Banana fiber extractor: Awakening the potential of a familiar tree species
The spinning machine of Mr. Bui Khanh Dung (Musa Pacta Company) turns banana tree trunks that are cut down after harvest – which is considered a waste polluting the environment, into input materials for products. high value.
“Thousands of years ago, history books once mentioned banana fiber cloth in Giao Chi, the trunk of the banana tree was torn like silk, woven into a cloth, called pepper sand, dressed beautifully and coolly (Chinese book Guangzhi). ”, Mr. Bui Khanh Dung opened the discussion with S&D with a brief introduction about the history of banana fiber in Vietnam. Working in Japan nearly 10 years ago gave him the opportunity to “realize the market” of this fabric: “In Japan, I have seen many beautiful things from banana fibers such as paper, cloth, clothes, tea bags. Even some Japanese banknotes are made from banana fibers. There are products sold at very expensive prices, for example a shirt made of banana fiber costs nearly 40 million VND.
Mr. Bui Khanh Dung, Director of Musa Pacta Company and banana fiber products. Source: dungnhiephoinhap.vn
Contrary to the world, in Vietnam, banana stems are often considered waste. “Each banana tree only gives one chamber and will die, after being harvested, it will be cut down. Some houses make use of the body to raise chickens and pigs, but only a very small part can be handled. Meanwhile, banana is the largest crop in Vietnam, about 200,000 hectares, almost every village has it. On average, tens of millions of tons of banana trunks are discarded every year. I found it really wasteful, so I started to learn about banana fibers,” Dung said.
Banana cutting machine
Despite being inferior to cotton, flax, … for many centuries, in the past 20 years, banana fiber has developed rapidly, becoming a raw material for the textile industry in many countries such as the United States of America. , Malaysia, Korea and EU countries,… “Using the banana stem is not only beneficial for the environment, but the banana fiber itself is also really valuable. Banana fiber has light weight, good moisture absorption ability, used as a garment fabric, easy to shape, and less wrinkles. Therefore, the demand for the banana fiber market in the world is increasing, the average growth rate is 30-40% per year,” Dung said.
With the goal of exploiting this market and taking advantage of raw materials in Vietnam, in 2019, Mr. Bui Khanh Dung decided to return home and established Musa Pacta Company – the first enterprise to produce yarn and other products. from a banana stem in Vietnam. Although “not the first to see the potential of banana fiber”, why did he do this? “I have to take the initiative, when I see the need to do it, I immediately start,” he said.
Improved banana fiber stripper blade
The aproactive spirit is also the factor that motivates him to successfully build a banana fiber stripping machine – the first link in the production of banana fiber products. When observing, he noticed that in order to use for the next stages, the banana fiber must be “clean”, that is, with a low content of impurities. “However, most of today’s shredders do not meet this requirement,” he said. “The main reason is that the fixed knife of the fiber grater is a multi-edged circular disc cutter that is arranged perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the knife, the flat-edged blades exert almost the same force. straight line, so the fiber is easily broken to form fiber impurities and increases the impurity content of the obtained crude fiber, and also easily leads to many fibers sticking to the blade and then rotating along the blade, twisting on the knife shaft. causing shaft jam”.
Not a mechanic, but Mr. Bui Khanh Dung still found the key to improving this device after about two years of cherishing the idea: “My banana fiber separator does not use sharp blades. sharp that uses u-shaped blades, with rounded edges, evenly spaced and parallel to the axis of rotation of the tool. With this structure, the banana fiber will be stripped more clean, the knife set has good stability and balance, so it is also more durable. The u-shaped blade can be easily replaced when needed.”
Dung’s banana stripping machine was born at the time when Musa Pacta was just established. The journey to turn an idea into a product in reality encountered many difficulties: “Initially, I planned to hire a mechanical processing company. However, when bringing ideas to places to order, no one does, because people ask questions they cannot answer. For example, they ask me how many pieces I order, must have a specific quantity before they can place an order. But I accept because at that time, this device was still being tested, “said Dung. With the thought that “no one will do it, I will”, he decided to invest in building a GMF precision mechanical factory to manufacture this device.
To facilitate the use process, besides improving the blade, he also designed a slide that bends downwards to guide the banana stem more smoothly. The upper part of the chassis also has a cover that can cover the blades during operation. Small changes have brought unexpected results: “Because of the faster chute, this machine has 2-3 times faster speed than conventional machines, higher spinning productivity, average separation per hour. about 5-6 kg of banana fiber. The machine is very safe to operate because the gap at the place of putting the material is very narrow, my purpose when designing it is to ensure that during use, if I accidentally slip my hand, I will not be sucked into it,” he explained. . Another advantage of this device is that it has a simple structure, occupies a small area, so it can be operated directly at the banana garden, reducing the cost of transporting banana trunks.
Adding value to banana trees
With a simple operation mechanism, high efficiency, and the price is nearly half cheaper than similar machines imported from China and India, the banana fiber stripping machine built by Mr. Dung has been well received by many places. “Currently, banana stripping factories in Gia Lam, Me Linh, Khai Thai (Hanoi), Nam Dinh, Son La,… all use this equipment. They buy the equipment, we transfer the process and buy the yarn, guaranteeing the output for them. Our first spinning machines were applied at Khai Thai cooperative (Phu Xuyen, Hanoi) – the first cooperative on banana fiber production in Vietnam, from 2019 to now, still running well, not yet. No problem at all,” he said. Thanks to its novelty and high applicability, Mr. Bui Khanh Dung’s banana fiber separator was granted a utility solution patent by the National Office of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) in April 2022.
The cooperation between Musa Pacta and the above cooperatives not only helps the company to have a stable source of raw materials but also creates more income for local people. “In the past, the banana tree trunk was mainly used as pig feed, but when the African swine fever epidemic occurred, livestock production was difficult, so the banana tree trunk was discarded and no one wanted to take it. Now that the banana stem is fully utilized, not only does it reduce environmental pollution, we also have more jobs and income, so we are very excited,” said Nguyen Hong Thanh from Khai Thai cooperative, in an interview with Dan newspaper. position in 2020.
From the source of banana fiber obtained, under the hands of skillful workers in Musa Pacta, a series of products of furniture, paper, bags, … made from banana fibers were born. “We don’t just stop at the raw material, because our goal is to increase the value of the banana tree. Besides handicraft products from banana fiber, we also make use of banana stem juice in the fiber production process to make nutrient solution for plants, and waste residue as a growing medium,” said Dung. said.
Most of Musa Pacta’s products are currently being distributed through trading companies for export. Although the company’s production scale is still small, Mr. Bui Khanh Dung determined, “In order to go a long way, it is necessary to invest methodically in science and technology, so that there is a foundation to upgrade and develop products. “. Therefore, Musa Pacta’s Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and High-tech Plant Seeds was born. “For the long-term orientation, we will research to create multi-tasking banana varieties, such as varieties that both take fruit and get fibers, or varieties that give more fibers and better fiber quality,” he said.
Thanh An (Cooperative article between NOIP and Science and Development Newspaper)
(https://khoahocphattrien.vn/cong-nghe/vmood-ung-dung-tu-kiem-soat-chung-tram-cam-cho-nguoi-viet/20220505025721224p1c859.htm)
