Extraction of Flax and Sisal Fibre through Improved Extractor and Their Chemical Characterization

Abstract

Natural fibres are biodegradable and more environment friendly in terms of production, processing and waste disposal. They are the raw materials for the textile industry which is the backbone of the Indian economy. Flax/linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) plant is a fibre crop that is mainly cultivated for the extraction of linseed oil from the seed. Retting, scutching and hackling are the important unit operations to obtain flax fibre from its stalk. Flax fibre has unique properties like soft, lustrous, flexible and high breaking strength. Flax fibre can be blended with jute and other allied fibres to produce various diversified value-added technical textile products. The developed flax fibre extractor is operated by a 1 hp motor with an extraction capacity of 150 kg hr^-1 dry stalks. The efficiency of the extractor is 80-85% with a fibre yield 7.0-8.0 kg hr^-1. Sisal (Agave sisalana) fibre is a leaf fibre that belongs to Agavaceae family. The leaves are long, straight, dark green, pointed often covered with waxy bloom which contains 90% moisture and 3-5% fibre depending on the age of the plant. The developed sisal fibre extractor is operated by a 2 hp motor with an extraction capacity of 50 kg hr^-1 green leaves. The efficiency of the extractor is 80-85% with a fibre yield of 1.5-2.0 kg hr^-1. The whole length of the green sisal leaf can be fed continuously and there is no requirement of manual dragging of the processed leaves. The leaf is mechanically scrapped, then washed in water and sun-dried. The fibre obtained is fairly coarse and inflexible which can be blended with other natural fibres to produce different textile products.