In military base camps, approximately 13 lbs. of cellulosic waste per day are produced per soldier, accounting for ~80% of all solid waste produced at these camps. These materials, such as wooden pallets and cardboard, are disposed of in landfills, burned, or buried on site. Under a Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) sponsored program, Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), in collaboration with Faraday Technology Inc. (FTI) and the University of Kentucky (UK), is developing an innovative, fieldable process to upcycle waste cellulose into valuable construction materials by converting it into a new class of high-performance densified wood composite. The key innovation of this program is the novel process used to treat the waste cellulose, form a binder from cellulose-derived components, and assemble the densified composite product. The produced material’s compressive strength, stiffness, and machinability are evaluated and compared to that of Douglas fir. The process is designed to be fieldable (simple & robust), be environmentally friendly, and require low resource expenditure. This poster will provide a comprehensive overview of the overall waste cellulose composite production process, including waste processing, chemical modifications, and final composite production. In addition, the technical approach and key results (including detailed analysis, conclusions, and next steps) will be discussed.
Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under Contract Number HR001124C0456. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
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