy than ever before.

Cotton is turned into two major products when processed in the cotton gin.  The seed cotton is fed into the Gin plant and the flow rate is controlled subject to the Gin’s capacity and also the condition of the cotton whether it is clean, dry or wet.  Clean cotton can be processed at the highest capacity.  Gas fired dryers are commonly used to control the cotton moisture between 7-10%.  This is very critical in the ginning process and one of the areas where the new Cotton-Moist SensorTM that is built into the IR-3000 Cotton Moisture Sensor is most valuable.

Installation…

MoistTech's moisture control instrumentation can be used in the cotton process for controlling of the drying and the re-humidification of cotton fiber and lint.  Typically the IR-3000 Cotton Moisture Sensor, with the new Cotton-Moist SensorTM included as a standard feature, installed about 8” above the cotton gin.  It can be located in several locations in the cotton process, during the combing and cleaning as well as, the drying and re-moisturizing process of the cotton. 

Environment….

If the cotton moisture sensor is susceptible to extreme heat conditions from gas heaters during the drying process, it is necessary to cool the sensor with either air or water.  Although dust from the product is not normally a problem, in extreme dusty environments we recommend the installation of an air purge system to prevent the accumulation of material on the sensor’s window. 

Benefits….

improved product quality lower energy costs reduced start-up times less waste 100% product inspection less downtime

As our new Cotton-Moist SensorTM best indicates, your 'cotton crew' at MoistTech is very experienced with cotton moisture requirements in the production and processing of cotton.  Our sensor calibrations, measurement wavelengths, algorithms and sensor optical requirements are pre-set at the factory.  The typical accuracy is about ±0.1% moisture.  The typical analog range is 0-10% moisture and up to as much as 40%, subject to application.  The outputs can be adjusted to optimize PLC or recording requirements.