REVIEW OF RETTING METHODS

OSMOTIC DEGUMMING
W. Konczewicz

INSTITUTE OF NATURAL FIBRES AND MEDICINAL PLANTS

Wojska Polskiego 71 b, 60-630 Poznan, POLAND, tel. (48 61) 845 58 00 fax. (48 61) 841 78 30
e-mail: sekretar@inf.poznan.pl www.inf.poznan.pl
 Degumming of bast fibrous plants
(flax, hemp)

Water
Physical
retting Dew Chemical
methods
retting degumming

The leading producers of flax fibre are:

France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
 Water retting
Now Bulgaria
in river (Lys, Nil) Past: All EU Countries

in tank
Bacteries: Bacillus amylobacter, Bacillus felsineus, Granulobacter
pectinovorum, Clostridium felsineum, Bacillus comesii rossi
Water consumption: 1t straw / 20t water and 10t for washing
and rinsing.

cold water 13-18oC

warm water 29-32oC
application of nitrogen nourishment: urea (Kozlowski 1966),
nitrate, phosphate and ammonium carbonate (Czernuszok 1982)
with aeration (Kulas 1964)
enzymatic retting: straw, fibre
enzymes: cellulolytic, pectynolytic, hemicellulolytic,
lignocellulolytic
Warm water retting
in Egypt
 Dew retting All UE Countries

Fungi: Clostridium herbarum, Mucor stoloniter, Mucor

hiemalis, Mucor plumbens, Aspergillus niger,
Fusarium culmorum, Epicoccum nigrum, Rhizopus sp.

application of nitrogen nourishment

breaking of straw in root part
application of desiccants (Purivel, Roundup)
 DEW RETTING IN EUROPE

Retting time - 28 to 41 days

optimal parameters:
- temperature of 15 20 oC
- moisture content of air 60 %

shortest retting time:

- mean temperature of 15 oC
- rainfall of about 60 mm
longest retting time 70 days
- average temperature of 11.5 oC
- rainfall of about 32.6 mm
 RETTING PROCESS MONITORING
10-15 days from swathing
repeated regularly every week
at the end of the process twice a week.

Raw straw Initially retted straw Under retted straw

Properly retted Over retted straw Rotten straw

straw
Hooked swath shaker
 Self-propelled combine turning over
the swath of straw and deseeding flax

Practically the straw is being turned over once or twice.

 Chemical degumming

ethylene (Kroker 1950)

oxalic acid (Dujaridin 1942)
sulphuric acid (Dujaridin 1942)
sodium hydroxide (Dujaridin 1942)
acid and sodium carbonate (Dujaridin 1942)
oxygenated water (Kasprzak 1983 and
Staniewicz 1983)
soda (Ivanov et al. 1989)
sodium sulphite (Shishko et al. 1989)
and other
 Physical methods

ultrasound oscillation (Drozdow 1979)

electron radiation
steaming with application of pressure methods (Lewkowskij 1980)
steam explosion (Kessler 1998)
- flash hydrolysis steam hydrolysis
(Sotton, Ferrari 1989; Prunier 1989)
- flash hydrolysis steam hydrolysis (Wurster, Daul 1988)
osmotic degumming like conducted in Lys or Nil River
(Kozlowski, Konczewicz, Allam)
high-power electromagnetic pulses
 Osmotic degumming

Osmotic degumming method is based on natural

physical laws: water diffusion, osmosis and osmotic
pressure to obtain the higher quality of fiber.
Using physical laws, especially osmosis, when the inner
part of fibrous plant is in contact with water, allows for
extraction of fibers with no effect on natural features of
fiber.
The fiber obtained by this method is delicate, thin
and has color adequate to the quality of used raw
material.
This method allows for controlled water flow,
controlled pH value, temperature and time of the
process.
Osmotic degumming can be accelerated using
UTRASOUND processing.
Lab Scale Semi-Industrial Scale Pilot Plant Scale

PCT/PL2006/000085
PCT/PL2008/000081
 Results
7,5
7,0
6,5
The comparison of the post-osmosis and
6,0
post-retting liquids pH depending on the
pH

5,5
duration of the process.
5,0
4,5
4,0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Degumming time [h]

Warm water retting Osmotic degumming

20

16
Acidity [mval/l]

12 The comparison of post-osmosis and

post-retting liquids acidity depending on
8
the duration of the process
4

0
0 20 40 60 80 100

Degumming time [h]

water retting osmotic degumming

 Cross-section through
flax fibres Flax fibres
magnification x 200 magnification x 200

Lab scale

Semi-
industrial
scale
Long flax fiber
- Fineness 0.91 [tex]
- Breaking tenacity
62.79 [cN/tex]

Hackled flax fiber

- Fineness 0.71 [tex]
- Breaking tenacity
50.13 [cN/tex]

Hackled flax fiber

- sliver
- Fineness 0.54 [tex]
- Breaking tenacity
33.75 [cN/tex]
 The Achievements

6 5
Control pH
1 2 Water inlet

Water solution after

osmotic treatment

Control
box

t [ C]= const.

4 3
1. Process chamber 4. Heater
2. Cylinder unit 5. Feeding pump
3. Pump 6. Removing pump
Pozna, POLAND