CRF-Straw
Development of a new and environmentally friendly process for pulp production from wheat straw for the manufacture of cellulosic regenerated fibres
Background
The topic of sustainability is playing an increasingly important role in the textile industry. Interest in innovative ecological alternatives to classic raw materials such as cotton and petroleum is steadily increasing. One reason for this is that the demand for textile fibres is increasing as the world's population grows. At the same time, cotton production will stagnate due to the limited availability of arable land. The requirements regarding the areas of application of textile fibres are also becoming more and more demanding. Experience shows that about one third of textile fibres must be made of cellulosic regenerated fibres (CRF) due to certain properties, such as absorbency, because synthetic fibres do not have these properties. These developments will lead to a disproportionately high demand for CRF in the coming years. The substitution of cotton with CRF is an important contribution to environmental protection. CRF are usually obtained or produced from wood without the need for artificial irrigation. Cotton cultivation consumes about 35 times the amount of water as the production of CRF from wood. The basis for CRF is chemical pulp from softwood and hardwood, which is usually produced in a material- and energy-intensive pulping process. In contrast, chemical pulps based on agricultural residues, such as cereal straw, offer the possibility of increasing pulp production much faster and with less effort due to the faster growth of the plants and the lower energy and chemical consumption for fibre pulping. However, much higher demands are placed on the quality of chemical pulps. To meet these requirements, pulp production and processing must therefore be adapted to the new raw material. This requires new approaches, which are to be developed in this research project.
Research partner:
- J. Rettenmaier & Söhne GmbH + Co KG (www.jrs.de)
Period:
2022 - 2025