Wood

Black walnut trees are one of the most valuable species in the United States. The hardwood is used in making quality lumber and veneer and has an added benefit of producing walnuts used in food production. Hardwood trees in general have many other benefits. They provide environmental stabilization as windbreakers protection from watershed and reclamation. The raw materials from the wood are used in cosmetic pharmaceutical and botanical industries.

Summary: The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is seeking commercial partners interested in developing an efficient method for producing pulp from wood chips. Detailed Technology Description: To make paper from wood wood must first be transformed into pulp. Current pulping techniques require high amounts of electrical energy or large quantities of wood. UW-Madison researchers have developed a method for producing pulp from wood chips by pretreating the chips with oxalic acid and sodium bisulfite.

Background: Improved aspen clones that produce increased biomass have been developed at Iowa State University. Technology Description: Fast growing trees such as aspen cottonwood and eucalyptus can be grown as so-called short rotation crops and have potential to be used as a source of woody biomass for the production of biofuels such as wood pellets and cellulosic ethanol. In the prime cottonwood growing region which includes eastern Louisiana eastern Arkansas western Mississippi and western Kentucky cottonwoods can grow 12-15 feet per year allowing them to be harvested biennially.

Lignocellulosic biomass is a very desirable feedstock for biofuel production. If the fermentation process for lignocellulose could be optimized conversion of this biomass could yield 25 to 50 billion gallons of ethanol or other biofuels per year. However lignocellulose which is composed of lignin cellulose and hemicelluloses is resistant to chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis. This resistance is a key limiting step in the conversion of biomass into fermentable sugars.

Use of briquettes and wood fuel to conserve energy.

Domespace is a new type of housing entirely made of wood it can rotate automatically or manually (remote control) to follow the sun. Its geometry and conception turn it positive in terms of energy offer and demand ratio. Due to its shape it resists to 280 km per h winds and is anti-seismic.

Researchers from a Slovak forestry agency have developed highly effective pheromone insect traps suitable for capturing bark and wood boring beetles with the purpose of monitoring and inspection of forest protection. The pheromone trap is available in two different shape variants both providing high quality of collected samples and 20 - 30% increase in collecting efficiency compared to currently available technologies. The agency seeks companies interested in technology purchase or licensing agreement.

This invention presents a process and an apparatus for the production of water-insoluble lignin granulates for material and energetic usage. Pulp extraction for manufacturing paper from wood or grasses generates lignin which has a high calorific value in large amounts as a side-product and component of waste liquor. The further use of lignin is prevented especially because of heterogeneity aroma water solubility dust formation and high reactivity.

A technology involving generation of light by a cuboid metallic box lit with a drum containing wood charcoal generated from burning wood in the cuboid metallic box. It burns out in 12 hours.

Background: The cellulose found in abundance in wood grasses and other plant matter (biomass) is a rich largely untapped sugar source for ethanol production. Cellulose is a polymer of hundreds to thousands of glucose units that is ubiquitous in plant cell walls. The cellulase family of enzymes has been exploited to break cellulose down into glucose for use as a feedstock in bioethanol production. The nature of cellulose in biomass poses a number of challenges to attaining high glucose yield.