R&D of biomaterials from agricultural/forest residues: from lab-scale to pilot-scale

该联盟项目(《农林残渣生物材料研发：从实验室规模到中试规模》)旨在实现农林残渣的全组分利用。玉米秸秆和小麦秸秆等农业残留物在加拿大非常丰富，特别是在加拿大的安大略省和草原省。据估计，每年大约有18公吨烘干生物质可用于从加拿大农业残渣中生产能源和化学产品。另一方面，加拿大林业产生数亿吨林业残留物，如森林修剪(如树叶和树枝)和锯木厂残留物(如木屑、锯末和树皮)。农林废弃物是典型的木质纤维生物质，主要由纤维素(30-50%)、半纤维素(20-30%)和木质素(20-30%)组成，是葡萄糖、木糖和苯丙醇的生物聚合物。与生物质转化为生物能源或生物燃料应用相比，将生物质转化为高价值的生物聚合物材料具有更大的经济前景。我们的工业合作伙伴西部枫树生物资源有限公司(WMB)承诺提供681,250美元现金和超过250,000美元的实物捐助，热衷于与西部大学建立新的联盟合作伙伴关系，以探索变革性技术，以使从农业/森林残渣中提取的粗木质素和粗纤维素用于创新生物材料：廉价且可生物降解的木质素基酚醛花卉泡沫和纤维素基生物塑料，并确保获得资金，将上述专有技术(木质素基无甲醛木材胶粘剂)从实验室规模研究转移到中试规模开发。这一伙伴关系的长期目标是开发一种综合生物提炼工艺，以实现农业/森林残留物的全成分利用，以生产高价值的生物材料。将农业/林业残留物用于可销售的生物产品将大大有利于加拿大和全球的农业部门，因为这将增强其可持续性，并创造更多的收入来源和新的就业机会。

This Alliance project ("R&D of Biomaterials from Agricultural/Forest Residues: from Lab-Scale to Pilot-Scale") aims to realize all-component utilization of agricultural/forest residues. Agricultural residues, such as cornstalk and wheat straw, are very abundant in Canada, particularly in Ontario and Prairie Provinces of Canada. It was estimated that about 18 Mt of oven-dried biomass per year could be available for energy and chemical production from Canadian agricultural residues. On the other hand, the Canadian forestry industry generates hundreds of million tonnes of forestry residues such as forest trimmings (e.g. leaves and branches) and sawmill residues (e.g. wood chips, saw dust and bark). Agricultural/forestry residues are typical lignocellulosic biomass, mainly consisting of three components: cellulose (30-50%), hemicellulose (20-30%) and lignin (20-30%), which are bio-polymers of glucose, xylose and phenyl-propanol. Compared with converting biomass to bio-energy or bio-fuel application, it is more economically promising to convert them to high-value bio-polymeric materials. Our industrial partner - Western Maple Bio Resources Inc. (WMB), committing $681,250 cash and over $250,000 in-kind contributions, is enthusiastic to create a new Alliance partnership with Western University to explore transformative technologies to valorize the crude lignin and crude cellulose derived from agricultural/forest residues for innovative biomaterials: inexpensive and biodegradable lignin-based PF floral foams and cellulose-based bioplastics, and to secure funding to move the above mentioned proprietary technology (lignin-based formaldehyde-free wood adhesives) from lab-scale research to pilot-scale development. The long-term objective of this Partnership is to develop an integrated biorefinery process to realize all-component utilization of agricultural/forest residues for high-value biomaterials. Valorization of agricultural/forestry residues for marketable bioproducts would greatly benefit the agricultural sector in Canada and globally by enhancing its sustainability and creating additional revenue streams and new jobs.