Research - Processing

Ecofibre Industries has implemented research at several levels of the harvesting, handling and processing systems for the Australian hemp industry.

In 2000, we imported a Grasliner and Kemper harvester unit, one of only a few in the world and the only commercial size specialised hemp harvester in Australia. This harvester has enabled the commercial harvest of several Queensland crop but Ecofibre Industries has recognised that further developments are required to keep pace with our commercial potential. Thus, we have investigated increasing the width of the mower action and increase capacity of the billet chopping device.

From having the harvester unit, we have designed and built an Field Processing Unit (FPU), currently being prepared for patent, which picks up the stalk in the field, chops it as per first stage processing and enables it to be modulised, similar to bulk cotton modules. This then enables bulk handling of hemp modules rather than bales, which are inefficient and expensive in the Australia production system. The mill entry system is therefore highly simplified and the material enters the mill in a partially separated state, meaning higher efficiency, lower power requirements, higher capacity and cost savings. It is estimated that this technology will reduce the cost of producing technical fibres up to 30% compared to traditional technology.

Ecofibre Industries is conducting further research into this system to assess whether fibre quality is affected and to what extent the fibre produced from the pilot processing unit suits existing and new fibre markets.