PREMISE: Design and Engineering of Green Compsites From Bio-Fibers and Bacterial Bio-Plastics

开发新型生物基产品和创新技术，以减少美国对化石燃料的依赖，这一需求日益迫切。该项目旨在用可持续、环保的“绿色”复合材料取代现有的石油基玻璃纤维-尼龙复合材料，这种复合材料由工程天然/生物纤维和一种新兴的细菌基生物塑料（聚羟基烷酸酯，PHA）结合而成，用于汽车应用。这种“绿色”复合材料具有可回收性和“触发”生物降解性的属性，即（在预期使用寿命内稳定，但只有在堆肥条件下才能生物降解），使其成为可持续材料。目的是加强这种新型“绿色”复合材料的“设计”和“制造”之间的联系，使它们能够对工业应用产生积极影响。该项目将解决与制造企业可持续产品开发的思想发展和工具创造相关的研究问题。为了实现“可持续性”，该项目包括环境、经济、生命周期分析、能源和教育等所有组成部分。生物复合材料工业应用的产品实现需要完整的生命周期评估，从生物纤维和生物塑料的生产，到绿色生物复合材料的设计和工程，再到它们的最终处置或回收。整个制造系统的能源计算将根据现有的科学文献和从中试规模实验收集的初步实验数据，从纤维/塑料生产到加工和制造进行计算。与具有代表性的工业参与者，METABOLIX（生物塑料制造商），FLAXCRAFT（天然纤维公司）和FORD（汽车OEM）建立了强有力的合作伙伴关系，确保了未来工业实施的相关性和高潜力。

There is a growing urgency to develop novel biobased products and innovative technologies that can reduce the US dependence on fossil fuel. This PREMISE project seeks to replace existing petroleum-based glass fiber-nylon composites with sustainable, eco-friendly, 'green' composites produced from a combination of engineered natural/bio-fibers and a new, emerging bacterial-based bio-plastic (polyhydroxyalkanoate, PHA) for automotive applications. This 'green' composite material has the attributes of recyclability and 'triggered' biodegradability i.e. (stable during intended life but biodegradable only under composting conditions) to qualify it as a sustainable material. The objective is to strengthen the connection between "DESIGN" and "MANUFACTURING" of this novel 'green' composite so that they can have a positive impact upon industrial applications. This project will address research issues related to the development of ideas and creation of tools for sustainable product development in the manufacturing enterprise. In order to achieve 'sustainability', all the components such as environment, economics, life cycle analysis, energy and education are included in this project. Product realization for industrial application of biocomposites requires complete Life Cycle Assessment, from production of bio-fibers and bio-plastics, to design and engineering of green biocomposites to their ultimate disposal or recycling. Energy calculations for the entire manufacturing system will be calculated from fiber/plastic production to their processing and manufacturing based upon the existing scientific literature and preliminary experimental data collected from the pilot-scale experiments. A strong collaborative partnership with representative industrial participants, METABOLIX (manufacturer of bioplastic), FLAXCRAFT (natural fiber company) and FORD (automotive OEM) insures relevancy and a high potential for industrial implementation in the future.