Biocomposites: Opportunities for ND Agricultural Byproducts

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1 Biocomposites: Opportunities for ND Agricultural Byproducts C.A. Ulven, Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering Department North Dakota State University (NDSU) Collaborators: V. Chevali, S. Pryor, I. Akatov, D. Wiesenborn, & C. Gustafson North Dakota State University (NDSU) S. McKay & M. Alcock Composite Innovation Centre (CIC) B. Tande & W. Seames Univ. of North Dakota (UND) D. Kottke & D. Huotari SpaceAge Synthetics, Inc. (SAS) Current NDSU Students: M. Fuqua, S. Huo, L. Gibbon, J.D. Espinoza-Perez, W. Manamperi, M. Hanson, & M. Azure

2 Motivation for Biocomposite Materials Research Biocomposite materials will emerge as an important engineering material as the technology evolves through strong collaboration by several facets of the entire production Composite Manufacturers University & Industry Researchers Farmers & Processors Commodity Groups

3 Research Approach A multidisciplinary team has been assembled focused on improving the growth, harvesting, treatments, and development of new agri-based precursors for processing structural biocomposites in local and regional composite manufacturing facilities for use in a wide range of applications.

4 Biocomposite Project Areas Short Fiber Research Utilization of waste cellulose fiber DDGS, Sunflower, Sugar Beet, Canola, etc. Long Fiber Research Utilization of residual flax, hemp, grasses, etc. Aspect Ratios (L/D) >2000 Biobased Resin Research Deriving polymer matrices from plant constituents Oils, Proteins, Starches, etc.

5 Byproducts Explored To-Date for Short Fiber Biocomposites *Fibers: Flax, flax shive, hemp, sugar beet pulp, sunflower hull, DDGS, corn chaff, corn cob, canola meal, etc. *Fiber volume fractions from 5-50% *Multitude of chemical treatments *Polymers: Polypropylene, polyethylene, polymethyl methacrylate, vinyl ester, epoxy, etc.

6 Short Fiber Biocomposite Results Injection Molded Polypropylene (PP) w/ 10 wt% fiber loading *Other fibers to be investigated shortly include: oat hull, pea hull, soybean hull, etc.

7 Short Fiber Biocomposite Results Cont. Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion Polypropylene (PP) Reinforcement Relative CTE (PP=1) DDGS 10 w/w 0.92 DDGS 30 w/w 0.60 DDGS 50 w/w 0.35 SFH 10 w/w 0.71 SFH 30 w/w 0.49 SFH 50 w/w 0.28 Rice Hull Flour 10 w/w [8] 0.90 Rice Hull Flour 30 w/w [8] 0.75 Wood Flour 10 w/w [8] 0.79 Wood Flour 30 w/w [8] 0.52 Talc 25 w/w [2] 0.55 CaCO 3 40 w/w [4] 0.75 Silica 40 w/w [4] 0.75 Mica 40 w/w [4] 0.43 Carbon 15 w/w [5] 0.24 *Other properties to be investigated shortly include: impact, heat distortion temp., UV resistance, moisture absorption, etc.

8 Other Polymers Being Investigated Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) reinforced with 10 wt% Sunflower Hull fiber increases both strength and stiffness *Other polymers to investigated shortly include: acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and postindustrial recycled polyolefins (LDPE, HDPE, PP, etc.)

9 Short Fiber Biocomposite Product Processing Trials Biocomposite materials from NDSU are being/have been evaluated by different molding facilities throughout the U.S. Great Plains Plastic Molding, Fargo, ND Steinwall, Inc., Coon Rapids, MN Advanced Tooling Concepts, Longmont, CO Molded Materials, Inc., Plymouth, MI *Trial structural step parts produced with NDSU biocomposite material by Great Plains Plastic Molding

10 Most Recent Short Fiber Biocomposite Developments New partnership with MCG BioComposites, LLC based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to provide technical assistance in developing biocomposite materials for industrial and commercial applications The partnering with Dr. Chad Ulven and his research group in the Mechanical Engineering Department at NDSU will help our company with the numerous applications for new materials we have indentified. according to Sam McCord, President & CEO of MCG BioComposites, LLC.

11 Flax and hemp fibers have been investigated using a multitude of chemical surface treatments Results show tensile, flexure, & interfacial strength to increase but stiffness to decrease as a result of chemical treatment Long Fiber Biocomposite Results Results indicate flax and hemp can compete with fiberglass in composite applications vs.

12 Long Fiber Biocomposite Technology Demonstrator Randomly orientated flax fiber mat / polyester composite protective cover for a hydrogen tank mounted on the front end of an experimental hydrogen assisted diesel tractor at NDSU Protection from impact, environmental degradation, etc. provided for tank

13 Biobased Polymer Composites Work with Faculty and Pilot Plant Facilities at Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at NDSU Epoxy thermoset resin from canola oil is the 1 st objective Epoxy resins from other vegetable oils and blends with linseed, corn, soy, etc. will follow Proteins blended with synthetic thermoplastics is the 1 st objective Improving toughness for damage tolerant materials is underway

14 Development of International Biocomposite Working Group *Partners from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and US:

15 Acknowledgements Funding To-Date (3 yrs, over $350k): AGCO Corporation Composites Innovation Centre (CIC) ND Corn Council US DoE / ND EPSCoR SUNRISE NSF / ND EPSCoR Startup & AURA Program National Canola Growers Association USDA / CSREES National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Funding Next 3 yrs (over $500k): ND Center of Excellence SUNRISE BioProducts Composites Innovation Centre (CIC) AGCO Corporation ND Corn Council Steinwall, Inc. Students: Graduate - M. Fuqua, S. Huo, M. Hanson, D. Huotari, S. Mekic, W. Manamperi, J.D. Espinoza-Perez, M. Tatlari, A. Thapa, & L. Gibbon, Undergraduate B. Aakre, E. Hall, E. Kerr-Anderson, B. Miller, A. Reich, N. Sailer, L. Dionne, N. Miller, T. Hein, & Several ME Senior Design Teams