Valladares Juárez, Ana GabrielaAna GabrielaValladares JuárezRost, GernotGernotRostHeitmann, UweUweHeitmannHeger, EgonEgonHegerMüller, RudolfRudolfMüller2020-08-032020-08-032012-11-26Biochemical Engineering Journal (71): 11-18 (2013)http://hdl.handle.net/11420/6931A newly built 200-L-pilot plant was used for testing a novel chemo-enzymatic process for producing fine flax fibers without the weather-associated risks of dew retting. Raw, green and decorticated flax fibers were placed inside trays in the tempered main tank of the pilot plant, where a vertically acting mechanism gently moved the parallel fiber bundles. The fibers were incubated in an alkaline bath, in a pectinolytic culture of Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius PB94A and in a peroxide-softener bath. Finally the fibers were dried, combed and hackled into a sliver that is ready for wet-spinning of linen yarns. A total of 140. kg of raw fibers were treated in 40 different experiments in the pilot plant. The resolution of the raw fibers improved from 7.3 to 2.7 ± 0.3 after the treatment. The fineness was enhanced from 37.4. dtex to 11.1 ± 1.2. dtex. The proposed pilot-plant process produced constant-quality fibers and could be easily up-scaled.en1369-703X20121118ElsevierAlkaline pectinasesFlaxGeobacillus thermoglucosidasiusPilot plantRettingTextilesBiowissenschaften, BiologieJournal Article10.1016/j.bej.2012.11.010Journal Article