the amount of steam required with an evaporation heat of r 2309 kj per kg steam the following steam quantity d is required 8 29 kg of steam is therefore required to heat the cotton bale to 80 u00b0 c the steam then condenses into 8 29 kg of water which is absorbed by the cotton this weight increase of 8 29 kg corresponds to a 3 32 increase since the above calculation does not take into account the original moisture content of about 6 the actual weight increase is about 13 more than calculated i e about 3 75 the difference between this figure and the measured weight increase of 3 93 u2014 which is greater than theoretically calculated u2014 is attributable to weighing precision of the balance of u2212 0 2 kg and of the physical data in a second test in accordance with the invention a s cycle procedure was performed on a bale under the following conditions steaming program 1 st vacuum 50 mbar 95 1st cycle t1 80 u00b0 c 2 min start 1st cycle with empty evaporator or with cold waterbath 2 nd vacuum 200 mbar 80 2 nd cycle t2 80 u00b0 c 5 min 3 rd vacuum 200 mbar 80 3 rd cycle t3 80 u00b0 c 5 min 4 th vacuum 200 mbar 80 4 th cycle t4 80 u00b0 c 7 min 5 th vacuum 200 mbar 80 5 th cycle t5 80 u00b0 c 9 min total time approx 100 minutes before conditioning 260 80 kg 100 weight 5 minutes after conditioning 270 15 kg 3 58 weight increase after about.