55559561524 Dc4C3382Db O — A large roll of containerboard moves through the production line at a South Alabama mill, where wood fiber is transformed into paper products used for packaging. (Auburn University)

An Auburn University project has received a major boost through federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation.

Auburn is receiving $579,469 for a project aimed at developing novel dewatering processes for forest products. The school was one of 56 institutions across the country to receive part of the $117 million funding program from the DOE.

The project is expected to help the forest products industry decrease energy consumption and explore value-added byproducts.

Keep reading to learn more how Auburn’s forestry program is making a national impact.

Auburn University forestry innovation project

Auburn’s project will specifically aim to eliminate emissions from the wood-drying process, while strengthening U.S. energy security plus supporting job creation and economic growth nationwide.

The DOE-funded project, led by Yucheng Peng, an associate professor of sustainable packaging and bioproducts in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, will use pressurized carbon dioxide (CO2) to remove moisture from wood and other forest products.

“Using mechanical forces generated by CO2 phase change from the supercritical liquid to gas, water will be removed from the wood cell lumen and cell wall under a well-controlled process which simultaneously facilitates the collection of VOCs emitted in the process, improving air quality compared with traditional thermal-energy-based drying.”
Yucheng Peng, associate professor, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment

The novel method proposed by the project will provide opportunities to reduce thermal energy consumption.

This project is co-led by Zhihua Jiang, the Auburn Pulp and Paper Foundation Associate Professor and director of the Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering, and Brian Via, director of the School of Packaging at Michigan State University.

A broad spectrum of forest products is encompassed in the project, including solid wood products derived from diverse wood species, wood composites and pulp and paper. Each principal investigator will lead research within a specific focus product dewatering process while actively collaborating with other team members to promote knowledge exchange, interdisciplinary innovation and the integration of expertise across product categories.

“In alignment with the DOE’s goal to help the most energy-intensive industries overcome barriers and benefit from the latest in technology innovation and strategic analysis, the team’s research will provide cross-cutting technologies that can be applied across the forest products industry.”
Janaki Alavalapati, the Emmett F. Thompson Dean of the CFWE