FBRI Wood Extracts Attract National Attention
“This unique $250,000 pilot scale wood extraction facility was made possible by the NSF EPSCoR grant that helped us scale-up our technologies so business folks can get design data at industrially relevant scale of operations.” says Hemant Pendse, chair of UMaine’s Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and managing director of the university’s Forest Bioproducts Research Institute. Researchers at UMaine’s Forest Bioproducts Research Institute (FBRI) have been working on utilization of wood extracts to produce biofuels like ethanol, butanol, and jet fuel at integrated forest biorefineries. FBRI has been active in the development of two wood-extraction technologies that can be integrated with manufacturing facilities for pulp or orientated strand board/lumber (OSB/OSL), respectively. UMaine’s pre-pulping extraction technology has been deployed at the Old Town Fuel & Fiber (OTFF) mill. With the Department of Energy award for biorefinery demonstration, Old Town facility continues to be at the forefront of change with active involvement of five UMaine faculty (Profs. Pendse, van Heiningen, Genco, van Walsum & Wheeler) focusing on co-production of pulp, fuels and chemicals. In addition, UMaine’s pre-OSB/OSL extraction technology also got a boost with a grant from Maine Technology Institute (MTI) for a project, involving the FBRI, the AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center, and the Louisiana Pacific Corporation (L-P), led by Prof. Shaler. All this wood extraction activity is receiving national attention. Project leaders from Logos Technologies of Arlington, VA visited UMaine in connection with their ‘BioJet’ project funded by a prime contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to produce jet fuel from cellulosic biomass. Logos team was accompanied by DARPA representatives from the biofuels program that focuses on alternative feedstocks that do not compete with food sources. DARPA/Logos team is looking into wood extracts that can be converted into jet fuel. The Agenda2020 Technology alliance of American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) held their ‘Value Prior to Pulping (VPP)’ program review meeting at UMaine. AF&PA guests included representatives from several large pulp manufacturers, as well as researchers from the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. The VPP team is focusing on use of wood extracts for ethanol production at pulp mills. UMaine’s Process Development Center, with its pilot scale wood extraction facility, was a major highlight for these visitors. Wood from Maine’s forests is a certified sustainable renewable year-round resource. Wood extracts from existing forest product facilities are particularly attractive early candidates for biorefineries. [Contact Prof. Hemant Pendse on 207-581-2290 or Pendse@maine.edu for more information]