Current R&D Activities in Alberta's Bio-Materials Sector

Transcription

1 Current R&D Activities in Alberta's Bio-Materials Sector John Wolodko, Ph.D., P.Eng. AITF Chair in Bio & Industrial Materials, and Associate Professor Dept. of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Sciences, and Dept. of Renewable Resources University of Alberta June 2 nd, 2016

2 2 Where is Alberta? Calgary

3 3 Where is Alberta? Fort McMurray Wild Fires (> 500,000 ha) ottawacitizen.com Calgary

4 4 Growing the Bio-Resource Sector in Alberta: The Alberta Advantage

5 5 The Alberta Advantage Significant Bio-mass Resources (forestry and agriculture sectors) Industrial infrastructure Strong R&D capacity Highly trained workforce Successful history in developing unconventional resources Favorable business environment (e.g. low taxes) New Climate Leadership Plan & Carbon Levy

6 6 Overview of the Alberta Economy

7 7 Forest Bio-Mass in Alberta Forested lands = 38M Hectares (over 60% of the province) Annual Allowable Cut of timber was approx. 30M m 3 (in 2009) Major forest products sector: 7 pulp mills 23 sawmills 7 panel board/engineered wood facilities Source: (Government of Alberta )

8 8 Agriculture Bio-Mass in Alberta Agriculture sector is 2 nd largest in AB after Oil & Gas (mainly for food and feed) 21M Hectares in Agricultural Land (less than 40% of the province) of which 9M Hectares used for crops Alberta produces an estimated 8M tonnes of surplus straw annually (2009) Source: (Government of Alberta )

9 9 Key Government Support for the Bio-Resource Sector Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions (funding for R&D and commercialization; strategic leadership) Alberta Economic Development and Trade (business and economic development; funding; industry attraction) Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (applied R&D; consulting/testing services; funding for commercialization; pilot facilities for processing of CNC/CNF, biochar, engineered panels, pulp and hemp/flax decortication) Bio-Industrial Opportunities Branch, Alberta Agriculture & Forestry (applied R&D; technical & business support; pilot facilities for fractionation and extrusion)

10 10 Emerging Initiatives Lignin from AB Pulp Mills - Recent commercial production facility in Hinton, AB (West Fraser) Bio-based Nano-Materials (CNC, CNF) unique pilot facilities at AITF in Edmonton, AB Bio-Polymers from agricultural (oil seed, protein, starch/sugar) and forestry (lignin) feedstocks Industrial Hemp (multipurpose crop) the Next Canola? Engineered Bio-Fiber Mats (a multitude of potential applications) BCG s new facility in Drayton Valley, AB Thermoplastic Composites (wood & non-wood) PP production facility being planned near Ft. Sask, AB

11 11 Overview of Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (formerly the Alberta Research Council)

12 Background Largest and oldest provincial based applied research capacity in Canada: Over 600 Employees Over 90 Years of Operation (Alberta Research Council established in 1921) Value Proposition: Delivering value and R&D funding to Alberta companies (over 1,000 industry clients per year) Pilot and large-scale testing facilities (de-risking new technologies)

13 AITF Applied Research Centres Edmonton Devon Vegreville Edmonton (C-FER Technologies) Significant R&D Capacity: 100,000+ m 2 of bench and pilot-scale facilities $75 million in fee-forservice applied research How AITF Works with Industry: Demonstration/Scale-up Joint Industry Projects Consulting & Testing

14 AITF s Applied R&D Focus Energy (Oil Sands, Oil and Gas, Pipelines, Tight Oil & Fracking) Sustainable Resources (Agriculture & Forestry) Materials and Manufacturing Environmental Monitoring and Management Carbon Conversion, Capture and Storage Industrial Measurements Health Research & Technologies

15 AITF Programs and Pilot Facilities 15

16 Industrial Natural Fibre Development Straw yield (t dry/ha) Crag Alyssa Carmen Tygra Silesia Industrial Hemp and Flax: Breeding and Agronomy Enhancing possibilities

17 Decortication Pilot Facility Output: 1 tonne/day Enhancing possibilities

18 CNC Pilot Plant (Crystalline NanoCellulose) Feed Stock Reactor Centrifuge Packaging Output: 20 kg/day Enhancing possibilities Spray dryer Microfiltration

19 CNC Properties Size: 5-10 nm X nm Aspect ratio: Crystallinity: >80% Surface area: ~ 400m 2 /g Modified with sulfate esters ( OSO 3 H): ~1.0 weight percent sulfur, 5 sulfate groups per 100 glucose units Capable of forming stable aqueous suspensions after drying Biodegradable 1wt% 0.1wt%

20 Portable Biochar Production Auger Retort (Indirect Heat) Biochar Unit Multi-Hearth (Direct Heat) Biochar Unit Output: 0.5 tonne/day for each unit

21 Engineered Wood Composite Capabilities Batch Blending Automatic Forming Line Standardized Physical Testing 4x8-ft Production Press Enhancing possibilities

22 Engineered Wood Composite Capabilities Tropical hardwood suitable for shipping container flooring is diminishing (escalating prices) Plywood prone to rolling shear failure Wood or Bamboo Veneer Random Strand Mat Wood or Bamboo Veneer OSB Substrate for Container Flooring Application (Norbord, High Level, AB) Enhancing possibilities

23 23 Bio-Industrial Opportunity Branch Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

24 Business Development Assistance Laboratory to Pilot Scale Process/Product Development Analytical Services Support

25 FOCUS AREAS: Bio-chemicals Bio-materials Bio-fuels Fractionation (wet/dry) Size Reduction & Classification Extrusion Capacity

26 Example Industrial Hemp

27 27 Alberta s Academic Capacity in Bio-Materials

28 28 Alberta s Key Academic Capacity in Bio-Materials Research Groups: Bressler, Curtis (LCG), Ullah, Ayranci, Wolodko (AITF Chair), others Research Groups: Mussone Research Focus: Bio-Char Research Focus: Natural Fibres, Textiles & Fermentation

29 29 New AITF Chair in Bio & Industrial Materials (John Wolodko) Research focused on the development and characterization of novel bio-based materials from forestry and agriculture feedstocks, and their use in industrial applications. Based in Faculty of ALES at the University of Alberta Funded by AITF ($2.8M over 7 years) Coordinated with partner organizations (AITF, AA&F) Industry focused research (applied to basic) Training of HQP (industrial focus) Adds to existing research cluster within U of Alberta

30 30 Current R&D Focus Green Composites - Thermoplastic and Thermoset Bio-fibre and Bio-polymer Applications Development (durable and biodegradable products) Process and Test Method Development Mat Architectures (Non-woven and Woven) Hybrid Materials and Sandwich Structures Lignin Utilization Characterization of Long-term Durability (moisture degradation, weathering, biodegradation) Life Cycle Assessment

31 31 Acknowledgements & Contacts Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF) Behzad Ahvazi CNC/Lignin Siguo Chen Eng Wood Composites Don Harfield BioChar/BioEnergy TriDung Ngo Biocomposites/Biopolymers Jan Slaski Hemp/Agronomy Bio-Industrial Opportunities Branch - Alberta Agriculture & Forestry Jianbo Lu Biocomposites/Biopolymers (jianbo.lu@gov.ab.ca) Lori-Jo Graham Business Support (Lori-Jo.Graham@gov.ab.ca) Hong Qi Director (hong.qi@gov.ab.ca) University of Alberta David Bressler (dbressle@ualberta.ca) Jonathan Curtis (jcurtis1@ualberta.ca) Aman Ullah (ullah2@ualberta.ca) Xiaohua Kong (xkong@ualberta.ca) John Wolodko (jwolodko@ualberta.ca)

32 32 Thank you for your attention! Questions?