Decorticator
Plant processing machine
A decorticator (from Latin: cortex, bark) is a machine for stripping the skin, bark, or rind off nuts, wood, plant stalks, grain, etc., in preparation for further processing.
01History
In 1933, a farmer named Bernagozzi from Bologna manufactured a machine called a "scavezzatrice", a decorticator for hemp. A working hemp decorticator from 1890, manufactured in Germany, is preserved in a museum in Bologna.
In Italy, the"scavezzatrice" faded in the 1950s because of monopolisation from fossil fuel, paper interests, synthetic materials and from other less profitable crops.
Many types of decorticators have been developed since 1890.
In 1919, George Schlichten received a U.S. patent on his improvements of the decorticator for treating fiber bearing plants. Schlichten failed to find investors for production of his decorticator and died in 1923, a broken man. His business was revived a decade after death in 1933.
Newer, high-speed kinematic decorticators, use a different mechanism, enabling separation into three streams; bast fibre, hurd, and green microfiber.
02Current usage
In some decorticators, the operation is "semi-automatic", featuring several stops during operation, while more modern systems, such as high-speed kinematic decorticators, are fully automatic.
There are companies who produce and sell decorticators for different crops.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Decorticator”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- "REAL" Full-Automatic V150 Overview.jpg by 123Audrey, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Decorticator- Robitzsch Type.jpg by 123Audrey, CC BY-SA 4.0
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.