RDL730 TECHNOLOGY ALTERNATIVES FOR RURAL DEVLOPMENT

April 29
UNCONVENTIONAL FIBRE PLANTS: A SOURCE OF SUSTAINAB LELIVELIHOOD

2011
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Submitted To:Dr.V.R.CHARIAR Dept.Of RURAL DEVLOPMENT IIT DELHI

Submitted By:Rajendra Singh (2010TTE3680) Pradeep Singh Tanwar (2010TTE3666) Dept.Of Textile Technology

Abstract: Anna, Bastra and Basasthanare not only slogans but are prime requirement since ancient times. The basic requirements changed with the evolution of civilization. Natural fibres have wide scope of application in textile field, particularly due to recent tilt towards more friendly textiles. Amongst conventionally used fibres like cotton, wool, jute and silk there are many other fibres produced in India which fall into the category of unconventional fibres like ramie, pineapple, bananas, sisal etc. These unconventional fibres are commonly used for preparation of a wide variety of products and in many forms. Application of these fibers include filler or reinforcement materials, insulation or used as structural elements and disposable or durable products such as yarns and textiles; ropes, twines and nets; non-woven fabrics, tissues; paper and board products; packaging; building and construction materials, fibre boards, geotextiles; composites and automotive parts. The return to nature to meet our clothing, food and medicinal need is one option that is required if we want to achieve sustainable living. We must also return to traditional methods of production- back to chemical free and organic production methods.

Key words: Unconventional fibers, Natural fibers, Sustainable living.

Introduction During the early days of his existence, man was dependent upon animal skins and furs to keep him warm. A sheep skin wrapped carelessly round the body may be better than nothing for keeping out the cold. Inevitably, man began to look around for something that would keep him warm more elegantly and more comfortably than an evil-smelling hide. At some point in history, he found that the long thin fibres produced by plants and animals could be twisted together to form a thread. These threads then interlaced into woven fabric to provide a flexible, warm and supremely comfortable material such as he had never known before.

The fibres used in modern textile manufacture can be classified into two main groups: (a) natural and (b) man-made fibres. . Natural fibres can be subdivided into three main classes, according to the nature of their source i.e. vegetable fibres, animal fibre and mineral fibres. India has a rich heritage of natural plant material due to wide range of climatic variations. Vegetable fibres of plant origin are used in variety of textile and industrial products. The vegetable or plant based fibres are cellulosic in nature and are classified into hard and soft fibre categories according to their availability in a particular part of the plant and also based on the stiffness associated with it in the raw state

Most soft fibres come from the bast portion of the plant, also called the phloem, the bast lies directly under the outer bark or skin. Here the transport of the products of photosynthesis and the development of stabilizing structures take place. Through the process of retting, the bast is removed from the stems. Hemp, Flax, Jute and Ramie are soft fibres. Hard fibres are comprised not only of the phloem but also partly of the hardened wood core of the plant, the Xylem. The hardness in the the plant's fibres is caused by the deposit of lignin in the cell walls. Hard fibres generally come from the leaves of monocot (single seed-leaf) species, for example sisal, banana and diverse palms.

Extraction of fibres 1. Retting: This process employes the action of bacteria and moisture on plants to dissolve or rot away much of the cellular tissues and gummy substances surrounding bast-fibre bundles, thus facilitating separation of the fibre from the stem. Basic methods include water retting and dew retting.

In water retting, the most widely practiced method; bundles of stalks are submerged in water. The water, penetrating to the central stalk portion, swells the inner cells, bursting the outermost layer, thus increasing absorption of both moisture and decay-producing bacteria. Retting time must be carefully judged; under-retting makes fiber separation difficult, and over-retting weakens the fibre. In double retting, a gentle process producing excellent fibre, the stalks are removed from the water before retting is completed, dried for several months, and then

retted again

Natural water retting employs stagnant or slow-moving waters, such as ponds, and slow streams and rivers. The stalk bundles are weighted down, usually with stones or wood, for about 8 to 14 days, depending upon water temperature and mineral content.

Dew retting, which is common in areas having limited water resources, is most effective in climates with heavy nighttime dews and warm daytime temperatures. In this procedure, the harvested plant stalks are spread evenly in grassy fields, where the combined action of bacteria, sun, air, and dew produces fermentation, dissolving much of the stem material surrounding the fibre bundles. Within two to three weeks, depending upon climatic conditions, the fibre can beseparated. Dew-retted fibre is generally darker in colour and of poorer quality than waterretted fibre.

Tank retting, an increasingly important method, allows greater control and produces more uniform quality. The process, usually employing concrete vats, requires about four to six days and is feasible in any season. In the first six to eight hours, called the leaching period, much of the dirt and colouring matter is removed by the water, which is usually changed to assure clean fibre. Waste retting water, which requires treatment to reduce harmful toxic elements before its release, is rich in chemicals and is sometimes used as liquid fertilizer. The retted stalks, called straw, are dried in open air or by mechanical means and are frequently stored for a short period to allow curing to occur, facilitating fibre removal. Final separation of the fibre is accomplished by a breaking process in which the

brittle woody portion of the straw is broken, either by hand or by passing through rollers, followed by the scutching operation, which removes the broken woody pieces (shives) by beating or scraping. Some machines combine breaking and scutching operations. Waste material from the first scutching, consisting of shives and short fibres, is usually treated a second time. The short fibre (tow) thus obtained are frequently used in paper manufacture, and the shives may serve as fuel to heat the retting water or may be made into wallboard.

2. Decortication: Decorticator is used for the extraction of fibres from some hard leaves such as sisal and murva. There are three types of decorticator available in the market i.e. disal based, patrol based and electrical decorticator.

Industrial applications of fibre crops Fibres are commonly applied in a wide variety of products and in many forms. Applications include as filler, or reinforcement; insulation or used as structural elements, and disposable or durable products such as:

1. Apparels and furnishings The fiber is one of the most valuable parts of the unconventional fibre plant. Flax fibers are amongst the oldest fiber crops in the world. The use of flax fibre in the manufacturing of cloth in northern Europe dates back to Neolithic times. Flax fiber is extracted from the bast or skin of the stem of flax plant. Flax fiber is soft, lustrous and flexible. Characteristics of hemp fibre are its superior strength and durability, resistance to ultraviolet light and mold, comfort and good absorbency (8%). As these bast and leaf fibers can not be used in 100% products due to their lack of pliability, so these are commonly blended with fibres such as linen, cotton or silk, for apparel and furnishings.

2. Ropes, twines, fishing nets

The competitive price and performance of synthetic fibres has led to a severe decrease in the use of natural fibres in the manufacturing of ropes and binder twines. In many regional

markets synthetic fibres have totally displaced natural fibre products. However, in some applications the biodegradability of natural fibre products has substantial advantages for the environment. For example in horticulture, or in shipping and fisheries, where synthetic fishing nets and hawsers, are widely used because of their strength, are causing severe damage to wild life due to their persistence. Therefore sisal or agave (that yields a stifffiber) may be used in making rope. Beside this hemp, flax and coir fibres are also used for making rope and twines although their cost is high but are ecofriendly. 3. Paper and boards

The paper and pulp applications of non-wood fibres in woodfree pulps, as compared to wood based products have a negative environmental image. This is mainly due to partial application of effluent treatment and chemical recovery systems in relatively small scale pulping

mills. Approximately 10 per cent of the worlds virgin pulp is made from non-wood pulp of which a large proportion is produced in China from wheat and rice straw, bagasse and bamboo. These papers are of a higher quality then tree papers so it has an expensive feel to it. Because no acids are needed to process the hemp into paper, hemp paper will not yellow soon after printing. It lasts thousands of years rather then a few decades as for tree paper. It can be recycled many times over (7) as opposed to 3 for tree paper. The best thing about hemp paper and other paper manufactured from the unconventional fibre plant is that we no longer need to cut down trees for pulp.

4. Non-woven fabrics Non-woven fabrics manufactured by dry-laid needle punching technology can be produced from most natural fibres. Each fibre yields a characteristic fabric, depending on its length and softness. For various applications, to enhance the coherence in the non-woven mat, cross-linking chemicals are used, or the fibres are blended with synthetic fibres, consolidated and finished by subsequent calendering on hot rollers. Alternatively, a wet laid process can be used. With this technology, high pressure water jets are used to entangle the fibres and, similar to paper making processes, the fibres form bonds at contact points upon drying, resulting in a strong web structure.

Non-wovens are applied in various forms and products, such as: tissues and hygienic products; filters; sorbents in diapers and disposables; building industries as insulation mat, filling material in mattresses, furniture; floor covering and carpets; laminates and composites; horticultural substrate and geotextiles. 5. Geotextiles

Hemp-based erosion control blanket

Geotextiles are used in areas such as reinforcement for embankments in order to prevent erosion in landscape engineering structures. The natural biodegradation of the lignocellulosic fibres can be considered to be an important advantage in temporary civil engineering applications. However, the functional life time of a geotextile should be sufficient, under the applied conditions, and provide the required protection against erosion, as long as the construction needs to be stabilised. Production of hemp erosion control mats is

continuing in both Europe and Canada. Given the reputation for rot resistance of hemp canvas and rope, it seems probable that ground matting is a legitimate use. Moreover, the ability to last outdoors for many years is frequently undesirable in geotextiles. 6. Horticultural production materials Artificial substrates, synthetic binder twines, plastic clips and plant pots are extensively used in modern horticultural production. For producers, the disposal of plastic inputs and substrates for soil-less production, such as mineral wool is increasingly becoming a problem, whilst mineral woolproducts may also negatively affect human health. As an alternative, the use of renewable growing media has been investigated with coir pith, the residue from coir fibre production, being introduced as a renewable substitute for artificial media, or peat moss. Other fibrous materials and bark have also been considered for conversion to ecologically sound alternatives in potting mixtures and substrates with promising results. The production process of these alternatives requires less energy whilst their disposal presents no problem to the environment. Biodegradable plant pots manufactured by natural fibres and different binders provide an alternative to plastic plant pots. However, substitution possibilities are limited mainly to the relatively low price of plastic pots, in spite of the fact that biodegradable plant pots result in a reduction in labour, as replanting in nurseries becomes unnecessary as roots are able to grow through the pot walls.

7. Building materials

New building in France being constructed entirely of hemp

Building industries contribute to a large extent to resource depletion, waste generation and energy consumption, while on the other hand the built environment is vital to economic development. Fibre crops could play a more prominent role in building and construction applications, as fibre board material, insulation materials, as well as reinforcement, or filler. In lightweight concrete, bricks and loam building blocks, cellulosic fibres have been known to provide good properties. In the production of substitutes for asbestos cement, abaca fibres were proven specifically suitable. Application of fibres in the manufacturing of boards for building is determined mainly by relative prices and can be feasible when

fibres can be produced with lower costs than wood chips. In most cases, the amount of synthetic glue, or resin required for binding the fibres to form strong board materials is higher than in the case of wood fibres. This increases the production costs of the board product, but also its ecological performance. Coatings, paints and adhesives that are mainly based on petrochemical products, are necessary to increase the durability of renewable building inputs. In order to increase the environmental performance of renewable building materials, varnishes, paints and coatings based on plant oils should preferably be applied. Similarly, natural resins derived from plants, such as lignin and furans should be developed for production on commercial scale and become available as binders for boards and as components in protective coatings. 8. Composites

Concrete block made with hemp in France

Composite fibre products are not new. The first composite material known was made in Egypt around 3,000 years ago when clay was reinforced with straw to build walls. With the advent of metals, the use of natural fibre for reinforcing declined. The rise of composite materials began during the

1960s when glass fibres in combination with tough rigid resins was produced on a large scale. The advantages of using plant fibre include lower raw material price, caloric recycling or saving of non-renewable resources. Natural fibres offer many attractive technical and environmental qualities when used as reinforcements in polymer composites. They provide high specific strength and stiffness, processability and low raw material and manufacturing energy costs to a range of thermoplastic and thermosetting composite materials. In the last couple of decades, natural fibre composites of thermoplastics and thermosets have found their way into the European car manufacturers for door panels, seat backs, headliners, package trays, dashboards, and trunk/boot liners. These benefits mean that the potential market for natural fibre reinforcement is very large. The automotive industry, in particular, is keen to exploit their cost, weight and environmental benefits in thermoplastic injection moulded products. It is recognised that, under optimum circumstances, natural fibres could produce composites with specific strength matching that of glass fibre-reinforced plastic and with specific stiffness exceeding it.

Conclusion India is considered as one of the vanguards of environmental protection. A country that is committed for the elimination of environmentally harmful processes and over-exploitation of non-renewable resources. The extent to which the use of natural fibres results in environmental benefits, over synthetic fibres in industrial applications partly depends on the possibilities for substitution of the various fibres in the processing, the energy

requirement of the production process, the product performance and the functional life time, including options for waste disposal.

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