Chemical retting of flax using chelating compounds

A wide range of concentrations of ethylenediaminetetra acetic acid (EDTA) was tested as a retting agent at a range of temperatures, pHs and stem: liquor ratios. Treatment of stems at 2 and 3 g/litre at 40 °C in a liquor ratio of 1:10 at pH 11 produced the finest and strongest fibre. Dried-green stem retted slightly better than the glyphosate-desiccated stem and after multiple retting with EDTA, Trilon TB and diethyltriaminepenta acetic acid (DTPA), the dried-green stem produced the finest fibre. Trilon TB and DTPA retted better than EDTA and produced a high yield of fibres. The fluidity of fibres scutched from the dried-green stem was lower than the fluidity of the fibres from glyphosate-desiccated stem.