Direct fiber production process converting pectin-rich agricultural side streams into circular cellulose textile fibers

Overview

This green chemistry-based process directly converts pectin-rich agricultural side streams, including citrus peels and apple pomace, into high-quality cellulose textile fibers. Conventional cellulose fiber production methods such as Lyocell and Viscose cannot handle feedstocks containing more than 5% pectin or high levels of hemicellulose and lignin, leading to solubility issues, filtration blockages, and poor fiber quality.

This engineered solvent system overcomes those limitations, enabling the use of complex, impure plant biomass without costly depectinization steps. The result is a viable circular pathway that transforms low-value agricultural waste into high-margin textile materials. Successful fiber formation trials have been completed using high-pectin orange peel, and the approach has also been validated with whole-plant feedstocks including hemp and flax, demonstrating versatility across different biomass types.

Technical specifications

The technology is built around a novel solvent system specifically engineered to tolerate high concentrations of pectin, hemicellulose, and lignin. Key features include:

• Direct dissolution and spinning of pectin-rich side streams without extensive pretreatment
• Compatibility with complex, impure plant biomass feedstocks
• Elimination of costly depectinization steps required by conventional processes
• Production of textile-grade cellulose fibers from agricultural waste streams
• Demonstrated performance with orange peel, hemp, and flax feedstocks

The planned validation program includes profiling spent citrus peels and apple pomace batches, defining spinning envelopes for high-pectin feeds, optimizing solvent ratios, and assessing spin dope stability, filtration behavior, and fiber morphology. Testing will cover tensile strength, elongation, and durability against established textile benchmarks.

Technology readiness level

The process is currently at TRL 4-5, with successful fiber formation trials completed using high-pectin orange peel and other whole-plant feedstocks. A 12-month validation program is planned to advance the technology to TRL 6, including small-scale demonstration under industrial spinning conditions, systematic process optimization, batch-to-batch reproducibility verification, and preparation of a complete technical package for industrial partnership discussions.