TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY Portable Color Spectrophotometer Measurements of Cotton Color in Remote Locations

The Uster ® High Volume Instrument (HVI ® ) is used in the U.S. to classify cotton, including cotton color. The cotton color parameters measured on the HVI are Rd (diffuse reflectance) and +b (yellowness). Comments from industry have indicated that some cotton bales appeared to have changed significantly in +b (yellowness) from their initial HVI color measurements. As a result of these reports, there was interest in “on-site”/remote location measurements of cotton color that will yield “real time” color values, with emphasis on yellowness. A program was implemented to develop portable color spectrophotometer procedures and protocols to perform rapid, precise, and accurate cotton fiber color measurements at-line in remote locations and to interface those results into the Cotton Incorporated Engineered Fiber Selection ® (EFS ® ) System MILLNet ™ software. AMS standard tiles, cotton samples, and routine cotton samples were used to perform comparative evaluations to establish the relationships between the HVI Rd and +b and portable spectrophotometer L*a*b* color parameters. The best correlations were achieved between 1) the HVI +b and portable spectrophotometer b* and 2) the HVI Rd and spectrophotometer Y. Excellent comparative results were obtained and all end-state criteria were achieved (high R 2 s, low