1

Wood Fibre Reinforced Composites:A commercial overview and Scions Woodforce

Jeremy Warnes

2019

2

Trex decking (US)

Extruded profiles are not the focus

Predominantly based on wood flour

3

Natural fibre reinforced plastics

• Injection moulding

• PP most common polymer

• Growth driven by automotive sector

• Competing with glass reinforced or mineral filled

polymers

Alfa Romeo Dashboard

Ford battery holder

– PP/Weyerhauser cellulose

5 star chair base

– PP/Woodforce

4

• Glass fibres or mineral fillers used to make plastic stronger and stiffer

• Natural fibres can be used

– Lighter

– Improved Environmental profile

– End of life/recycling benefits

– Potential cost savings

– Reduced tooling abrasion

– Improved processing cycle times

– Good dimensional stability

Advantages of Natural Fibres

Mercedes C class

TMP fibre - Woodforce

5

Biocomposites in the Automotive Industry

Review of the Applications of Biocomposites in the Automotive Industry,

Akampumuza et al, POLYMER COMPOSITES, 2016

Company Fibres Applications

Ford Flax, kenaf, coir Interior, door panel, load floor

Mercedes Benz Flax, hemp, coir, sisal Interior panels, spare wheel

well, seats

Toyota Bamboo, kenaf Interior panels, speakers,

spare wheel cover

BMW Flax, sisal Interior panels

Fiat Wood, coir Interior panels and trim

GM Wood, kenaf, flax Trim, rear shelf, seat backs

Chrysler Wood Interior panels and trim

Many of these use compression moulded sheets made from fibre mats.

6

Natural Fibres for Injection Moulding

An area of growth and development.

Fibre type Description Example

producers

Disadvantages when compared with the

advantages Scion fiber

Hemp Industry in EU, supported

with subsidies, complex

regulations

Faurecia Odor, quality, consistency, long retting

process, global availability, scalability,

logistics, seasonal

Flax, sisal, jute,

ramie.. other

Other dedicated plant

fibres

Primarily research Odor, quality consistency, global

availability, scalability, logistics, seasonal

Straw, bagasse..

other

Agricultural residue A. Shulman,

Rhetech –

supporting Ford

Odor, quality consistency, global

availability, scalability, logistics, seasonal

Kraft pulp Chemical wood pulp,

cellulose rich fibre

Thrive,

Formi, Fribomer

Symbio, Greencore

Expensive, difficult to process, sold as a

compound/masterbatch, negates

advantages of supply chain

Micro cellulose Further refined and

purified cellulose

Primarily research Very expensive and very difficult to process

Nano cellulose Highly refined and

purified cellulose

Primarily research Extremely expensive and extremely difficult

to process

Wood Fibre Scion Wood Fibre Dice Scion licences and

their customers

Readily available all year long and world

wide, low odor, consistent, easy to

process, compound, and scale, etc.

7

Woodforce Manufacture

“A patented method for manufacturing wood fibre rich

pellets, that can be fed into plastics processing

equipment to reinforce thermoplastic.”

• A drop-in technology

8

Technical Benefits

• Lowest cost way of reducing chip to fibres

• Consistent, reliable supply from MDF mill

• Easy to handle

• Free flowing

• Low odour

• Minimised dust and explosion risk

(cf wood flour or loose fibre)

2.5 kg

2.5 kg

9

Automotive • Approved as a material in Eu.

• Prime benefits:

• Weight reduction

• Dimension stability

• Environmental

• Scratch resistance

• Most industrially compatible

natural fibre

10

Wide range of other applications

Eurostar Antenna box

11

Elix ABS Natural Fibre

ConclusionELIX Polymers, with its keen focus on sustainable innovation and continuous attempts toenhance customer value, has introduced the best-in-class ELIX ECO ABS-NF product. Thisproduct has delivered a high aesthetical value to the final ABS-NF molded parts, comparedto PP-based natural fibre composites. The product’s mechanical properties have provencomparable to, or superior, in certain instances, to glass fibre composites. The product’sease of process ability and reduced number of process steps have proven its success inthe industry.With its strong overall performance, ELIX Polymers has earned the 2016 Frost & SullivanNew Product Innovation Award.

https://www.elix-polymers.com/uploads/fd870e3489f19c3974fd92473f0fd8924ebf2dc8.pdf

Compounding World (March 2017) describes Elix ABS using Woodforce.

12

PolyOne

13

Cellulose Nano Fibre (CNF)

Diagram from Nippon Paper

• Area of much R&D

• Japanese Government pushing strongly

14

CNF Application in plasticsNatural ‘carbon fibre equivalent’ in the future

High viscosity, low solids

Mainly test samples made

• High tensile strength (500MPa – similar to aluminium)

• Target US10/kg (Ref Thermoplastics M. Biron 2018)

• Generally supplied as 3%w/w solution

– handling and cost issues. 3kg fibres need to remove 97kg water during processing

• Technically and price wise compared with carbon fibre (Nikkei Asian Review 2017)

– CNF 5,000 yen to 10,000 yen cf 3,000 yen for carbon fibre

• Commercially supply and processing challenges

Automotive Dashboard Estimated Costs

- Natural Fiber/PP composites = $30

- CNF = $1000

15

www.scionresearch.com