Creating biodegradable and recyclable lignocellulose-based materials for flexible packaging solutions

背景：许多经常用于商业包装解决方案的软塑料材料是不可回收的，不可生物降解的，并对环境造成长期损害。该项目的目的是研究一种可生物降解和可回收的木质纤维素衍生物替代化石衍生物软包装解决方案。关键目标：- 开发具有高气体阻隔性能的柔性纸，适合集成到目前使用塑料的现有高速加工操作中-对衍生的柔性纸产品进行生命周期分析（LCA），以评估与现有软塑料包装相比，该解决方案对环境的影响-进行技术经济分析（TEA）用于评估现有工艺和商业市场实施的经济可行性的开发材料-确定商业相关性和增值产品方法：- 纳米纤维素（纳米级尺寸的纤维素纤维）和其他潜在的表面添加剂将被用来创造灵活的低gsm具有改进的O2/N2阻隔性能的纸（克/平方米）-为了实现“孔填充”效果，将使用逐层喷涂到预制的低gsm纸上，或通过在低gsm纸的生产过程中直接分散到含水纸浆悬浮液中，白杨HYDROGEN将用于生产材料和能量平衡以及概念性试验工厂的工艺流程图，开发的木质纤维素材料。- 质量和能量平衡数据将用于生成LCA，目的是回答“基于木质纤维素的软包装能否以对环境有意义和可持续的方式取代化石来源的竞争对手？”“LCA结果将确定制造链中的热点，并允许优化拟议的制造过程和最大限度地减少对环境的影响。TEA将使用通过白杨HYDRONIC模拟获得的数据来生产，以研究拟议工艺的经济可行性

Background:Many soft plastic materials often used for commercial packaging solutions are non-recyclable, non-biodegradable and cause long term damage to the environment. The purpose of this project is to investigate a biodegradable and recyclable lignocellulose-derived alternative to fossil-derived flexible packaging solutions.Key objectives:- Develop flexible paper with high gas barrier properties that is suitable for integration onto existing high-speed processing operations where currently plastics are used- Produce a life cycle analysis (LCA) of the derived flexible paper product to assess the environmental impact of the solution in comparison to existing soft-plastic packaging- Produce a techno-economic analysis (TEA) for the developed material to assess the economic feasibility of implementation to existing processes and commercial markets- Identify commercial relevance and value-added productsMethodology:- Nanocellulose (cellulose fibres of nano-scale size) and other potential surface additives will be used to create flexible low gsm (gram per square meter) paper with improved O2/N2 barrier properties- To achieve "pore-filling" effect nanocellulose will be introduced using either layer-by-layer spraying onto prefabricated low gsm paper, or by direct dispersion into aqueous pulp suspension within the creation of the low gsm paper- Aspen HYSYS will be used to produce material and energy balances as well as a process flow diagram for a conceptual pilot plant for manufacture of the developed lignocellulosic material. - The mass and energy balance data will be used to produce a LCA, with goal of answering the question "Can lignocellulosic-based flexible packaging replace fossil-derived competitors in an environmentally meaningful and sustainable manner?"- The LCA results will identify hot-spots in the manufacturing chain and will allow for optimisation of the proposed manufacturing process and minimisation of the environmental impact.- The TEA will be produced using data obtained via the Aspen HYSYS simulation to investigate economic feasibility of the proposed process