Vitebsk MRP has launched the production of continuous lines for processing low-quality flax

This year, the Vitebsk Inter-district Repair Enterprise (MRP) has manufactured several new lines for processing oilseed flax, as well as low-quality raw materials.

The Vitebsk MRP is engaged in the manufacturing and restoration of spare parts for technological and non-standard equipment of flax processing plants (the only one in the republic), agricultural machinery, performs their modernization, major repairs, installation of ventilation systems, and more. Interest in the new line, by the way, has already been shown by consumers not only in the Vitebsk region but also beyond its borders.

— We started creating the equipment considering the interest from individual private enterprises, for example, the foreign private manufacturing enterprise "Soyuz-len" expressed a desire to acquire such a line and purchased two of them, LLC "Kobrynsky Klyuch" in the Brest region is also among our clients, — said the Deputy Director of MRP for Commercial Affairs, Yuri Titov. — I was mainly responsible for the technological part, and the young head of the design and engineering department, Igor Lapov, a competent specialist, was responsible for the design part; he worked on the flax straw crushing mechanism, and without his help, it would have been difficult for us to cope. Analogues, by the way, existed before, but we brought the idea, fully supported by our director Vasily Novitsky, to completion primarily so that the plants could process low-grade raw materials that had accumulated over the years. The application of the line is not limited to this, as there is currently a trend in Belarusian farms to grow oilseed flax. It also produces short-stemmed and branched flax straw, which is not always profitable to process on the main units of the enterprises.

Nevertheless, at the Volozhin flax mill, which Yu. Titov recently visited, this is precisely how it is done: all raw materials will be used without residue until the 2016 harvest. They also cultivate curly flax, which in itself brings good profits, and the oil obtained from it yields tens of percent profitability. Unlike long-stem flax, it has a shorter stem, so the MRP line, transferred to the Volozhin flax mill by the Soyuz-len enterprise, found a worthy application. This is because the equipment has many advantages, including an acceptable price, low electricity consumption, the ability not to involve a whole plant for processing low-grade raw materials, and no pre-drying. In addition, the line includes a retting machine produced by a Vitebsk enterprise; similar machines are also produced in Russia, but ours are cheaper. The productivity is half a ton of flax straw processed per hour. An important advantage of the line is that it is mobile and can be assembled quickly, within 1-2 days. There is also room for further refinement of the equipment, is confident Yuri Borisovich. Today, the line includes a straw crushing mechanism, a discharger, and a retting machine, but to obtain fiber of adequate quality, the raw material needs to be processed on the main flax preparation unit of the flax mill, or an additional cleaner of the scutching part type and another retting machine should be installed. To fully complete the complex, a roll unwinder can be added (currently, this is manual labor). However, Belarusian flax mills, according to Yu. Titov, are cautious about acquiring these lines today, and the reason for this is financial problems. Enterprises try to maintain existing equipment, and the Vitebsk MRP, in turn, is exploring all possibilities to manufacture spare parts and materials on-site, even to the extent of producing entire equipment by analogy or spare parts for imported flax mill lines. After all, flax has been traditionally cultivated in Belarus, it is well-known to our neighbors and in some foreign countries. In terms of flax fiber production volume, our republic ranks fourth in the world.

Vitaliy Shienok, "Vitbichi". Photo by MRP.