UMaine to build cellulose facility
The University of Maine's Forest Bioproducts Research Institute is building a $1.5 million plant to manufacture a cellulose material that could someday replace synthetic plastics.
The pilot-scale plant, which is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service, will be the only one of its kind in the nation, providing cellulose nanofibrils to researchers worldwide exploring its the uses, according to a press release. Currently, researchers and industrial companies must buy the wood-based material from Germany and Japan. The grant will fund the purchase of an ultrafine grinder to break down cellulose-based pulp into a water-based slurry, and a pilot-scale dryer. Both pieces of equipment are expected to be in place next spring in Jenness Hall, the home of UMaine's Process Development Center and FBRI. Applications for the material include automobile components, paint and coating additives and water filters.
UMaine is involved in the project with a consortium of six other universities -- Georgia Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, Oregon State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University and University of Tennessee -- and the Forest Products Laboratory. Sean Ireland of Verso Paper in Bucksport is also involved.
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