2002 Annual Report
Research
Evaluation of Fibrous Byproducts/Residues for Making Bio-Polymers
Roger Ruan, Professor
R. Vance Morey, Professor
Paul Chen, Senior Research Associate
Xuejun Pan, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Xiangyang Lin, Research Fellow
Hanwu Lei, Research Assistant
Fei Yu, Research Assistant
Funding Source
AURI, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station
Objective
The objective of this project is to evaluate fibrous byproducts/residues
for making bio-polyols, a feedstock for making biodegradable polymers.
Project Description
Many synthetic items, such as plastics, synthetic fibers, rubber, etc.,
that are conventionally derived from petrochemicals, can also be produced
from renewable resources such as woody biomass and its components. Tremendous
efforts have been made in this field. Many technically feasible approaches
are available to convert lignocellulosic materials to bio-polymers. However,
no commercial facility is running to date. This can be attributed to a
combination of three factors: technical inadequacy, economical non-competitiveness,
and lack of understanding of the industrial need. We have developed a
liquefaction process to convert renewable biomass to bio-polyols which
can be further turned into biodegradable polymeric consumer and industrial
products. In this project, several fibrous materials will be evaluated
for use as the starting materials for the liquefaction process. Relationships
between raw material composition, liquefying conditions and yield and
properties of bio-polyols will be analyzed.
Results
It was found that among the crop residues used in the study, corn stover and sunflower hull are easier to liquefy than others. Ethylene carbonate with ethylene glycol as assistant chemical proved to be effective liquefying reagents for crop residues. The properties (viscosity, hydroxyl number) of the bio-polyols can be adjusted by varying the process conditions and using mixtures of different fibrous residues. Semi-rigid and rigid polyurethane foams were prepared from the bio-polyols. These foams can be used as packaging, construction, and insulating materials.