Determining Standard Moisture Regain Corrections in Raw Flax Fiber Batches
Standard flax fiber corrections adjust billable consignment weight to a twelve percent regain baseline derived from laboratory-verified oven-dry mass.
Decortication Loss
Processing Deficit
Mechanical extraction of bast fibers from the woody core of flax plants always results in a reduction of total material weight. This reduction, termed decortication loss, represents the weight of shives, dust, and non-fibrous cortical tissues separated from the valuable flax fiber during the scutching and decorticating process. Mills must track this parameter to evaluate the efficiency of their primary processing machinery.
Higher losses directly reduce the volume of spinable fiber.
Extraction Yield
Flax straw contains a high proportion of woody matter that must be removed before spinning can take place. Modern decorticating lines crush the straw between fluted rollers and then beat the broken stems to release the flax fibers. The weight of the raw straw minus the weight of the recovered long and short fibers defines the decortication loss.
Technicians measure this value by weighing a test batch of straw before running it through the extraction line. They then compare the input weight with the final output weight of the cleaned fiber, calculating the percentage lost during the run. The assessment helps the plant manager determine whether the mechanical settings are optimized for the current fiber moisture and thickness.
Mill Output
High decortication loss indicates either poor quality of the raw flax straw or incorrect adjustment of the crushing rollers. If the straw has been insufficiently retted, the fibers remain firmly attached to the wood, leading to excessive fiber breakage and increased losses. Spinners in Chinese mills monitor these figures to adjust their purchase prices for different flax crops.
Efficient mills maintain decortication losses below thirty percent to remain profitable.