Forest Biomaterials in Canada: FPInnovations Scientific and Technical Expertise Jimmy Jong, PhD. Research Manager for Cellulosic Biomaterials FPInnovations, Canada For Oct. 11, 2017, Uruguay (Symposium Forest Biomaterials)
Outline Introduction of FPInnovations in Canada Creating Opportunities for Forest Sector Current Focus: Cellulosic Biomaterials CNC CF CelGel Conclusions 2
FPInnovations Offices and Laboratories FPInnovations offices and laboratories Industry, Universities, Provincial and Federal Governments Canadian Wood Fibre Centre FPInnovations: Forest Operations, Wood Products and Pulp, Paper & Bioproducts (Vancouver, BC) Fire Operations Group (Hinton, AB) Bio-Economy Technology Centre (Thunder Bay, ON) FPInnovations Head Office and Forest Operations and Pulp, Paper & Bioproducts (Pointe-Claire, QC) FPInnovations: Wood Products, Forest Operations and Pulp, Paper & Bioproducts (Québec,QC) 3
FPInnovations (Previously known as Paprican) 95 years of Research Expertise World s largest not-for-profit Forest Research Organization 470 employees 220 Member companies Liaison with 27 Universities (120 professors, government labs and industrial R&D) Innovation programs Pointe Claire (QC, Canada) Genetics and Genomics of trees Fibre Assessment Advanced Building Systems Pulp and paper, Packaging, Consumer Products & Nonwovens Bio-based Chemicals & Biomaterials Biorefinery & Sustainability Québec (QC) 4 Vancouver (BC) Vancouver (BC)
Products Development Create Products The Future Forest Product Industry? New Markets Penetration Wood products Pulp Some Chemicals CNF NCC Lignin Sugars Energy Disassemble wood into components Processes Development 5
Major FPInnovations Contributions to Innovation (Demo plant) World s First Cellulose Filament Plant Strategic Alliance with Kruger ($43M) 5 ton/day Applications: Paper, tissue/towel, thermoplastics, nonwovens Pre-Commercial Stage Trois-Rivières QC - 2014 World s First Cellulose NanoCrystals Plant Joint Venture (CelluForce) with Domtar ($45M) 1 ton/day Applications: rheology, strength reinforcement, optical First commercial application in 2013 Canada s First Lignin Separation plant Licensing to West Fraser (>$16M) 35-50 tons per day Applications: adhesives, surfactants, composites, packaging Pre-Commercial Stage Windsor QC - 2012 Hinton AB - 2014 6
Current Focus: Development of Cellulosic Biomaterials 7
General Approach Extract/modify building blocks from wood fibres: CNC (Cellulose NanoCrystals) CF (Cellulose Filaments) CelGel (Chemically Modified Pulp) Evaluate their value Pulp & Paper Composites Adhesives Textiles & hygiene Coatings Examples of FPI s Biomaterials CNC CF CelGel 8
New Biomaterials from Wood CF Wood Fibres Single fibre Microfibril H HO CH 2 OH H H H O OH O H HO H H H CH 2 OH Cellulose H OH O O Nanofibril Nano Crystals (CNC)
Length Differences Between Fibres, CNC and CF Basis: One NBSK fibre is 2.5 mm long Softwood Kraft Hardwood Kraft CF CNC : Size of an ant 10
11 CNC (Cellulose NanoCrystal)
From Tree to CNC ~100 nm length & 5 nm diameter CNC Yield: 20 % >60% 12
CNC as a New Canadian Substance CNC obtained regulatory approval under Canada s New Substances Notification Regulations (NSNR) for unrestricted use in Canada CNC is the first nanomaterial that Canada will be adding to the Domestic Substance List 13
CNC Industrial Applications CNC 14
CNC Demo Plant Québec Cellulose Nano Crystalline World largest CNC production line Joint Venture CelluForce the world leader in the commercial development of Cellulose Nano Crystalline Windsor Québec - 2012 R&D 21,4M$ Plant 45M$ From few grams per week to 1 ton per day First commercial application in 2013
16 CF (Cellulose Filament)
From Single Fiber to Thousands of Filaments CNF
Patented CF Production Process A purely mechanical process of wood pulps, robust and reliable 20-40% solids, option of fully dried CF Never-dried CF can be shipped to users in bags
Wet-Web TEA (mj/g) CF Substantially Improves Wet-web Strength 300 Web contains 30% PCC 10% Lab CF +800% 200 100 70% heavily refined NBSK 0 Control 10 20 30 40 50 60 Web Solids Content (%) 19
Exploring Where CF Can Be Used CF 20
CF Demo Plant Cellulose Filaments Québec World largest production line Strategic Research Alliance FPInnovations and Kruger join forces to build the first Cellulose Filament Plant in the world Trois-Rivières Québec - 2014 R&D 25M$ Plant 43M$ From 100s kg per day to 5t/d (8 hr shift)
CelGel (Chemically Modified Fibres Still in Development) 22
What is CelGel? CelGel is a Pulp produced through Chemical Modification process Work in collaboration with McGill University Dry Pulp Chemically Modified Pulp Cellulosic Gel 23
CelGel: Key Attributes High absorbency Nonwoven hygiene Towel Non-toxic process Biodegradability 24
Capabilities to Produce Continuous Spun Fibres at FPInnovations Installed a new Pilot Wet-Spinning line
Wet Spun Fibers Spinneret plate (3,000 holes; 70 m diameter) Dope Spun Fibers Acid Bath Water Bath Shower Dryer Winder Patent Application US 2016/0213804 26
Absorbency of Spun Fibres Rayon Spun fibres Potential applications: Absorbent hygiene, medical applications, wipes 27
Cellulose Hydrogels Chemical crosslinked cellulose with large liquid absorbency and storage capacity (Potentially replacing SAP-Super Absorbent Polymer) Hydrogel CelGel-HG Large voids for liquid absorption and storage DRY SWOLLEN 28 > 300 times mass gain Process reversible Morphology of swollen, freeze-dried CelGel-HG
Conclusions Despite challenges, current Forest and Pulp & Paper Industry has a bright future Think outside box Need to invest in new innovations Cellulosic biomaterials Several cellulosic biomaterials (CNC, CF, CelGel, etc) show great promise to positively transform the Forest Industry
Thank You! For more information, contact: Dr. Jimmy Jong Research Manager, Cellulosic Biomaterials Program 514-782-4497 514-816-4027 (cell) Jimmy.jong@fpinnovations.ca Follow us on www.fpinnovations.ca