Advanced Materials for the Advancing Bioeconomy

Kim Nelson, PhDVP Nanocellulose Technology

American Process Inc.

March 11, 2015

• Vice President, Nano-cellulose Technology, American Process, Inc.

• Nanocellulose technology development and R&D

• Creator of API’s nanocellulose production process demonstration line, commercialization, and partnerships

• MS, IPST; PhD Chemical Engineering, Georgia Tech

Kim Nelson

American Process Inc.

1995Process Integration

Studies

2011Biorefinery Operations

2013Global Partnerships

and Licensing

2009 Biorefinery

Engineering & Construction

2005Biorefinery

R&D

2015BioPLus Nanocellulose Launch & Commercial

Plant Engineering

Over 150 patents pending, 18 grantedGreen Power+™ and AVAP™ Patented Technologies

Two biorefinery demonstration plants in USAFunding from DOE, State of MI, New Market Tax Credits, P3Nano

Offices in GA, MI, Greece, Brazil, and Romania

CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL 4

Alpena Biorefinery : First Sale of Cellulosic Ethanol in US from Woody Biomass – April 2014

Desalination

Alpena BiorefineryCo-located hardboard facility steam extracts 10% of wood as sugars and lignin to waste stream

EXISTING DPI PLANT

Waste Stream:23 BDT Hemicelluloses and lignin Waste Water

Treatment Plant

Wood chips:325 BDT/D

Treated water back to lake

Board:293 BDT/D

Steam and Electricity

AlpenaBiorefinery

23 BDT/d of hemicelluloses feedstock

Thomaston Biorefinery

Lignocellulosic sugars (low cost & clean)LigninNanocelluloseBiofuelsBiochemicals

Thomaston Biorefinery

Fractionation and Cellulose Separation

Biomass

Was

hed

Regenerated Solvent, SO2

Liquor (hemicelluloses solvent, SO2, lignin)

Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Glucose to chemicals conversion Hemicelluloses Sugars

to Ethanol / Butanol

Lignin to energy and chemical applications

Hemicelluloses Auto Hydrolysis

Chemical Regeneration

Cellulose products

BioPlus™ Nanocellulose

• Versatile morphology• cellulose fibrils and crystals

• Versatile surface chemistry• hydrophilic and hydrophobic

varieties• Low cost

• equivalent to conventional polymers

• High temperature stability• 50-100°C higher than other

nanocellulose

336

238

349

293

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

AVAP CNF Mechanical CNF AVAP CNC Sulfuric Acid CNC

Ons

et o

f Dec

ompo

sitio

n Te

mp,

o C

TEMPO CNF

Cellulose

Covalently bonded lignin

Adsorbed lignin

DMSO, stirring

+ExtractionCentrifugation

L-CNC ExtractL-CNC, after extraction

• Low cost, hydrophobic component of biomass, lignin, is the coupling agent with polymers

• Solves Grand Challenge of dispersing nanocellulose in plastics: – Cellulose is highly polar and hydrophilic– Most polymers are non-polar and hydrophobic.

• Preserves discrete nanocellulose particle morphology during drying

• Two forms of lignin:– Lignin covalently bonded to cellulose– Physically adsorbed lignin bonded to the permanent

lignin by van der Waals forces

BioPlus Lignin-Coated Nanocellulose

BioPlus Demonstration Line

Screening & Cleaning

Mechanical Treatment

Product Cooling & Storage

Bleach Plant

½ ton per dayStart-up in April 2015

Located at Thomaston Biorefinery

Order samples online at americanprocess.com/bioplus

Traditional Problems

• Expensive

• Limited quantities available for market development

• Hydrophilic – bad dispersion in plastics

• Low thermal stability

BioPlus™ Nanocellulose Solution

• Low cost AVAP novel production

• Pre-commercial demo 100 t/y

• BioPlus-L: oleophilic and hydrophobic

• BioPlus-L has high thermal stability

Inhibitors to Market Development

Polymer Composites

Neat Silicone 1% L-CNC 2% L-CNC

1% CNC in PLA

Agglomerates

1% TEMPO CNF in PLA

Conventional Bleached CNC & CNFVery poor dispersion

Neat PE 1% L-CNC in PE

Neat PHB 1% L-CNC in PHB

BioPlus L-CNCVery uniform dispersion

Neat PS 1% L-CNC in PS0.3% L-CNC in PLA

BioPlus Compostable Bags● Strong ● Renewable ● Compostable ● PLA + BioPlus L-CNC

BioPlus Compostable BagsLab Scale August 2014

Compounding Extrusion Blow Molding

Commercial Scale January 2015

BioPlus Compostable Bags• Dramatic increase observed in modulus of PLA • L-CNC significantly improves extrusion melt blowing of PLA

– Increases melt blown strength which gives a stable bubble column – Acts as a rheology modifier/processing aide/lubricant– Allows displacement of traditional petroleum based additives

20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0temperature (°C)

1.000E6

1.000E7

1.000E8

1.000E9

1.000E10

1.000E11

1.000E12

1.000E13

G' (Pa

)

PLA-0.3% API L-CNC

Neat PLAG’ (Pa)

Temperature °C

PLA- 0.3wt% L-CNC

Neat PLA

Vehicle Light Weighting Project• Objective: Development of a sprayable binder resin

system containing nanocellulose as a reinforcing phase to replace steel in seating assemblies– Opportunity to achieve commercial application on

electric vehicles

• Results: Clark ATL has successfully dispersed L-CNC in the hydrophobic resin system of choice

• Impact: Reducing a vehicle’s weight by just 10 percent can improve fuel economy by 6-8 percent

– U.S. DOE’s target vehicle weight reduction is 50% by 2050.

– According to the DOE the limiting factor in use of lightweight materials in vehicles is availability of sufficient quantities at affordable cost1

ReinforcingMaterial Density (g/cm3)

Calcium carbonate 2.71

Talc 2.69

E-glass fiber 2.5

Carbon fiber 1.8

Nanocellulose 1.5

3D Printing Project• Objective: Reinforce 3D printing feedstock with

high temperature stability, highly dispersableBioPlus-L™ to obtain desired mechanical properties for load-bearing parts

• Impact: Replace high cost, peutroleum–based carbon fiber as reinforcing agent for high temperature polymers like ABS, PLA, Nylon 6,6, and PC with renewable, biobased nanocellulose.

• Phase II Goal: Print a golf cart from nanocellulose reinforced polymer using Oak Ridge’s Big Area Manufacturing (BAAM) facility.

RAW MATERIALS CONVERSION TESTING &

PROTOTYPING PARTNERSHIPS APPLICATIONS

BioPlus Commericalization

RBI: A Valued Partner in the Bioeconomy

StaffingR&D and

Operations Support

Commercialization

Students, PhD (6)

Post Docs (1)Research

Scientists (2)

Students, Undergrad &

MS (2)

Technology Development

Nanostructure Characterization

Applications Development

Chemical Analysis

Fiber quality Analysis

Physical Properties

Testing

Partnerships Formation

API Needs

RBI Expertise & Services

• Don’t skip any steps. The systematic scale-up from lab to pilot to demo to commercial is essential

• Leverage existing “across the fence” infrastructure and co-production

• By nature of these projects.. “scope is never frozen”. Contingency planning is needed.

• Financial Risk of “first of a kind” is very high you have to look everywhere for financing

• It takes a village, a town - the whole world! No company in the space has all the necessary parts

Commercializing in the BioeconomyTop 5 Lessons Learned

P.S. Keep going!

Thank YouPRESENTED BY

Kim Nelson, PhDVP Nanocellulose Technology DevelopmentAmerican Process Inc.

knelson@americanprocess.comamericanprocess.com/bioplus