<DrumBeat: December 19, 2008 The Oil Drum DrumBeat: December 20, 2008>

152 comments on I Sequester Carbon for a Living

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NeverLNG on December 19, 2008 - 11:34am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

Very intriguing.

Acetic anhydride. I imagine you could make that from apple juice, but I suspect it is really made from coal or natural gas. How much is actually used to acetylate the wood?

Cellulose acetate is pretty flammable, I believe. What is the flammability of the bulk wood product? What about the sawdust or shavings? Might it be unsafe to use under certain conditions?

Apparently you use some kind of giant autoclave to process the wood. That must take a lot of heat, though I suppose less than manufacture of Portland cement.

Seems like this would be a natural for the Pacific Northwest, if your claims are all accurate. But the long life of the product may limit its economic value! Out here on the coast we rely on the fact that wood rots, and so needs to be replaced. What will we do with millions of houses that will never decay, full of increasingly old people who almost never die because of increasingly effective medical technology? I see the makings of a new Zardos movie.

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Soylent on December 19, 2008 - 1:37pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

"Acetic anhydride. I imagine you could make that from apple juice, but I suspect it is really made from coal or natural gas."

Acetic anhydride is usually formed by carbonylation of methyl acetate(an ester of methanol and acetic acid).

Methanol is made from synthesis gas(a mixture of CO and H2). There's no reason except cost that you can't make syngas from biomass, old tires, whatever.

Industrial grade acetic acid is usually made from carbonylation of methanol.

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jerryd on December 19, 2008 - 6:30pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I agree it sound real good as especially the lighter, fast growing wood rot way to fast. Interesting using
acetic acid. But how much/kg of wood do you need.

I build things of high performance wood, mostly plywood and epoxy so this is close to home. And it sounds like a real improvement.

You should try in your designs so you can be recycle the pieces into new structures, ect once the bridge, ect is no longer needed.

Here in Fla we have cypress that is about as rot
resistance as possible with 100yr old log cabins looking about 3 yrs old!! To take light pines, ect to do
.the same is a good step forward

As for larger wooden bridges we have many in the
US and should be online. Start with covered bridges.
And a large number of RR bridges all made of wood. Near me beside US301 across from the Hillsbrough State
park N of Tampa are several all wood bridges about the same size as yours built in the last 10 yrs or so.

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jerryd on December 19, 2008 - 6:31pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I agree it sound real good as especially the lighter, fast growing wood rot way to fast. Interesting using
acetic acid. But how much/kg of wood do you need.

I build things of high performance wood, mostly plywood and epoxy so this is close to home. And it sounds like a real improvement.

You should try in your designs so you can be recycle the pieces into new structures, ect once the bridge, ect is no longer needed.

Here in Fla we have cypress that is about as rot
resistance as possible with 100yr old log cabins looking about 3 yrs old!! To take light pines, ect to do
.the same is a good step forward

As for larger wooden bridges we have many in the
US and should be online. Start with covered bridges.
And a large number of RR bridges all made of wood. Near me beside US301 across from the Hillsbrough State
park N of Tampa are several all wood bridges about the same size as yours built in the last 10 yrs or so.

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152 comments on I Sequester Carbon for a Living

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