| WATER POLLUTION FREE FIBRE PROCESSING FOR COIR SPINNING |
A novel method based on vegetable oil in water emulsion developed by the Central Coir Research Institute, Kalavoor, Alappuzha, Kerala, India can very well convert the green husk fibre extracted by mechanical means for easy spinning into yarn on the traditional ratt. This development may produce major changes in the coir industry that now depends on the retting and soaking of fibre, a process that causes severe water pollution wherever retting is done. The willowed green husk fibre is sprayed with the emulsion made from castor oil, water and non ionic detergent, stabilized by urea. The treated fibre is kept in covered condition for 24 hours with limited aeration before taken for spinning.
The treated fibre can be spun into yarn as in traditional method with less effort. The resultant yarn will be uniform in texture and colour. The fibre can be easily spun into yarn yielding better production.
The cost of the emulsion treatment is 35 paise per Kg. fibre which is minimal as it is completely eliminate pollution of water bodies due to soaking of fibre in water. Efforts are in progress to popularize the new emulsion technique among the coir spinning sectors through field demonstrations and workshop. Large scale treatment of green husk fibre with vegetable oil emulsion was already carried out at the yards of two leading yarn manufacturers in the vycome yarn producing sector by processing 8.4 MT green husk fibre. The yarn produced from vegetable oil emulsion treated fibres can be bleached and dyed and products made from it have similar properties to that from soaked fibre. The development promises a better future for the coir industry |
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