13-AGB_DR. S.K.

DEY

A Combined Technology Package For Extraction of Pineapple Leaf FibreAn Agrowaste, Utilization of biomass and for application in Textiles.
Dr. S. K. Dey & Dr. K. K. Satapathy National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology Indian Council of Agricultural Research 12 Regent Park Kolkata-700 040 India Abstract Agriculture is our foundation and Industry will be our future are no more slogans of developing countries like India in the 21 st Century. Pine apple leaf fibre successfully tested as a base material for textiles in the early eighties, could well have been the magic yarn of the day. Extensive research work on pineapple leaf fibre, an agrowaste reveals its immense potentiality in the field textiles particularly technical textiles. Sufficient fibre will be available to arouse interest if the fibre is extracted commercially. Due to non availability of specialized spinning system for PALF in India, it will be much easier to promote PALF in any of the existing spinning systems provided an appropriate processing technology is developed. The paper outlines the complete package for extraction of PALF and utilization of the residual biomass debris from the pineapple leaf scratching machine for vermicomposting which is economically viable and remunerative for the pineapple cultivators. The fibre is coarser and stronger than cotton. The coarse and strong single and plied yarns are spun using an appropriate processing technology in different processing system. The paper also delinates our experience on production of an industrial fabric from PALF plied yarns and its transformation into industrial fabric. Cheaper PALF may act as a replacement of cotton duck which may be used as a base cloth for rubber conveyor belting substituting the conventional cotton duck and it may help for proper utilization of this agricultural waste which are the need of the hour.

PALF Plantation

Duck Fabric

Keywords: Agro-waste, -cellulose, Hydrophobic waxy layer, Pineapple leaf fibre, Pineapple leaf extractor, Vermicomposting, PALF, Yarn, Duck fabric, Technical textiles. To whom all the correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:[email protected]

13-AGB_DR. S.K. DEY Introduction: Anna, Bastra and Basasthan are the prime requirement since ancient times. Textiles especially for the clothing is known, ever since the mankind learnt how to protect themselves, by using animal skin, tree leaves etc. The civilization taught us to make clothings by using conventional natural fibres like cotton, wool, silk and linen. Non- conventional, underexploited lingo cellulosic fibres like pineapple, ramie and banana is a keyword in the world of innovation, infrastructure development and development of appropriate processing technology. Pineapple plant (Ananas Comosus Merr., Family-Bromeliaceae) is widely cultivated only for its delicious and fragrant fruit in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The potentiality of the leaves, a major part of the plant which is presently practically unused needs global attention for its commercial exploitation. The fibre is extracted from the leaves either by mechanical means or by retting the leaves in water. Although the fibre possess silky lustre, creamy colour, finer than jute, good antibacterial and dyeing properties, the yield is about 2.5-3.5 % only of total leaf biomass. Thus, extraction alone is not economically viable and hence does not arouse interest to the farmers. The leaves are not even suitable for cattle feed and hence after harvest of fruit, the disposal creates a big problem. The residual sludge can be utilized successfully for vermicomposting to make a total integrated package economically viable. Pina fabric made from fibres extracted from pineapple leaves has occupied a pride of place in Philippines. Indigenous Pineapple leaf fibre can be utilized in textiles 1,2,9 and in industries based on fibrous cellulose as raw material10,11 utilizing indigenous engineering and technology. Technical textiles constitute a group of value added products that are manufactured to meet specific technical requirements for specified end uses. PALF in view of its unique inherent features like high strength, natural colour, biodegradability and cheaper price can be an effective component in manufacture of a variety of technical textiles by binary or multi blending. Vermicomposting is a simple biotechnological process of composting using certain efficient species of earthworm12. This is a mesophilic process, mediated by special types of earthworms and microorganisms. The process is faster than common composting, because the substrate materials pass through the earthworm gut where transformation takes place. The resulting earthworm manure is rich in microbial activity and plant growth regulators and fortified with pest repellence attributes as well. Earthworms can consume the organic mass of the pineapple leaf residue to convert them into the vermicompost. Since no information on specialized spinning system for pineapple leaf fibre in India is available, it will be much easier to promote pineapple leaf fibre in any of the existing spinning systems provided an appropriate processing technology is developed. The present paper is an endeavour for the extraction of fibre from pineapple leaf agro-waste, utilization of residual biomass debris obtained during extraction of PALF through vermicomposting for additional income generation of pine apple growers and finally the important methods available for the development of technical textiles from pineapple leaf fibre with an appropriate processing technology in jute, cotton, semi-worsted and flax system. Materials and Methods: Pineapple leaf fibre used in this investigation was received from Khadi and Village Industries Commission. Jute fibre (Corchorus Olitorious) TD-3 grade was used for blending in conventional jute spinning system whereas Indian cotton was used in Cotton spinning system. Chokla variety of coarse Indian wool was used in semi-worsted processing system. Chemical Constituents of Fibre Chemical constituents of pineapple leaf fibre, viz. -cellulose, pentosans, lignin, fat and wax, pectin, nitrogenous matter, ash content, were determined following TAPPI standard methods.

13-AGB_DR. S.K. DEY Physical Properties of fibre Physical properties of pineapple leaf fibre, jute cotton, wool viz, tenacity, fineness, extension at break were determined following standard procedures for comparative study. Vermicomposting from Pineapple Leaf residual Biomass Cement tanks of 8'X4'X2.5' were used for vermicomposting from organic residues of pineapple leaf after scratching semi-dried pineapple leaf debris were mixed with cattle dung@100kgs per ton of pineapple leaf waste and used for preliminary bed preparation. This organic residue was allowed to decompose for one month, covering surface with dry grass and leaves for mulching before inoculation of mature earthworm species. African night crawler (Eudrilus engeniae) @100 in number per square metre area on the bed was inoculated and then covered with fresh pineapple scratched leaf residue. This process was allowed to continue for another 45 days. Water was regularly sprayed on the composting beds to keep the earthworm alive and in action. Water was stopped 3-4 days before harvesting i.e when the biomass lump becomes brittle and brown in colour for surface drying and moving the earthworm to penetrate inside. Dry compost was collected from the surface grinded and sieved before packing as ready vermicompost. Results and Discussion: Pineapple leaf fibre is multi-cellular with an average ultimate cell length of 5 mm. The fibre is lignocellulosic in nature, like most other natural vegetable fibres having low lignin and a high -cellulose (Table-1) content indicating their potential as raw material in the cellulose product industry as well as their utility in the textile industry. Normally, the fibre is as fine as the finer quality jute, although about ten times as coarse as cotton. Unlike jute, its structure is without mesh, filaments are well separated and it is two and a half times more extensible with superior bundle strength and L/B ratio 2. Both the flexural and torsional rigidity of pineapple leaf fibres are comparable with jute fibres of less rigid quality. TABLE-1. Physical and Chemical Properties of PALF, Cotton and Jute Fibre Physical Properties Pineapple Jute Cotton leaf fibre I Length(mm) 3-9 0.8-6.0 15-60 -3 Ultimate Breadth(10 mm) 4-8 5-25 15-20 cell L/B ratio 450 110 1300 II Gravimetric Fineness(tex) 1.54 1.25-5.0 0.10-0.30 Tenacity(gm/tex) 50 35-50 20-45 Extension at break(%) 2-6 1.0-2.5 6.5-7.5 Modulus of torsional 0.36 0.25-1.30 0.8-1.20 Rigidity(x 1010dyne cm-2) Flextural rigidity(dyne cm-2) 3.8 4.0-6.0 0.30-1.0 Transverse swelling in water(%) 18-20 20-22 20-22 III Tenacity(gm/tex) 26.0 13-31 Bundle Density (Gm/cc) 1.48 1.45 1.55 Moisture Regain at 11.8 36.0 24.0 65% Relative humidity Chemical Composition 70 60.5 92.89 -Cellulose Hemicellulose 24.3 21.2 2.67 Lignin 4.5 13.3 0.54

13-AGB_DR. S.K. DEY When the golden fibre blends with pineapple, a magic yarn is born 8. The fibre is best used as decorative material. Firstly, the natural colour is creamy white-hence unlike jute it does not need bleaching. We have tried various combinations of the fibre at our pilot plant and blended it with jute and synthetic material. When blended with synthetic material, the product is an extra fine material. The filaments of pineapple leaf fibre, being stronger and finer than jute, could be successfully spun to a fine, strong yarn in jute machinery. Some special techniques were developed for processing pineapple leaf fibre in jute machinery. These were softening with 15% oil-water emulsion leading to an oil application of 1% on the weight of the fibre, binning for 24 hours and stapling the fibre to 20 cm. Thus a jute finisher card and a flax finisher card with progressively higher pin density were used as the first and second cards, respectively, instead of breaker and finisher cards. It can work wonders with jute. If pineapple fibre is blended with jute up to 20-25%, fine yarn of linear density of 69 tex or less can be created which is very difficult to achieve with Indian jute alone (Table-2). Table-2. Performance of jute/Pineapple Leaf fibre on Jute spinning system Pineapple Long reed Stapled jute Yarn linear Spinning Yarn tenacity leaf fibre(%) Jute(%) (20Cm) density Breaks (Gm/tex) (%) (Tex) per spindle Dry Wet 100 79 31 5.2 4.7 5 95 77 11 4.8 4.6 10 90 77 12 5.1 4.5 15 85 76 2 7.1 5.2 20 80 78 10 7.0 5.6 100 69 4 8.3 7.4 5 95 80 3 8.3 8.0 10 90 66 4 8.9 7.4 15 85 66 2 7.8 6.3 20 80 72 2 8.7 8.6 100 73 2 11.1 13.5 During processing of chemically treated PALF in cotton machinery 4, the chief advantage was less fibre dropping in blowroom and carding machine. Our earlier findings on processing of raw PALF in cotton machinery3 indicated higher droppings in blowroom and carding machine. Table-3. Performance of PALF :Cotton blended Yarns on Short staple spinning system Particulars Blended Yarn from Yarns from 100% Chemically treated Cotton PALF/Cotton(70:30) 14sCount 22sCount 14sCount 22sCount Actual Linear density(Count) 13.78 (5.45) 22.55 (6.16) 13.81(4.15) 21.98 (5.25) Breaking Stress(Gm/tex) 7.36 (19.36) 7.88 (13.43) 8.18 (16.25) 10.84 (13.01) Breaking Strain(%) 3.73 3.15 Actual T.P.I 25.93 30.87 26.50 32.00 Lea strength(kg) 32.93 18.53 37.82 29.75 C.S.P 997.7 920.0 1149 1438 U% 25.5 28.5 14.0 15.5 Breaks /100 spindle Hour 16 15 18 14 (Figure in the parenthesis indicate C.V%.)

13-AGB_DR. S.K. DEY Spinnability of PALF improves after chemical treatment which was not achieved from cotton/raw PALF (67:33) blend composition. It is clear from the Table-3 that the spinnability increased from 14s to 22s with higher blend composition of PALF: Cotton::70:30.Yarn performance indicates that the C.S.P of the blended yarn is lower compared to cotton yarn. The cohesiveness of chemically treated PALF needed higher twist multiplier than normal cotton yarn of same count. Pineapple leaf fibre, a cellulosic fibre is cream in colour due to low lignin content The length, fineness and particularly the colour of the fibre are very much suitable to blend it with cheap variety of Indian wool i.e, Chokla wool 5 which is also cream in colour. Pineapple leaf fibre is blended with Chokla variety of coarse Indian wool and yarns of nominal linear density of 138 Tex were spun in semi-worsted spinning system by varying the blend proportion. The PALF: Wool blended yarn with a blend proportion of 25:75 was found to be suitable for carpet face yarns and also for home furnishing fabrics. Table-4 Performance of PALF/Wool Yarns on Semi -worsted Spinning System Blend Linear Tenacity Breaking Diameter Specific Packing Weight Proportion Density (Gm/tex) Elongation (mm) Volume CoC.V 3 (PALF:Wool (Tex) (%) (Gm/cm ) efficient (%) ) 2 inch cut length 0:100 137.3 4.43 15.11 0.644 2.37 0.3219 26.150 25:75 122.7 4.94 4.04 0.570 1.66 0.4455 20.191 50:50 126.9 7.59 3.58 0.472 1.37 0.5221 20.578 75:25 115 10.97 2.97 0.432 1.27 0.5476 20.251 100:0 135 13.71 3.74 0.452 1.18 0.5688 20.043 The performance of development of PALF yarns in flax wet spinning system and conventional jute spinning system6 which is dry reveals that wet spinning technology generally adopted in flax system brings about improvement in weight irregularity of the yarn resulting in better regularity of yarn diameter. This is mainly due to better control of fibre in the drafting zone during wet spinning Table-5.Performance of PALF and Cotton Yarn Particulars PALF YARN Cotton yarn JUTE SYSTEM FLAX SYSTEM Linear Density(Tex) 85.10 82.14 84.0 Weight C.V on 25 Yds 8.29 7.16 5.0 (%) Uster fineness (U%) 29.50 27.50 21.50 Average diameter(cm) 0.333(17.42) 0.311(19.94) Breaking Stress(gm/tex) 17.33(27.84) 19.81(23.56) 7.5(8.0) Breaking strain(%) 8.8 8.2 Packing coefficient 0.65 0.72 (Figure in the parenthesis indicate C.V%.) The diameter of wet spun PALF yarn of equivalent linear density is lower and its packing coefficient is also higher compared to dry spun PALF yarn in jute system. Hence the tenacity of wet spun PALF yarn in flax system is higher than that of the dry spun one of the jute system because better regularity and higher packing co-efficient is expected to generate higher transverse pressure during tensile loading. Labile gummy matter inherent in the fibre surface

13-AGB_DR. S.K. DEY gives a better inter-filament frictional property in hot water which is the reason for better working in wet spinning system. PALF yarns from both systems are superior in strength compared to cotton yarns of equivalent linear density but in case of regularity the result is reversed. This may be due to low fineness value of cotton fibre compared to PALF and also for the reason of better fibre control in short fibre processing machinery over long fibre machinery. Table-6 Performance of PALF and Cotton Plied Yarns Experiment Ply Tenacity Elon Threads Weight U(%) Dia Pack Re Yarn (gm/tex) gation /cm of C.V on meter ing marks (Tex) (%) ply 25 yds (mm) coef yarn (%) fi cient PALF spun 5/84 20.52 13.33 3.500 2.56 13.25 0.0919 0.43 in flax wet (11.31) (10.88) (11.64) spinning system PALF spun 5/84 19.20 11.00 3.565 4.24 16.00 0.0915 0.45 in jute (19.51) (16.41) (19.78) system Cotton yarn 5/84 15.20 8.60 3.962 (6.01) (3.6) PALF spun 6/84 18.86 11.90 3.000 2.89 13.00 0.1016 0.41 in flax wet (14.95) (18.86) (9.84) spinning system PALF spun 6/84 20.35 12.23 2.995 2.53 15.50 0.0982 0.47 in jute (14.92) (20.35) (13.24) system Cotton yarn 6/84 15.28 11.90 3.988 (6.49) (9.97) PALF spun 8/84 19.30 12.30 2.500 2.75 12.25 0.1090 0.49 Twist in flax wet (10.58) (19.30) (9.08) ed spinning In wet system state PALF spun 8/84 19.51 13.27 2.500 2.85 14.00 0.1245 0.39 in jute ((15.56) (19.51) (14.70) system Cotton yarn 8/84 17.41 9.80 2.870 (5.73) (5.71) PALF spun 12/84 17.0 13.30 2.000 1.85 12.00 0.1326 0.49 Twist in flax wet (9.26) (17.0) (7.69) ed spinning In wet system state PALF spun 12/84 18.47 14.03 2.270 2.28 11.80 0.1601 0.36 in jute (11.57) (18.47) (12.93) system Cotton yarn 12/84 15.77 13.80 2.794 (4.97) (5.29) (Figure in the parenthesis indicate C.V%.)

13-AGB_DR. S.K. DEY The PALF plied yarns generated from flax wet spinning system are superior to plied yarns from conventional jute spinning system in respect of u (%),weight and diameter irregularity The breaking stress of PALF plied yarns in both the system are comparable. It is interesting to mention here that PALF yarn from jute spinning system with high irregularity and low strength compared to yarn from flax system improves considerably when plied It is reflected in the tensile property of plied PALF yarns in both the system of equivalent linear density. The packing co-efficient of PALF plied yarns improves significantly when the yarns are twisted in wet state in case of 8 ply and 12 ply in flax system. The tensile property of Palf yarns of both the system are superior to cotton plied yarns. The elongation property of PALF plied yarns are either better or comparable to cotton plied yarns. The lower strength C.V (%) values of cotton plied yarns indicate its superiority over PALF plied yarns but it may not create any hindrance while converting 5/84 tex and 8/84 tex yarn into PALF industrial fabric. Table-7 Performance of PALF and Cotton Duck Cloth Particulars PALF Cotton Industrial Industrial fabric Fabric Cloth weight(gm/m2) 960 960 Count of warp yarn(Tex) 8/84 5/84 Count of weft yarn(Tex) 5/84 6/84 Warp thread/10cm 74 91 Weft thread/10 cm 58 55 Crimp in Warp yarn(%) 14.7 22.0 Crimp in weft yarn(%) 5.6 3.0 Breaking strength, Warpwise (Kgs) 154 134 Breaking strength, Weftwise (Kgs) 93 8.5 Breaking elongation, Warpwise (%) 18.9 28.2 Breaking elongation, Weftwise (%) 8.1 8.5 Thickness(mm) 1.57 1.60 The higher strength of PALF compared to cotton has been reflected in case of single and plied PALF yarn and this has also been reflected in the newly designed and developed PALF industrial fabric7 .The tensile strength of developed industrial fabric from PALF is higher than that of the industrial fabric from cotton in both directions. The elongation property of the new fabric is comparable with that of cotton fabric in weftwise direction. Though the value in warpwise direction is lower it may not have any adverse effect on the actual end use of the fabric. The thickness value of the developed PALF industrial fabric are comparable with cotton .The crimp(%) in both the directions of PALF fabric are different from cotton and this is due to the difference in the manufacturing techniques of both the fabrics. Table-8. Microbial population in Vermicomposting samples Sample Viable Viable fungi/g Viable actinomycetes/g bacteria/g Partially 69x106 11x104 2x104 decomposed substrate Vermicompost 54x106 8x104 1x104 Average moisture content in vermicompost cast was 50% and the pH was 7.0.It is observed that the vermicompost contain more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium almost at per and less C:N ratio than other compost although it is likely to vary with pineapple leaf biomass residue used for vermicomposting. Pineapple leaf residue vermicompost contains 1.0-1.2 %

13-AGB_DR. S.K. DEY nitrogen,0.3-0.4 % phosphorus and 0.4-0.5 % potassium which indicates that that pineapple leaf debris vermicompost is rich enough in NPK and will be suitable for agriculture. Earthworms are invertribates and are of two types (i) burrowing type and (ii) non-burrowing type. The non-burrowing types live in upper layer of soil surface and consume 10% soil organic matter, whereas the burrowing type live in deep in soil and depend 90% on soil organic matter. The non-burrowing type has been used for vermicomposting from pineapple leaf scratching debris. Generally, microbial population initially increases in compost beds when organic matter is actively decomposting and then gradually decreases in number and reaches to an equilibrium when easily decomposable organic materials are exhausted (Table 6). It is also important that the microorganisms face competition for organic matter from earthworms in vermicompost beds. Moreover, earthworm inevitably consumes soil microbes during ingestion of the organic substrate and extracts nitrogen from microbes especially from microbes. This may be the reason for less number of fungi in vermicompost samples. Bacteria might have multiplied fast again in vermicompost so long the sufficient moisture is there, pH and temperature show a profound role in controlling microbial population in vermicomposting. Conclusion: The extractor can effectively be used to extract the fibre from the agrowaste of pineapple leaves and the residual sludge obtained after scratching the leaves can be used for vermicomposting successfully. Investigation on pineapple leaf fibre clearly indicate that the agrowaste can be suitably processed into useful products. Pineapple leaf fibre had already been proved to be a useful raw material for good quality paper. Development of appropriate processing technologies for generating yarn with improved properties can widen the application of this agrowaste. The integrated technology for the extraction of pineapple leaf fibre and the vermicomposting altogether becomes remunerative to pineapple cultivators which can be adopted by all pineapple growers not only for additional income but also proper utilization of wastes particularly agricultural wastes which is an important factor in planning the economic progress of a developing country like India. Acknowledgement: The authors are thankful to Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi for necessary financial support for the work. One of the authors are also thankful to Dr. K. K. Satapathy, Director, National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology, Kolkata for giving permission to present the paper in this 9th All India Peoples Technology Congress. References: 1. S. K. Dey, D. Nag, and P. K Das, New Technologies for rural development having potential of Commercialization, Allied Publishers Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, 115-127,2009. 2. S. K. Ghosh, M. K Sinha and S. K. Dey, Utilization of pineapple leaf fibre in Textile sector, Text Ind and Trade Jr,Vol17,No5-6,1979,p114. 3. S. K. Ghosh, M. K. Sinha, S. K. Dey and S. K. Bhaduri, Processing of pineapple leaf fibre in Cotton Machinery, Text Trends, vol14, no10,1982, p 49. 4. S. K. Ghosh, S. K. Dey and S. K. Bhaduri, Processing of chemically treated Pineapple leaf fibre in cotton machinery, Text Trends, July1982, p 1. 5. S. K. Ghosh, S. K. Dey and A. Ghosh, Pineapple leaf fibre/Wool blend in semi-worsted processing, The Ind Text Jr, April,1989,p 152 6. S. K. Ghosh, S. K. Dey, M. K. Sinha and R. N. Ghosh, Pineapple leaf fibre in conveyor belting, The Ind Text Jr, April1982,p 65. 7. S. K. Ghosh and S. K. Dey, Designing an industrial fabric from pineapple leaf fibre, Jr Inst of Engrs, December1983,p 16. 8. S. K. Dey, G. K. Bhattacharyya and S. K. Bhattacharyya, Magic yarns from ramie and pineapple- A new dimension in 21st century, 20th Indian Engineering Congress,2005,p 69.

13-AGB_DR. S.K. DEY 9. M. K. Sinha and S. K. Ghosh, Processing of pineapple leaf fibre in jute machine, The Ind Textile Jr, December 1977,p 105. 10. Yoshinavi Kobayashi and Ryukichi Matsuo, Chemical and enzymatic pulping of the decorticated pineapple leaf fibre and some physical propertiesof its paper, Cellulose Chem. & Tech,11, 487-99. 11. I. N. Ghosh, N. L. Debsarkar, A. Day and B. C. Mitra, Some studies on pulping characteristics of jute and other allied non-wood plant fibres for paper manufacture in the Handmade paper mills, IPPTA, Vol.-11, No-1, March 1999. 12. S. Banik, D.Nag and S. Debnath, Utilization of pineapple leaf agro-waste for extraction of fibre and the residual biomass for vermicomposting Indian journal of fibre and Textile Research, Vol 36, June 2011,172-177.