Flax Bast Comminution via Dew Roasting and Guillotine Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for processing bast plant materials into fiber mats are energy-intensive and costly due to the need for shives separation, which complicates equipment operation and increases production costs.
Innovation Solution
A method that omits wet processing and uses a combination of dew roasting, pre-crushing with a rotary shear, and guillotine cutting to achieve comminution of bast plant materials, ensuring plant fibers and shives are connected, thus avoiding the need for shives separation and reducing energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If shives are separated from plant fibers before comminution, then equipment damage is prevented, but processing complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing dew roasting on the bast plant material before comminution. This pre-treatment weakens the bond between fibers and shives, allowing them to be separated during the comminution process itself rather than requiring prior separation. The dew roasting exposes the material to natural weather conditions, initiating microbial decomposition that facilitates subsequent processing without additional separation equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the harmful effect of shives by allowing them to remain connected to fibers during comminution rather than separating them beforehand. The shives are effectively 'taken out' of the problematic separation process and instead become part of the comminuted material that can be processed together with fibers, eliminating the need for complex separation equipment while preventing equipment damage through controlled comminution parameters.
2Manufacturing precision
If wet processing is used to separate shives from fibers, then fiber quality is improved, but energy consumption and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical wet processing system with a natural dew roasting process followed by mechanical comminution. Instead of using water and mechanical separation equipment to separate shives from fibers, the method uses natural weathering to pre-treat the material, then employs a comminution device to simultaneously process both fibers and shives together, significantly reducing energy consumption while maintaining acceptable fiber quality for insulation mat production.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the processing parameters by eliminating wet processing conditions and instead using controlled dew roasting followed by dry comminution. This parameter change from wet to dry processing reduces energy consumption associated with water heating, pumping, and drying operations, while the comminution parameters are optimized to achieve appropriate fiber length and separation without requiring wet conditions.
3Productivity
If shives are removed before comminution, then blockages are prevented, but processing steps and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the comminution and shive separation steps into a single integrated process. Instead of separately removing shives before comminution and then processing fibers, the method performs dew roasting followed by comminution that simultaneously reduces both fibers and shives to appropriate sizes. The shives remain connected to fibers during this process, and both are processed together into the final insulation mat material, reducing the number of processing steps and equipment required.
4Ease of operation
If conventional comminution is used on unprocessed bast plants, then processing is simplified, but equipment damage from shives increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing dew roasting on the bast plant material before comminution. This pre-treatment weakens the structural integrity of the plant material, particularly the bond between fibers and shives, making the subsequent comminution process gentler on equipment. The natural weathering process initiates decomposition that reduces the hardness and toughness of shives, preventing equipment damage while maintaining processing simplicity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method allows for the production of insulating mats from renewable raw materials in an energy-efficient manner, maintaining the strength of the materials while preventing equipment damage from shives, and ensuring consistent fiber lengths for easy processing into nonwoven mats.
Implementation Method 1
Supported by dew and rain, a microbial roasting process begins, during which the fibers are refined.
Implementation Method 2
pre-shredding the renewable raw materials in the form of bast plants in the pre-shredding device
Implementation Method 3
guillotine cutting to achieve comminution of bast plant materials
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for the comminution of renewable raw materials for further processing, comprising the steps of: a) providing harvested renewable raw materials, b) feeding these renewable raw materials to a pre-composting device, c) pre-composting the renewable raw materials in the pre-composting device, d) feeding the pre-composted renewable raw materials to a comminution device, e) comminution of the pre-composted renewable raw materials in the comminution device, and f) collecting the comminutioned pilanzene material. The invention further relates to the comminutioned material obtainable according to the method according to the invention.