1. opening and preparation of raw material

The harvested flax, ready for processing, is rolled up in the field. The orientation of the fibres is crucial at this point, the top and bottom of the plant need to be on the same side at all time.

At the entrance of the scutching line the bales are unrolled and the quality of the flax is checked. After the unrolling an even layer of flax is entered into the line. The first processing step in the line is the removal and evacuation of the seed. When the seed is removed the dividing unit on the one hand increases the speed of the flax layer and on the other hand decreases the layer thickness.

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2. breaking

The flax leaving the divider is taken between two belts and fed to the breaker rolls. These rolls subsequently break the wooden core, without damaging the fibre. The core particles (or shives) fall into a funnel underneath the breaker rolls where they are aspirated. The breaking unit is composed of two modules; a first one for the bottom part of the flax plant and a second one for the top part. Throughout the whole machine the orientation of the flax stems remains of extreme importance.

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3. scutching elements

A large part of the shives is separated in the breaking units but there always remains a certain amount stuck to the fibres. In the scutching elements these remaining core particles are removed as much as possible. Under the scutching elements these shives, together with the tow (or short fibres), are aspirated and processed separately on a tow processing line. At the end of the scutching line and after a final quality check, the flax is rolled up into small bales. At this moment the flax is ready for further processing and eventually it will be transformed into linen textile.

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4. shive cleaning

The shives are cleaned in a Duvex. In the Duvex short fibres are removed and in some cases also remaining seed is removed. The clean core can be stored in different ways, for example in a container or in small plastic bags. The short fibres are pressed into square bales.

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5. pneumatic transport

The shives and tow are aspirated underneath the scutching turbine and discharged with air separators. This makes it easy to extract dust from the material during transport. The dust is collected in a filter unit.

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