ABACA Activities in the Philippines - Unido

Ref. No. CFC/FIGHF/09 CFC/UNIDO/FIDA 22
The extraction of abaca fiber using the autofed decorticating machine
observed the following work flow:
3
hauling of
stalks
2
drying of
fiber
4
splitting of
leafsheaths
1
delivery of
fiber for
drying
2
feeding of
materials
1
gathering of
fiber
Figure 16. Work flow in the extraction of abaca fiber using autofed decorticating machine
The figure above each work unit represents the number of laborers needed for each
phase. As such, a total of 13 laborers will be employed to operate the autofed
decorticating machine continuously for 8 hours.
Figure 17. Decorticated abaca fiber (L) being dried under the sun and (R) in hanks
4.3.5 Performance of autofed decorticating machine
For the first set of 400 stalks, 9.5 days were spent to decorticate 5.600 kgs
of abaca stalk. On the first day (September 03), stoppages were experienced due to
slippage of materials and too much wetting of the belt from abaca sap, which
resulted to very low production of 2.85 kgs. In an effort to correct the slippage of
material, the existing drive pulley was dismantled and sent to machine shop for
modification. Grooves were added to control the wetting of and add traction to the
belt and thus improve conveyance of materials to the second drum. This
modification reduces the slippage of materials. On September 07, spur gear broke
down. It was replaced the following day. On Sunday, September 12, auxiliary drive
was installed and this prevented the stoppage of the machine due to the wetting of
the conveyor belt.
Set 2 took 2 days and an hour to decorticate 4,920 kgs of abaca stalks.
Higher speed was tried on the first day, when the highest production of 404.7