Biomaterial Analysis for Flax Biofiber: from Harvest to Product

加拿大是亚麻种子生产的世界领先者，本作物年度的收成估计为9.1亿吨。不幸的是，目前几乎所有的农作物秸秆都在地里焚烧。目前燃烧的加工亚麻纤维的估计市场价值为2000-3000万美元/年。在提高将秸秆加工成亚麻纤维的工业产能方面取得了进展，但同一领域的作物差异使得从油籽亚麻秸秆中加工纺织级纤维在经济上是不可行的。这项研究计划将使用近红外和中红外(MID-IR)光谱来分析从收获到最终产品的油籽、亚麻茎和秸秆。在收获时进行评估的能力将使生产者能够将作物出售给最高价值的市场；有效地对田间生产的变化进行分类，使生产者(农民)和消费者(即纺织、复合材料、造纸和燃料行业)都受益。

Canada is a world leader in flax seed production with an estimated 910 million tonnes to be harvested in this crop year. Unfortunately almost all of the straw from the crop is currently burned in the field. The estimated market value for processed flax fibre that is currently burned is $20-30 million dollars/year. Progress has been made to raise industry capacity to process straw into linen fiber, but crop variation across the same field has made it economically unfeasible to process textile grade fiber from oilseed flax straw. This program of research will use near and mid infrared (mid-IR) spectroscopy to analyze oilseed flax stems and straw from harvest to the final product. The ability to conduct assessments at time of harvest will enable producers to sell the crop to the highest value market; effectively sorting the variation produced in the field to the benefit of both producer (farmer) and consumers (i.e., textile, composites, paper and fuel industries).