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VISION
VISION
A research facility with a main goal to develop and apply novel thermal, chemical, and biological processes to convert biomass to industrial and consumer products, fuels, and energy.
The Bio-Products Research Laboratories (BPRL) as a whole focuses on the use of natural, renewable resources to produce innovative materials and bio-energy in a sustainable manner. The research group addresses compelling global interest to make a transition to a bio-based industry where petroleum-derived products could be replaced by less expensive and better-performing products based on renewable materials. It is a multidisciplinary endeavor in science, engineering, and business enterprise where the expertise developed will contribute significantly to the emerging bio-economy.
Our researches in bio-based materials utilizing local renewable raw materials such as rice straw, pineapple leaves, and other bioresources provide a natural way to design and build innovative and sustainable products for our future. We make use of green technology to process and harness industrially-useful biopolymers and biochemicals from biological sources.
Our bioenergy efforts aim to reduce our nation’s heavy dependence on petroleum fuels by coordinating biofuel/bioenergy R&D and its environmental impact. These projects are working toward a new understanding of bioenergy pathways including, thermal and biological conversion processes, biomass testing and catalyst development, reaction engineering and modeling, reactor design, novel process development and new energy storage solutions.
PRODUCTION OF BIO-BASED POLYOLS FORM LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS
PRODUCTION OF BIO-BASED POLYOLS FORM LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS
Environmental concerns and shortage of fossil resources have led the polyurethane (PU) industry to find alternative non-petroleum feedstocks for its polyol production. As a result, renewable and biodegradable resources such as vegetable oils and agricultural biomass have been used as raw materials for polyol synthesis. As of last year (2014) biodiesel producers in the Philippines have increased their production capacity by 70.2 million liters, according to documents from the Department of Energy (DOE). This has resulted in the accumulation of the by-product crude glycerin creating a significant glut in the country. This project focuses on the value-added conversion of crude glycerin and lignocellulosic biomass such as rice straw and/or pineapple leaves in a one-put liquefaction process to obtain highly functional polyols. These high-hydroxyl content polyols can be used as major reactant in the production of rigid polyurethane foam products such as insulation materials with performance comparable with existing commercial products. Rice straw will be collected from the rice fields provided by farmers of the towns of Tubod, Baroy and Lala in the provice of Lanao del Norte.
The Global Market for Polyurethane (PU) was estimated at 13,650 kTons in 2010 and is expected to reach 17,946.20 kTons by 2016, growing at a CAGR of 4.7% from 2011 to 2016. In terms of revenue, the market was estimated to be worth $33 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach $55 billion by 2016, growing at a CAGR of 6.8% form 2011 to 2016 (http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ PressReleases/mdi-tdi-polyurethane-market.asp). Globally, the Asia-Pacific takes the lead in both production and consumption of polyurethanes. The opportunities in this highly competitive market are growing due to the advancing economy and increasing living standards in the region. With growing applications of polyurethane in the medical device sector, the top market players start to meditate upon developing renewable raw materials for polyurethane (Business Wire Report, London, April 29, 2013).
The outstanding thermal insulation property of rigid polyurethane foams makes it the preferential choice for insulating in such as refrigerators, freezers, water heaters, etc., rigid foam insulation also adds layers of thermal resistance to home's exterior walls, roof and foundation. Thanks to the low thermal conductivity, they are preventing both heat loss and heat gain as well as contribute to sustainability, eco-design and requirements for energy saving at the same time (http://pudaily.com/SpecialNews/static/asean 20140709/asean.htm).
DEVELOPMENT OF POLYURETHANE-BASED PACKING MATERIALS AND ANTI-CORROSIVE COATINGS FROM VEGETABLE OIL
DEVELOPMENT OF POLYURETHANE-BASED PACKING MATERIALS AND ANTI-CORROSIVE COATINGS FROM VEGETABLE OIL
The recurrence of skyrocketing petroleum oil prices over the past few years has prompted the search for more alternative chemical feedstocks based on renewable resources. Petroleum-based polyols are still the major reactants used in the polyurethane (PU) industry today but this non-renewable resources poses a great concern due to its rapid exhaustion. Renewable resources such as carbohydrates and vegetable oils exists is such quantities as to be considered as potential replacements for some precursors of petroleum oil derived polymers. Although vegetable oils such as palm oil and coconut oil may be functionalized to produce polyols, its competition with the food supply may pose a problem in long tern polyol production.
This project focuses on the value-added conversion of coconut oil and palm oil through heat-polymerization and hydroxyl-functionalization process to obtain highly functional polyols. Because of the versatility of PU materials, its end applications are very varied. For this project, the obtained functional polyols will be used to produce both semi-rigid PU foam packing materials with performance comparable with existing commercial products, and anti-corrosive coatings.
The Global Polyurethane Foam Market was valued at $46.8 Billion in 2014, which is expected to reach $72.2 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 7.5% during the period under consideration. Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing market as it is a major consumer of PU foam, with furniture and construction industries being the largest users in this region. The demand for polyurethane foams is increasing from developed and developing countries, such as Japan, China, India, Australia, and others. The increasing application of PU enables the usage of PU foam in the bedding & furniture industry. The furniture & bedding and building & construction industries dominated the global PU foams market wuth 32.2% and 25.6% market shares, respectively, in 2014. This market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 7.6% during the given forecast period, and sustain its leading position in the market until 2020 (http://www.reuters.com/article/research-and-markets-idUSnBw056062a+100+BSW20150805).
On the other hand, the anti-corrosion coating market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.5% between 2014 and 2019 to reach $26,583 million. The marine industry, that uses anti-corrosion coating, constitutes a significant part of the overall anti-corrosion coating market. Region-wise, Asia-Pacific is leading the anti-corrosion coating market. Growth in Asia-Pacific is attributed to the developing industries in the region as well as the low per-capita coating consumption that presents a huge potential for the anti-corrosion coating market (MarketsandMarkets.Anti-Corrosion Coating Market by Type, Technology, and End-Use - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2019. Reportlinker.com (c) Copyright 2016).
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