Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 2

The College of New Caledonia and BioStill Chemicals Inc. are continuing their applied research partnership todevelop and commercialize a thermal multi-stage pyrolysis system to extract and separate a range ofbiochemicals from wood residue. BioStill Chemicals Inc. will use research outcomes from this project tosupport the development of a full-scale industrial plant process that converts wood waste from local sawmillsand wood products facilities into valuable chemical products aimed at domestic and international markets.This project will focus on the following research and development questions: (i)Developing a multi-stagepyrolytic reactor system that will sequentially subject wood samples to different temperature stages, and extractunique chemical compounds at each thermal stage; (ii) Optimizing the operation of the pyrolysis reactorsystem; (iii) Quantify the effects of wood feed characteristics on process outputs; and (iv) Basic chemical andeconomic analysis of compounds produced at each thermal stage.College students in the School of Trades and Technologies will learn valuable skills related to applied woodtechnology, product development and commercialization of biochemical products derived from wood.Students involved in this project will develop enhanced technical skills in (i) pyrolysis of wood residues; (ii)developing and testing technology-based prototype pyrolysis reactor systems; (iii) collecting and analyzing datato support the development and commercialization of innovative technologies, and (iv) developing value-addedproducts from Canada's forests. We expect students to play an important role in this project and develop thoseskills needed for successfully accessing the job market upon completion of the project. Canada's emergingclean-tech sector will require highly qualified personnel in this area, and students involved in this project willbe well-positioned to drive innovation in this area.