Scientists save energy by lubricating wood

By Simon Levey - Thursday 8 March 2012 - A little bit of lubrication could make a big energy saving when manufacturing sustainable biofuels and bio-chemicals from timber, according to research published in the journal Green Chemistry this month. Scientists at Imperial College London have demonstrated that a key part of biomass processing could be made 80 per cent more energy-efficient by taking advantage of the slippery properties of fluids called ionic solvents. They say this could reduce the cost of biofuels by 3p per litre, around 10% of its current cost. The efficiency savings can be made during one of the energy-intensive stages of the biomass manufacturing process, when solid timber chunks are turned into a 'soup' of fluids and fine wood particles in an industrial grinder, which works in a similar way to a giant coffee grinder. The discovery paves the way to making the biomass industry greener. Treating timber with ionic solvents has previously been shown to help processing wood into biofuels and chemicals. While initially this effect was only attributed to the solvents' ability to partially weaken wood's tough, fibrous structure, this new study suggests the energy-savings are predominantly due to the way that these fluids lubricate the wood chips as they go around in the grinder.