Tow

The oakum ( called also as the working substance (s) or Hede ( the ) Kauder ) is a lower fiber quality that arises when Panting of bast fibers such as linen, hemp or jute. It consists of short pieces of fiber in random orientation and is usually contaminated by dirt and shives. It constitutes a by-product of the production of long fiber

Properties

Flax is 70 to 95% from about 100 to 500 mm long fiber pieces and interests in dust and shives in Hanfwerg varying the length between 10 and 500 mm, with up to 98 % fiber content. As the thermal conductivity of insulation Flax is similar to conventional insulation materials around 0.040 W / mK.

Use

The tow is for later processing purified, refined, and parallelization. It can then in dry and wet spinning process into yarns ( tow, Eng. Tow yarn ) and strings spun or not spun be used (eg as a sealant or filler in the paper industry or for nonwovens ).

Especially historically relevant is the use of Hanfwerg together with tar, pitch or gum when caulking to seal joints between wooden planks. In the construction of Arab dhows and other Holzschiffbauten in the Indian Ocean, the method is still in use today. In Germany, the few remaining wooden ships are caulked mainly for repairs, while new buildings in traditional timber construction are very rare. In the Middle Ages tow was used as raw material for fire projectiles, such as the Falarika. For this purpose, it was mixed with pitch, sulfur or natural resin and set on fire in front of the Fort skidding.

Often flax or Hanfwerg still used to seal by filling the threaded columns of water and heating pipes - In building - despite the " modern" alternative Teflon tape. In liquid exposure, the fiber swells, the swelling subsequently supported the sealing effect. If the pipe to be welded or soldered near the screw, has a high temperature stability of hemp, which can not be achieved with Teflon tape. Hemp also withstand the high mechanical stress at bolting better than Teflon. The back screws for example, align angled pipes exactly is only possible with hemp seals; Teflon seals are destroyed.

Just as short fibers tow can also be used as a lower-quality fiber fraction in the production of technical textiles and pulp.

In the Papal Inauguration tow is burned to produce white smoke. This on the one hand shows the waiting crowd in St. Peter's Square, the Pope election was held and accompanied the other hand, until 1963, the three -time Formula inauguration " Sancte Pater, sic transit gloria mundi " ( Holy Father, so passes the glory of the world. )

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