Biomanufacturing

Maine’s forest can be a world-class source of nanocellulose — a plant substance with properties similar to plastic. This can fuel a vibrant manufacturing industry that combines advanced technologies with a renewable resource to create sustainable products.

  • Goal: 1 Research Objective
    Decrease the cost and energy-intensity of nanocellulose, and enhance it properties as a manufacturing material.
  • Goal 2: Enterprise Objective
    Move rural manufacturing — and the jobs it provides — toward an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable future by advancing the use of nanocellulose in a wide variety of products and industries.
  • Goal 3: Workforce Objective
    Sustain world-class additive manufacturing research facilities and educational programs to train the next generation of professionals and technicians .
  • Goal 4: Climate Change Objective
    Advance the use of high-performance, low- energy, climate sequestering products in a variety of industries.

Additive Manufacturing

Large-scale additive manufacturing (AM) is emerging as a promising and energy-efficient manufacturing technique for the future. Among the polymer 3D printing approaches, large-scale AM systems are 200 times faster than other conventional 3D printing equipment and can reach deposition rates comparable to those of today’s high-volume production methods. Especially for custom and complex parts, feedstock materials with tailored properties are needed for improved processing capabilities, superior materials properties and characteristics, and lower cost.

The most common feedstock materials for large- scale AM are relatively high cost and derived from high-embodied energy petroleum sources, thus motivating the development of alternative, renewable, and low-energy materials.

The Hub-and-Spoke collaborative research relationship between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Maine (UMaine) began when ORNL staff visited Maine as part of an Economic Development Assessment Team following the closure of five paper mills. During these visits, significant synergies were identified between UMaine and ORNL around large-scale additive manufacturing and forest-derived materials used for 3D printing, feedstock, and structural reinforcement (Lu et al. 2015). The research partners share a unified vision of leveraging their complementary expertise to move rural, U.S.- based manufacturing towards an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable future.

Notable Maine Institutions & Organizations

The Hub-and-Spoke model was established to strengthen regional manufacturing ecosystems by connecting university–industry clusters with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories and ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.

The UMaine-ORNL partnership piloted this model and is now the first established Hub-and-Spoke. To date, the project has received $57 million in research grants focused on the development of biobased, cellulosic materials for use in large-area additive manufacturing. The UMaine team is led by the Advanced Structure and Composites Center and consists of more than 25 faculty and staff researchers from eight academic departments and research centers across UMaine, with an additional thirty student researchers (undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral), half from underrepresented groups in STEM.

Other Maine organizations performing relevant work:

  • Compounding Solutions, LLC — Compounding wood fillers into AM feedstock
  • Maine International Trade Association – Finland- Maine-Michigan Bioeconomy Collaboration- New Wood-Based Products Team https://www.mitc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/FMM- Forest-Bioeconomy-Collaboration.pdf
  • Maine Technology Institute — Technology cluster of Maine boatbuilders exploring large-area additive manufacturing (https://composites. umaine.edu/2018/10/17/advanced-structures- and-composites-center-receives-500000-to- help-boat-builders-incorporate-3d-printing- technology
  • SAPPI — Evaluating wood fiber filled materials for AM feedstock

Research Activities

  • MTI grant (UMaine/ORNL) — Hodgdon Yachts 3DP tooling using wood-filled biobased resin, proved the viability of the Hub-and-Spoke model
  • MTI boat builder cluster award to facilitate collaboration and innovation from four of Maine’s “Broad Targeted Technology Areas.” Forest Product materials were used to develop new advanced composite materials for use in precision manufacturing of large-scale 3D-printed tooling for boatbuilding
  • Phase I Hub-and-Spoke program (2019-2022): Decrease cost/energy of manufacturing nanocellulose, enhancing AM feedstock properties with nanocellulose, large-area AM biobased tooling for marine and wind industries
  • Phase 2 Hub-and-Spoke program (2020-2023): Evaluate alternative renewable material sources for use in AM feedstocks, continuous processing of nanocellulose for scaled up production, artificial intelligence/machine learning used for improved large-area printing (improved part quality), increased throughput large-area AM (500+ lb/hr extrusion), business case for large AM for affordable housing/construction industry and marine industries
  • DOE “Megaprint” — Sustainable AM tooling for wind blades
  • Phase 3 Hub-and-Spoke program (2022-2025): Nanocellulose/mycellium insulating materials for AM printed buildings, advanced manufacturing collaborative robotics with AM for large structures, large-area AM applied to modular housing

Research Needs

The shortage of affordable housing is rapidly emerging as an emergency situation across the entire United States. There is not a single “state or county where a full-time worker making minimum wage (can) afford a two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent” (Parker, 2021). On average, 328,000 affordable units would need to be added each year until 2030 to meet the growing demand, yet the United States has only attained that target three times in the last thirty years (Ruiz-Goiriena, 2021).

When potential housing solutions are discussed, myriad social, political, and financial barriers quickly rise to the forefront, including critical shortage of skilled labor, increased material costs, and supply chain issues. In the meantime, to achieve carbon- neutrality goals, steep reductions in emissions from existing buildings, and utilization of low embodied energy materials in new construction are necessary.

3D printing technology has been evolving at a rapid pace. Champions have been using it recently to print everything from wind turbine blade molds to custom shoes. Coupled with breakthrough technologies, 3D printing is one of, if not the, most promising technologies on the market with the potential to overcome both cost of construction and labor issues that limit the fabrication of affordable housing . However, innovation is needed in the materials used for 3D-printed housing, since the production of cement, currently the most widely used 3D-printed building material, generates more carbon pollution than almost every other industry and was responsible for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions in 2015.

Two promising technology areas of materials and manufacturing development in affordable net zero buildings are:

  • Automated offsite construction methods to accelerate house fabrication at lower cost. Optimization of additive manufacturing design and development of collaborative automation integrated with 3DP.
  • Renewable, low-embodied energy construction materials for zero-carbon buildings.

The Hub-and-Spoke program is working with the forest products industry to produce new biobased material feedstocks that will be conducive to 3D printing large-scale products, such as building envelopes. UMaine is also working directly with industrial partners to identify key modular fabrication methods that can benefit the most from 3D printing. The collaboration is positioning the industry to adopt materials and methods that will transition the construction industry to net zero and even net negative carbon buildings that combine affordability with design resilience at a reduced environmental footprint.

FOR/Maine (https://formaine.org) has created the Forest Opportunity Roadmap (https://formaine. org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/FORMaine_ Report_DL_041119.pdf) /Maine vision to diversify the Maine forest products industry and create forest-based material feedstocks for use in the emerging bioeconomy. This includes public/ private partnerships that strengthen the supply chain of locally sourced materials, such as those being developed by ASCC and our Hub-and-Spoke partners.

Sustainability

Net-zero to net-negative materials for use in the construction industry are a key enabler of widespread adoption and increased market pull for biobased materials that can help accelerate the replacement of petrochemical derived products with renewables. UMaine has built a successful collaborative research relationship with ORNL in biobased, low-carbon materials. This research focus area leverages the infrastructure already in place to rapidly scale up and test innovative forest derived materials .

Economic impact

  • Increased demand for low-value wood residuals
  • Value-added products using wood fillers and nanocellulose, improving economic viability of a commercial scale nanocellulose production facility
  • Increased demand for products of existing manufacturers (Compounding Solutions)
  • Opportunity to establish an advanced manufacturing facility in Maine based on large- format AM
  • Opportunity to increase inventory of affordable housing using this new technology

References

Lu, Y.; M. C. Cueva; E. Lara-Curzio; S. Ozcan, Improved mechanical properties of polylactide nanocomposites-reinforced with cellulose nanofibrils through interfacial engineering via amine-functionalization. Carbohydrate polymers 2015, 131, 208-217.

Bertram, N., S. Fuchs, J. Mischke, R. Palter, G. Strube, and J. Woetzel, (2019). Modular construction: From projects to products. McKinsey & Company: Capital Projects & Infrastructure, 1-34.

Parker, M.J. (2021, April 8). NIMBYism and the Language of Affordable Housing. Retrieved from

U.S. News: https://www.usnews.com/news/health- news/articles/2021-04-08/not-in-my-backyard- affordable-housing-epidemic-continues

Ruiz-Goiriena, R. (2021, April 14). Biden’s infrastructure plan calls for cities to limit single-family zoning and instead build affordable housing. Retrieved from USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/ nation/2021/04/14/zoning-biden-infrastructure-bill- would-curb-single-family-housing/7097434002

Sustainable Packaging

Maine’s forest-based economy and the rural communities it supports are under pressure because of global competition, aging infrastructure, labor supply, energy markets, and other issues. In the last decade, several paper mills have closed for various reasons. In addition, a majority of Maine’s forests have seen decreased management due to this current lack of robust fiber markets (Woodall and Weiskittel 2021). At the same time, it has become clear that there is a need for sustainable solutions to our food packaging needs, especially with regards to plastics and pollution. The need to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration is also a global need. Maine’s forests have the potential to solve these issues and, a the same time, will increase the demand for fibers, increase revenue into the state, and generate new companies and jobs.

The ability to replace single-use plastics and plastic/metal/glass packaging with cellulose- based systems is within practical reach. Cellulose nanomaterials have shown in the laboratory to be excellent oxygen and oil/grease barrier layers that can be applied on paper or paperboard to generate a package for dry goods. With various drying techniques, these nanomaterials can generate porous foam-like structures that can replace expanded polystyrene. With the proper barrier layers, wood fiber-based packaging is possible for juices, milk ,and soups. Cellulose-based packaging should lead to packaging that is sustainable, can be recycled, decomposes to benign material in the environment, and sequesters carbon if placed in a landfill. There is a need to make these packaging systems economically competitive with the plastic option and to develop robust systems to recycle these materials.

Opportunity and Objective

Innovative sustainable packaging based on wood fiber should increase the economic activity in the paper industry, launch new companies, increase the demand for wood fiber, improve the job market in rural communities, and give consumers a sustainable packaging option.

Research Activities

Past

  • EPSCoR 2008 started some work on materials production
  • PDC generated refiner method to produce large quantities of materials and supplies to outside
  • Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) in coating layers and as the coating layer (Bousfield/Tajvidi)
  • Particle board work in Tajvidi lab as well as Cellubound patent
  • Foamed structures (Mason/Tajvidi)
  • CNF on paper to resist grease penetration and oxygen barrier properties of CNF layers (Tajvidi/ Bousfield)

Current

  • CNF as a release layer for barrier coatings
  • CNF with wood waste to form structures such as plates
  • CNF with wood particles to form porous structures
  • CNF layer modified chemically
  • Production of 3D objects from pulp suspensions.

Future

  • Methods to characterize rheology of suspension and other properties to generate stable processing of suspensions
  • Continuous processing methods to apply onto paper as a coating layer
  • Equipment to support pilot scale production
  • Methods to apply on 3D objects
  • Methods to dry into foam structures
  • Economic Impact
  • New products produced from current infrastructure at paper mills will improve the long-term outlook for these mills, increase demand for labor, and bring revenue into the state
  • Novel applications such as the production of single use plastic substitutes and other objects, should help startup companies locate in Maine near the raw material source
  • Increase demand for wood fiber should support the supply chain from transportation, harvest and land management
  • Cellulose-based packaging technology developed in Maine should lead to companies seeking out Maine solutions and innovations. Maine should cultivate conditions to become the “cellulose valley” of the U.S.
  • Molded pulp technology .could produce items that are currently plastic such as salad
    containers, trays inside cookie packaging, plates or trays in frozen food items, and other such items. Modifications of cellulose could lead to antimicrobial properties that increase shelf life for many products.

References

Woodall, C.W., and A.R. Weiskittel, 2021. Relative density of United States forests has shifted to higher levels over last two decades with important implications for future dynamics. Sci. Rep. 11(1): 18848.