Agrofibres for Wetlaid nonwovens
Development of biodegradable and renewable fibre source for replacement
of synthetic fibres in disposable wetlaid nonwoven production. Flax was
selected from a range of bast and leaf fibres (flax, hemp, ramie, abaca,
sisal) and a tailored fibre pulping process was developed and patented.
Product and Market Development for Sisal
Feasibility of pulp and paper production from sisal leaf fibre and sisal
waste in East African region. Introduction of adapted agronomy for pulp
production purposes, development of dedicated decortication technology and
worldwide market study to develop markets for the targeted products.
Wageningen UR is involved in the worldwide project management and in
selected parts of the (confirmatory) pulping and bleaching trials and
training of project personnel.
Biopulping & biobleaching of jute and kenaf
Participation in a CFC funded project for development of pulping
technology and logistics for jute stick and whole kenaf for Bangladesh,
India and China. The participation of Wageningen UR comprises the
development of biomechanical processing for said bast fibre crops.
Bio-Kenaf - Kenaf application development EU project
Development of technologies for processing of kenaf to develop a novel
feedstock for non-traditional fibre products, with involvement of the whole
chain of growing, processing and end-users.
Chemimechanical pulping of Empty Fruit Bunch
Evaluation of refiner-based CTMP pulping of palm-oil residues for
application in packaging papers and boards in Asia.
Coir based building materials
A new proces has been designed to produce fibre boards for building
applications from whole fresh coconut husks, without the addition of
synthetic binder. The feasibility for industrial scale production in coconut
growing areas will be investigated in cooperation with Philippine
governmental institutions.
Agrofibre for graphic paper, and graphic and packaging board
A study was issued to evaluate bleached chemimechanical pulp from the
core fibre from hemp for improvement of sheet formation and porosity control
in uncoated graphic paper.
A study was issued to evaluate bleached chemimechanical pulp from the bast
fibre from hemp and flax as a replacement for cotton linter pulp.
The performance of a variety of hemp core pulps for improvement of internal
bond in multilayer boards was evaluated and found to be very good.
Agrofibre as source of high DP cellulose for dissolving cellulose and CMC
Cellulose from bast fibres was found to have extremely high DP’s,
potentially interesting to produce high-DP modified celluloses as CMC’s,
CA’s or CP’s. The standard alkaline/chlorine dioxide extraction and
purification process for cellulose was adapted to yield pure high DP
celluloses as base for modifications by the customer.
Contact: Jan van Dam
