FAIR-CT96-1697 Validation of Raw Materials Coming From Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus)

Contacts
Further Information



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Biocomposites/Boards : Crops for Biocomposites/Boards : Crops for Textiles/Fabrics/Cordage : Economics : Enviromental Aspects : FAIR Area 1.1 - Biomass and Bioenergy Chain : Fibre : Process Engineering : Textiles/Fabrics/Geomembranes

	Type of Project	Shared Cost
	Contract No	FAIR-CT96-1697
	Total Cost	1,100,000 ECU
	EC Contribution	600,000 ECU
	Start Date	01/01/1997
	Duration	40 months

Validation of raw material coming from kenaf

Objectives

This proposal tries to achieve the general aim "To set up the technical and economical frame of the use of kenaf raw materials in the manufacture of kenaf by-products" by achieving positive results in the development of tasks aimed at the following specific objectives:

1. General valuation of kenaf raw materials. Valuation discriminated by varieties. Setting up profiles of raw material quality with regard to the demands of the industrial users.
2. Systemisation of the processes (separation, pre-processing or hypercompaction) to be carried out with kenaf raw materials before the industrial processing.
3. Use of kenaf semi-industrial products in final non-paper products (chipboards, growing media for fungi crops, composites, non-wovens, etc)
4. General valuation of the economical viability of kenaf-based final products, based on national and worldwide market researches of the products, as well as its consequences in the environmental improvement.
5. Planning of chains of production/use of kenaf at a regional level.

Different entities will carry out the tasks. They have a thorough experience in working with kenaf species, its agricultural cultivation or its paper use, as well as in the production technologies of final products, in accordance to the present-day technical, economical and environmental demands (composites, non-woven, geotextiles, etc). The whole consortium will develop research tasks using the kenaf species in different fields, such as varietal evaluation, physical systemisation (separation, compaction, etc) or chemical processes (structure modification) in order to homogenise the agricultural raw materials before the industrial process. The project will also investigate the use of products suitable for multiple applications (composites, non-wovens, etc), as well as potting-mixtures for special agricultural productions (fungi crop). In short, the realistic range of potential uses for kenaf will be investigated. This will not be limited to technical aspects, but will also include economic evaluations, such as the cost analysis of the different productions, the evaluation of potential markets and the planning of possible development of kenaf (production/use) at a regional level.

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.)

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.)

Contacts

Coordinator

• Keninter SL SPAIN

Participant

• Dr . Y KALPAXIDIS / Balkanexport SA GREECE
• Rob ELIAS / BioComposites Centre University of Wales Bangor / UNITED KINGDOM
• Mr Lucio Bilancini / Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato / ITALY
• MARIA PEŅA DIAZ / Micelios Fungisem SA Dept R&D / SPAIN
• Martin H B SNIJDER / Wageningen UR Agrotechnological Research Institute / NETHERLANDS