“Non-food Crops-to-Industry schemes in EU27”
WP1. Non-food crops
D3.2 Fibres that can be produced in EU27
Lead beneficiary: INSTITUTE OF NATURAL FIBRES AND MEDICINAL PLANTS (INF&MP), Poznan, Poland
Authors: Krzysztof Heller, Przemyslaw Baraniecki, Maria Talarzyck,
Co-beneficiaries: HEMPFLAX
Authors: Mark Renders
Co-beneficiaries: KEFI
Authors: Valerio Zuccini
May 2011
The project is a Coordinated Action supported by
Grant agreement no. 227299
Crops2Industry project
WP3. Bio-based products
The general target of WP3
The main target of this WP3 is to explore the potential and feasibility of the European industry to manufacture high-value biobased products from renewable agriculture and forestry feedstocks and biotechnological routes. The work is divided in four tasks: Task 3.1 Oils, Task 3.2 Fibres, Task 3.3 Resins, Task 3.4 Pharmaceutical and other specialty products.
In this WP, the bio-industry demands in oils, carbohydrates, resins, pharmaceutical and other specialty products is reported and restricting factors that inhibit broader industrial use of the feedstocks are to be identified. Research gaps, prospects and recommendations to procure bio-based products are tackled.
Task 3.2 Fibres
Elaboration for flax by the Institute of Natural Fibres & Medicinal Plants, Poznan, Poland
Tasks in WP3 Bio-based products
1. Review on the product yielding capacity from various industrial crops streams
2. Identify desirable quality characteristics that feedstock has to meet for mature industrial processes
3. The report on raw materials from non-food crops as alternative to fossil, petroleum-based and chemical resources
4. Set prospects to widen the range of potential feedstocks for the understudy industrial uses, based on the technology improvements
5. Identify restricting factors that inhibit broader industrial use of the biomass feedstocks (supply, costs, physical traits, consistency in quality, technical performance, research gaps, etc)
6. Set forth research gaps, prospects and recommendations to procure bio-based products will be tackled
1. Flax (Linum usitatissimum)
Task 1. Review on the product yielding capacity from various industrial crops streams
Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is one of the oldest cultivated plants and as such, is one of the oldest sources of raw material used by humans, especially in Europe. The Latin adjective used in scientific name of the species – “usitatissimus” – means the most useful, the most versatile is a testimony of its importance it still had in times of Linnaeus. Although for last two, three centuries it has faced a strong competition from cotton and for last couple of tens years from synthetic fibres it is still utilized in many industries.
For the purpose of this report we will not consider all possible products that can be obtained from this crop but focus on currently most important products. In flax crop chain many products become raw materials for further processing either in the form of items manufactured for this purpose or in the form of by-products which are utilized further. This caused the need to divide all materials obtained from flax into agricultural raw materials and industrial raw materials. The latter are also divided for primary and secondary industrial raw materials yielding products of which utilization example and directions of use are given.
The Table 1. presents all the materials that can be obtained from flax indicating which products and what directions of use correspond to primary and secondary industrial raw materials.
Note: The significance of the raw materials and bio-based products should be discussed and described on the base of current situation (vide questionnaires, which INF&MP is still asking for, waiting for completing)
The task 1 as well as all other tasks will be completed after obtaining the results derived from the entire set of the questionnaires, filled-in by the project partners. The tasks 5 and 6 should be compatible; the task 6 should be elaborated on the basis of profound analysis of the materials of task 5.
Table 1. Most common raw materials and products obtained from flax
Industrial use of renewable raw materials /Agriculture Raw materials / Primary Industrial Raw Materials / Secondary Industrial Raw Materials / Directions of use/Product example /
Non-deseeded straw / Biomass/biofuel /
Deseeded straw / Biomass/biofuel
Pulp & paper
Whole stem mats /
Seeds / Sowing material, Agro –fine-chemicals etc. /
/ Animal feed
Edible oil
Food
Pharmaceuticals /
Chaffs / Feed /
/ Chaffs / Pharmaceuticals, Agro –fine-chemicals etc. /
/ Decorticated fiber / Nonwoven, insulation, Composite material,
Pulp & paper
Ropes /
Agriculture Raw materials / Primary Industrial Raw materials / Secondary Industrial Raw Materials / Directions of use/Product example /
/ Shive / Particleboard
Insulation
Solid biofuel
Composite Materials
Substrate for mushrooms
Construction material
Animal bedding
Pulp & paper /
Retted straw /
/ Long scutched fiber / Hydraulic sealing /
/ Short fiber (tow) / Nonwoven, insulation, Composite material,
Pulp & paper /
/ Carded yarn / Technical fabrics
Decorative fabrics, twine, ropes /
/ Shive / Particleboard
Insulation
Solid biofuel
Construction material,
Substrate for mushrooms,
Composite Materials,
Pulp & paper /
/ Dust / Compost, Briquettes /
/ Long hackled fiber / Hydraulic sealing /
/ 100% linen yarn / Woven and knitted fabrics,
Garments
Table cloth
Bedlinen
Decorative fabrics /
/ Noils / Worsted carded yarn,
Garments,
Table cloth,
Bedlinen,
Decorative fabrics /
Agriculture Raw Materials / Primary Industrial Raw Materials / Secondary Industrial Raw Materials / Directions of use/Product example /
/ Scutched homomorphic fiber /
/ Nonwoven,
Agro, geotextiles,
Insulating material,
Composite Materials,
Pulp & paper,
Carded yarn,
Garments,
Table cloth,
Bedlinen,
Decorative fabrics, ropes /
/ Cottonized fiber / Carded yarns,
Composite Materials,
Personal hygiene products /
Task 2. Identify desirable quality characteristics that feedstock has to meet for mature industrial processes
2.1. Agricultural raw materials
2.1.1. Non-deseeded straw
- seed content – over 10%
- average technical length – over 56%
- straw colour – (over 65% of yellow stems)
- straw shape – at least 60% of normal (straight stems)
- health condition – at least 80% of healthy stems
- impurities weight content – utmost 20%
- moisture content – utmost 16%
Requirements presented above were obligatory in many countries of Eastern Europe before accessing the European Union[1].
2.1.2. Deseeded straw
- average technical length – over 60 cm
- straw colour – yellow (over 65% of yellow stems)
- straw shape – at least 60% of normal (straight stems)
- health condition – at least 80% of healthy stems
- impurities weight content – utmost 20%
- moisture content – utmost 16%
2.1.3. Sowing material
- seed purity – minimum than 99%
- germination capacity – minimum than 80%
- moisture content – maximum than 8%
- admissible level of other species seed – maximum 100 seeds/kg
- admissible level of diseases infection – maximum of 5 seeds infected/kg
2.1.4. Chaffs
- impurities below 10%
- maximum moisture content – 12%
2.1.5. Retted straw
- average technical length – over 60 cm
- content of properly retted stems – over 90%
- straw colour – light grey, steel grey, silver grey
- straw shape – at least 70% of normal, straight stems
- health condition – at least 80% of healthy stems
- moisture content – utmost 16%
- efficiency of long scutched fibre – at least 15%
2.2. Primary industrial raw materials
2.2.1. Seeds
- seed purity – minimum 85%
- admissible amount of seeds without shine – 15%
- moisture content – maximum than 10%
2.2.2. Decorticated fibre
A raw material for production of decorticated fibre is straw obtained from the following plantations:
- oil flax plantations where straw contains low amounts of low quality fibres,
- fibrous flax plantations – fibre not useful for processing into spinnable fibre:
- heavily weeded plantations
- seed plantations
- lodged plantations where straw is tangled and curved
- plantations infected by diseases
- plantations yielding short and not sufficiently retted straw
Parameters of decorticated fibre:
After decortication:
- average impurities content in the fibre: below 25%
- average length of decorticated fibre – 48.5 mm
- average fibre strength – 22.5 cN/tex
2.2.3. Long scotched fibre
Quality parameters of long scutched flax fibre:[(]
- fibre length – minimum 500 mm
- fibre thinness – below 6.0 tex
- fibre delicacy – delicate and soft fibre
- greasy feel – very greasy felt fibre required
- colour – homogeneous steel grey fibre
- total loses in carding – maximum than 3%
- breaking force – maximum than 14 daN.
Long scutched fibre is mechanically hackled. Hackling results in division of fibre into long hackled fibre and short fibre – machine noils.
2.2.4. Short fibre
Quality parameters:*
- fibre length – over 80 mm (scutching tow), over 140 mm (matted tow)
- fibre thinness – below 5.5 tex (scutching tow), below 6.5 tex (matted tow)
- divisibility – a clear strand separating into technical fibres is required
- impurities content – below 3%
- spinning ability – minimum than 330 tex.
Short flax fibre: noils and tow (scutching and matted) are processed by wet (including boiled and bleached roving) and dry carding spinning system. Linear density of carded yarn depends on the grade of fibre and spinning system used.
2.2.5. Long hackled fibre
Quality parameters*
- fibre length – over 80 mm (scutching tow), over 140 mm (matted tow)
- fibre thinness – below 5.5 tex (scutching tow), below 6.5 tex (matted tow)
- fibre delicacy – delicate and soft fibre
- greasy feel –greasy felt fibre required
- fibre strength – when broken fibre must give a crushing sound, fibre ends frayed where broken
- colour – homogeneous, shades of green and rusty unacceptable
- wet spinning ability – maximum than 84 tex
- average breaking strength – minimum than 14.4 daN
Long hackled flax fibre is used in traditional flax wet and dry spinning system. Thinner worsted yarns are produced by wet system with boiling.
Dry spinning the yarns of higher linear density are produced[(]
2.2.6. Scutched homomorphic fibre
Flax homomorphic fibre should have the following main quality parameters:
- average diameter – about 60-90 mm
- divisibility – maximum 2.3 tex
- impurities content – maximum 0.4%
- maximum length – 130 mm with longer fibre content maximum 5%
- average thickness – 40-50 μm
Main raw material for flax wool-like fibre is homomorphic flax dew-retted fibre obtained from straw harvested earlier.
2.2.7. Cottonized fibre
Flax noils of 170-210 grade (Ns 10-14) obtained from mechanical hackling of scutched fibre are the best fit for production of flax cotton-like fibre. Also so called homomorphic fibre obtained from dew-retted flax straw and scutching waste fibre are also useful for that purpose.
The fibre types mentioned above should be mechanically or chemically processed to meet requirements given in technological conditions.
In production of cottonized fibre from flax homogeneity of fibre including fibre length, thickness and impurities content plays very important role.
2.2.8. Yarn
Yarn parameters depend on its application. Due to high variability of yarns it is not possible to present quality parameters in the report.
Factors connected with quality parameters of yarns:
- linear density [tex]
- variability of yarn is a basic quality parameter in spinning industry. Variability of yarn linear density is a result of its uneven thickness which has serious consequences for technological processes.
- yarn twist – a number of twists per 1 m of yarn. Direction of twist is also determined (s – when spiral line of elements in outer layer are bended in accordance with bending of the middle part of letter “S”.
- yarn strength – mostly a specific yarn strength is given [cN/tex] describing the co-dependency of breaking force [cN] and linear density of yarn and also elongation [%] of a yarn section during breaking.
2.3. Secondary industrial raw materials
2.3.1. Shive
- moisture content – maximum than 15%
- fibre content – maximum than 10%
- the impurities content – maximum than 15%
- dust content – maximum than 10%
- content of required shive fraction – minimum 65%
Waste shive fractions resulting from fibre extraction process can be used for:
- bedding for animals
Shive are contaminated with dust and silica as a result of processing. Using shive for bedding requires removal of dust and short fibres.
- substrate for mushroom production
- construction materials
- for energy production (briquettes)
Using shive for briquettes production requires removal of short fibres and silica. Silica causes excessive wear of briquetting machine working elements. Short fibres content has negative effect on durability of briquettes in transport.
Energy efficiency of shive is 18.3 MJ/kg**
- composite material filler
Shive grinding is required. Depending on the use in composite materials, lignocellulosic material is ground down to fractions from 0.2 to 2.0 mm. Moisture content should be below 10%.
2.3.2. Noils
- thinness – thin able to be combed fibre
- delicacy – very delicate fibre
- strength – fibre resistant to stretching
- colour – homogeneous, shades of green and rusty unacceptable
- nap content – minimum amounts acceptable
- impurities content – maximum 2%
- carding sliver efficiency – minimum 84%
- spinning ability, wet – maximum 100 tex
Task 3. The report on raw materials from non-food crops as alternative to fossil, petroleum-based and chemical resources
3.1. Agricultural raw materials
3.1.2. Deseeded straw
- flax biomass as solid fuel (briquettes, pellets) substituting fossil fuels (coal, lignite)
- flax biomass as liquid fuel (second generation fuels) alternative to fossil liquid fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel)
- additive of biomass in biogas reactors instead of fossil gas fuel (methane)
- use in insulating mats instead of Styrofoam or mineral wool
- replacement of man-made polymers based fillings in composites
- use in production of low grade paper and elimination polymer based packaging
3.1.4. Chaffs
- replacement of mineral fertilizers with flax chaffs as a raw material for the production of organic ecological fertilizers
3.2. Primary industrial raw materials
3.2.1. Seeds
- oil removed from seeds (by pressing) can be used for production of biodiesel. Transesterification of flax oil with methanol with the presence of natrium or potassium hydroxide as a catalyser, produces methyl esters of higher carboxyl acids, commonly called biodiesel. Technical flax oil is used for production paints, varnishes, cosmetics, etc. rafinated oil is used for food and pharmaceutics.