Roger Moya and Diego Camacho

Contents

7.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 112

7.2 Material and Methods………………………………………………………………………………………… 113

7.2.1 Proposal for Industrialization…………………………………………………………………….. 113

7.2.2 Testing Sites of the Model………………………………………………………………………. 113

7.2.3 Industrialization Tests…………………………………………………………………………….. 114

7.2.4 Morphological Parameters of the Leaf and Bleaching……………………………………… 114

7.2.5 Fiber and Waste Moisture Content Determination……………………………………………. 114

7.2.6 Fiber Color and Color Change………………………………………………………………….. 115

7.2.7 Costs and Production Tests……………………………………………………………………… 115

7.2.8 Information Processing…………………………………………………………………………… 115

7.2.9 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………. 116

7.3 Results and Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………. 116

7.3.1 Production and Morphological Characterization

of A. comosus Leaves……………………………………………………………………………. 116

7.3.2 Proposed Leaf Scrapping Machine………………………………………………………………. 118

7.3.3 Fiber Characterization…………………………………………………………………………….. 119

7.3.4 Production Performance………………………………………………………………………….. 122

7.3.5 Production Costs………………………………………………………………………………….. 122

7.4 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 123

References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 123

R. Moya (*) • D. Camacho

Escuela de Ingeniena Forestal, Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica,

Apartado, 159-7050 Cartago, Costa Rica e-mail: rmoya@itcr. ac. cr

K. R. Hakeem et al. (eds.), Biomass and Bioenergy: Processing and Properties, 111

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-07641-6_7, © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

Abstract Ananas comosus crops, particularly the MD-2 variety, have demonstrated to adapt well to the environmental conditions of Costa Rica. However, one of the main issues that the management of this crop involves is how to deal with residues or post-harvest wastes. The objective of this study is to develop a machine for small — scale production of natural fiber from pineapple leaves, adaptable to rural condi­tions in Costa Rica. The proposed machine is of the scrapping type, in which the leaf is introduced and the machine eliminates the tissue covering the leaf fiber. The study showed that the machine has the capacity to process an average of 4.9 kg dried fiber/hour, with an average cost of US$0.49/kg of dried fiber. The study also found that the machine’s capacity varies for plant leaves from the first or the second crop, giving better performance with the leaves from the second crop. The fiber produced with the machine showed a greenish coloration created by the combina­tion of white, green, and yellow colors which were measured by the Color Systems CIE Lab. Once extracted, the fiber may be bleached with water, hydrogen peroxide 5 %, or chlorine 1 %, of which the most effective is chlorine 1 %, since it gives the highest color change to pineapple fiber.

Keywords Ananas comosus • Natural fiber • Fiber production • Production costs • Fiber bleaching

7.1 Introduction

Ananas comosus is commonly found in tropical regions, in any type of soil as long as it has good drainage and its pH ranges between 5.5 and 6.0 (Collins 1947; Ziska et al. 1991). The productivity level of this plant is higher in regions having average daily temperatures above 25 °C (Bertsch 2005), where up to two yearly crops are obtained (Acuna 2006). In Costa Rica, this species was planted for the first time in 1970 (Canapep 2012). According to estimations, there is at present 40,000 ha planted (GFA Consulting Group 2010), mostly of the variety MD-2, which has demonstrated better adaptation to environmental conditions (Acuna 2006; Blanco et al. 2011).

However, one of the major limitations of this culture is the large amount of post­crop wastes. Araya (1998) showed that close to 220 tons of wastes/ha/rotation are produced in an A. comosus plantation. Due to lack of processing technology or of commercial products, pineapple wastes have not received adequate management in Costa Rica (Moya et al. 2013a, b). A glyphosate herbicide is applied to plantations after the harvest. A week later, the plantation is burnt, which is an agricultural prac­tice considered unfriendly to the environment (Acuna 2006; MAG 2010).

Another inconvenience for the utilization of wastes is that the planted areas are segregated and they belong to small and medium producers, which makes harvest­ing and management of the wastes more difficult (Araya 1998).

A possible use that may be given to pineapple wastes, particularly to the leaves, is to produce natural fibers to make ropes and textiles, among others. Studies devel­oped by Paul et al. (1998) and Banik et al. (2011) determined that A. comosus has

high potential for textile production since only 3.5 % of the fiber is covered by a hydrophobic waxy layer, which makes processing easier since the need for mechan­ical treatments or substances to eliminate the fiber’s waxy layer is reduced. Furthermore, A. comosus fiber has been found to have suitable properties for mixing with cotton, jute, ramie, and other artificial fibers (Sinha 1982; Banik et al. 2011) and to manufacture interior components of cars (Banik et al. 2011; Holbery and Houston 2006; Neves-Monteiro et al. 2009). Kannojiya et al. (2013) analyzed the importance of pineapple fiber in commercial products in the textile industry.

Although Costa Rica lacks the technology to process A. comosus leaves, it does have the experience and technology to process and produce other types of fibers, such as Furcraea cabuya (cabuya). Although machines to obtain fiber have been manufactured in some countries in Asia (Banik et al. 2011, Kengkhetkit and Amornsakchai 2012), the conditions of the economy, human resources, and produc­tivity of the plantations in Costa Rica are different from those of Asia. In Costa Rica, for example, manpower costs are higher than in Asian countries; the density of plantations is also higher (70,000 plants/ha, whereas in Asia it is only 40,000 plants/ha).

For this reason, the present work proposes the development of a productive system to industrialize and produce natural fibers from the leaves of A. comosus, given their morphologic characteristics. In addition, the production and economic evaluation of the proposal for industrialization is presented, as well as color charac­terization of the pineapple fiber and three different fiber bleaching methods.