Development and practical experiences with a new technology for cleaning of shive-fibre mixtures in processing plants for natural fibres

Abstract. A shortage as well as a rise in costs for such raw materials as used for the production of derived timber products and fibre composites can be observed for quite some time. Especially the use of wood as energy source has led to an increased demand of cellulose raw materials. Non wood resources e.g. from agricultural production are coming into consideration as alternatives or as replenishment to the conventional raw material stock. Shive-fibre mixtures constitute a large proportion of by-products in hemp fibre decortication plants. The ATB has developed a new processing technology for the cleaning of shive-fibre mixtures with an axial fractionator. It allows classification and cleaning of shives as well as recovering of the short fibres in only one processing step. The high quality shives can be used not only for animal bedding, but also for for the production of particle boards without further preparation. Furthermore, recovering of short fibres in the axial fractionator improves the efficiency of plant operation.