BioRefineries Blog

Publication date: 22/04/2019. Last update: 22/04/2019. Introduction See “ Nanocellulose biorefineries – A biomaterial with unparalleled perspectives – 1st part: Introduction ”. Shape and dimensions             Shape: Elongated. In the literature, they are compared with rice grains, rods, spindles and whiskers. Dimensions: Typically, 4-15 nm in width and 50-500 nm in length. Figure 1. CNC produced by Blue Goose Biorefineries (taken from Blue Goose Biorefineries website). Width: 9–14 nm. Length: 100–150 nm. Properties - Abundant, renewable and sustainable. - Biocompatible. - Electro-magnetic (charge surface). - High aspect ratio (length to width). - High temperature stability. - High strength (in line with high-performance synthetic material as Kevlar®). - High surface area. - Light weight. - Self-assembly. - Shear thinning / Unique rheological properties. - Versatile surface che...

Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. CelluForce is a Canadian company focused on the development and production of CelluloseNanoCrystals (CNC) . Its head office is in Montreal and its current shareholders are Domtar , FPInnovations , Schlumberger , Suzano (formerly Fibria) and Investissement Quebec .  The firm has just restarted operations at its CNC plant in Windsor following the completion of a major upgrade project. Press release: “ CelluForce restarts production of cellulose nanocrystals at its newly modernized facility ”, 6/2/2019. Figure 1. View of one of the zones of the CelluForce facilities (taken from the company website) The original plant was built in 2011 using a first version of the production process which had been brought to scale from laboratory work and small pilot trials. The new plant design, which is based on a series of improvement tests made in recent years, will allow CelluForce to: (1) Use improved new cutting-edge equipment to increase proces...

Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. A newly established initiative in South Africa, the Biorefinery Research Consortium (BRC), will develop opportunities for the beneficiation of wastes from forestry, timber, pulp and paper industries (see press release from the South African Government News Agency, 20/09/2018). The consortium is a partnership between the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Tshwane University of Technology , the University of the Witwatersrand and Sekolong Sa Dimelana (a rural-based bioenterprise). The BRC will use the recently launched Biorefinery Industry Development Facility (BIDF) that supports innovation in a range of industries (including forestry, agro-processing and other biomass-based industries) at the CSIR's Durban campus (see “ The South African Government launches the Biorefinery Industry Development Facility in Durban ”, 26/3/2018). The consortium has been envisaged with a strong emphasis on the full value chain and will p...

Type of post: NEWS. The nanocellulose is one of the most promising materials of the bieconomy arena (see Nanocellulose biorefineries – A biomaterial with unparalleled perspectives ). Paper and pulp companies do not want to miss the opportunity to extend their range of high value projects and initiate the transition of their plants towards models of integrated biorefineries and forest bioeconomy. In this sense, ENCE has started an ambitious project in its Pontevedra mill to enter that market (see press release in Spanish, 15/3/2018). Figure 1. The pulp mill of ENCE in Pontevedra. It will house the main activities of the NOVACELL project. The initiative is called NOVACELL and will enable to develop and start a pilot plant to optimize the process of manufacturing of micro and nanoparticles of cellulose. The table below summarizes the information available for now about the project. Name Research of new generations of micro and nanoparticles of cellulose ...

Publication date: 18/08/2016. Last update: 22/04/2019. Second part: Cellulose NanoCristals (CNC) Cellulose Cellulose is the most important and abundant organic biopolymer on Earth. It is the basic structural component of plant cell walls. It is a natural linear polymer (polysaccharide) with a molecular repeat unit comprised of a pair of d-anhydroglucose ring units joined by β-1→4 glycosidic oxygen linkages around which the molecular chain can bend and twist. Anhydroglucose is the monomer and cellobiose is the dimer of cellulose. The β-1,4-glycosidic bonds build an ordered crystalline structure by van der Waals forces and inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The extremely large number of hydrogen bonds results in a strong lateral association of the linear cellulose molecules. Amorphous region results from the breakage and disorder of hydrogen bonds. Figure 1. a) 3D structure of cellulose / b) Structural formula of cellulose (taken from Reference [6]) Nanoce...