Uses of Sisal
Sisal has a wide variety of applications including:
Textile - A major use of the fibre is in buffing cloth – because sisal is strong enough to polish steel and soft enough not to scratch it.
Sisal reinforcing composites- Sisal can substitute or enhance fibre-glass used to reinforce plastic in automobiles, boats, furniture, water tanks and pipes. Sisal can also be used to add strength in cement mixtures for the development of low cost housing and to replace asbestos in roofing and brake-pads. In addition it is an insulation material and can be made into fibre-board as a wood substitute.
Plastic and rubber composites - Sisal has good potential as reinforcement in polymer (thermoplastics, thermosets and rubbers) composites due to the low density and good welding specific properties. The use of sisal composites in automotive components and other furniture is gaining popularity. Sisal also continues to make the best material for dart boards.
Sisal waste products - By-products from sisal extraction can be used for making biogas, pharmaceutical ingredients and building material. The biomass left after fibres have been removed represents as much as 98 percent of the plant, and most is now flushed away as waste. To exploit the economic value of this material – amounting to some 15 million tonnes annually - the Common Fund for Commodities, UNIDO and the Tanzanian sisal industry funded the first commercial plant to use sisal residues to produce biogas, electricity process heat and fertilizer. Ongoing evaluation of the plant indicates that 75% of the energy produced could be distributed to rural homes and 25 percent used in sisal processing.
Sisal has a wide variety of applications including:
Textile - A major use of the fibre is in buffing cloth – because sisal is strong enough to polish steel and soft enough not to scratch it.
Sisal reinforcing composites- Sisal can substitute or enhance fibre-glass used to reinforce plastic in automobiles, boats, furniture, water tanks and pipes. Sisal can also be used to add strength in cement mixtures for the development of low cost housing and to replace asbestos in roofing and brake-pads. In addition it is an insulation material and can be made into fibre-board as a wood substitute.
Plastic and rubber composites - Sisal has good potential as reinforcement in polymer (thermoplastics, thermosets and rubbers) composites due to the low density and good welding specific properties. The use of sisal composites in automotive components and other furniture is gaining popularity. Sisal also continues to make the best material for dart boards.
Sisal waste products - By-products from sisal extraction can be used for making biogas, pharmaceutical ingredients and building material. The biomass left after fibres have been removed represents as much as 98 percent of the plant, and most is now flushed away as waste. To exploit the economic value of this material – amounting to some 15 million tonnes annually - the Common Fund for Commodities, UNIDO and the Tanzanian sisal industry funded the first commercial plant to use sisal residues to produce biogas, electricity process heat and fertilizer. Ongoing evaluation of the plant indicates that 75% of the energy produced could be distributed to rural homes and 25 percent used in sisal processing.
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