Determining Raw Flax Regain Mass for Dock Intake Reconciliation
Dock intake reconciliation converts landed gross weight to bone-dry mass via core oven desiccation before adding official twelve percent commercial regain.
Hysteresis Adsorption Desorption
Isotherm Divergence
Sorption isotherms tracking water vapor absorption in natural polymers display distinct paths depending on whether the material gains or loses moisture. Material physics identifies hysteresis adsorption desorption as the phenomenon where flax fibre holds higher moisture content during drying than during wetting at identical ambient relative humidity levels. Internal pore geometry and capillary condensation explain this path-dependent behavior.
Processing mills account for equilibrium differences when conditioning raw fibre lots prior to spinning.
Physical Equilibrium
Polymer networks undergo structural rearrangement as water molecules penetrate or leave internal cell walls. During hydration, hysteresis adsorption desorption produces a delayed swell response, requiring higher ambient humidity to reach equivalent water content than during dehydration cycles. When wet-spun yarns undergo drying, hydrogen bonds reform between cellulose microfibrils at higher moisture retention levels than those required during initial moisture uptake.
Mill conditioning vaults maintain controlled relative humidity trajectories to ensure yarn reaches predictable moisture content regardless of prior processing history. Accurate atmospheric control prevents weight discrepancies during final yarn packaging and shipment billing. Testing laboratories perform moisture determination under strictly standardized equilibrium conditioning protocols to eliminate sorption history errors.
Moisture Boundary
Sorption path divergence describes equilibrium moisture state differences under ambient atmospheric conditions. Hysteresis adsorption desorption ceases to operate once fibre reaches complete liquid immersion or total thermal dehydration inside drying ovens. Beyond thermodynamic limits, capillary pore structures fully collapse or fill entirely with bulk water, eliminating path dependency.