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The Forest Bioproducts Division of the
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In April 2008, AIChE approved our proposal for an updated name. We are now the Forest Bioproducts Division of AIChE instead of the Forest Products Division. We worked with other divisions within AIChE and with AIChE leadership to make this transition and avoid confusion, while seeking to better emphasize our historical activities around bioproducts. For years, the Division has been sponsoring programming on bioproducts, biomass, biofuels, etc. After all, the forest products industries, especially the pulp and paper industries, have long relied on recovered energy from biomass and have been at the forefront of extracting value from lignocellulosic materials. For example, much of the technical know-how in conversion of cellulose to ethanol has come from engineers and scientists in forest products, such as the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, which began work on obtaining ethanol from cellulose roughly one century ago. Now we have adjusted our name to better reflect who we've been for a long time.
The 2009 Annual Meeting is looking very promising. It will be held Nov. 8-13 at the Grand Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. We are actively soliciting speakers for our sessions. The deadline for abstracts is May 11, though we expect an extension of at least one week. Submit abstracts via the AIChE Preliminary Programming Page (click on Division 17, Forest Bioproducts). Preliminary programming for our Division currently includes the following sessions:
Chemical and Biological Processes for Woody Biomass Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals - I (17000)
Overview: Crop residues, forest residues, woody biomass, and plant-based industrial processing woody biomass wastes provide a broad renewable feedstock base for developing energy efficient and environmentally sustainable processes for producing a wide range of chemicals, fuels, and bio-based materials. This session provides a forum for describing recent developments across the full spectrum of this exciting and increasingly important crosscutting area. This session will cover advances in all areas of the renewable woody biomass feedstocks processing ("biorefining") industry, including: chemical and biological processing; biorefinery stream separations; pretreatment and reactor engineering for biomass feedstocks; and life-cycle and techno-economic analyses.
Chair: Shijie Liu
Chemical and Biological Processes for Woody Biomass Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals - II (17001)
Overview: Crop residues, forest residues, woody biomass, and plant-based industrial processing woody biomass wastes provide a broad renewable feedstock base for developing energy efficient and environmentally sustainable processes for producing a wide range of chemicals, fuels, and bio-based materials. This session provides a forum for describing recent developments across the full spectrum of this exciting and increasingly important crosscutting area. This session will cover advances in all areas of the renewable woody biomass feedstocks processing ("biorefining") industry, including: chemical and biological processing; biorefinery stream separations; pretreatment and reactor engineering for biomass feedstocks; and life-cycle and techno-economic analyses.
Chair: Shijie Liu
Production of Fungible Biofuels From Lignocellulose (17002)
Overview: A growing need in biofuels technology is efficient production of fungible fuels from lignocellulosic biomass. Fungible fuels are compatible with the existing distribution infrastructure. They also have a higher energy density than ethanol and have other fuel properties more closely aligned with current petroleum-derived fuels. In this session, we review recent advances and the prognosis for bio-derived fungible fuels as a practical fuel for the future.
Chair: Peter van Walsum and Co-Chair: Juben Chheda
Integrated Biorefineries for Lignocellulosic Biomass (17003)
Overview: This plenary session will deal with integrated biorefineries for lignocellulosic biomass as the tentative biomass. It will explore novel approaches and opportunities for integrated biorefineries including combined biochemical and thermochemical approaches based on conventional/traditional bio-based industries including forest industries, corn based ethanol, biodiesel, power and utilities etc.
Chair: Shri Ramaswamy and Co-Chair: Bandaru V. Ramarao
Thermochemical Biorefineries (17004)
Overview: This session deals with the conversion of biomass (especially cellulosic materials) to biofuels using thermochemical processes.
Chair: Jim Frederick
Funding for Forest Bioproducts Research (Tentative) (17005)
Overview: We are considering a panel discussion with representatives of funding agencies to provide guidance to professors and students pursuing biorefineries and forest bioproducts.
Chair: Shri Ramaswamy and Co-Chair: Bandaru V. Ramarao
Biobased Materials - I (17006)
Overview: Biobased materials from cellulosic/woody materials.
Chair: Amar K. Mohanty
Biobased Materials - II (17007)
Overview: Biobased materials from cellulosic/woody materials.
Chair: Amar K. Mohanty
International Perspectives in Forest and Plant Bioproducts (17008)Overview: What is the state of forest and plant bioproducts engineering internationally? What should chemical know about biofuels and biorefinery efforts in India, China, South America, and other regions? This session is aimed at improving technical and social understanding pertaining to forest bioproducts in many nations, with speakers from or having experience in various parts of the world.
Chair: Jeff Lindsay
Note: We are planning our Third Annual Division Dinner to be held on Tuesday, Nov. 10, in Nashville. Details to follow.To supplement the technical content we provide at the Annual Meeting and to reach more people, we are now offering regular Webinars on a variety of technical topics of interest to our members. Our first Webinar is scheduled for October 24 and deals with nanotechnology in the forest products industry. See our 2007 Webinar Series page for details and to register. Registration is free and this Webinar is open to the public. Future Webinars may have members-only features, such as access to slide materials and white papers only for Division members. So if you're not in the Division, sign up online today at AICHE.org. It's inexpensive and we are working to make it well worth the annual fee.
After six years of service as Chair and 13 years of service as a Division leader, Dr. Chris Verrill has stepped down. Many thanks to Dr. Verrill for dedicated service for so many years! Two elections have been held in the past year to replace officers, resulting in a new group of leaders. Visit our leadership page to see who the leaders are. To learn more about the newly elected officers from the 2006/2007 elections, see our "meet the new leaders" page.
The Forest Bioproducts Division fosters sharing of technical knowledge about forest bioproducts, biorefineries, many technical aspects of the pulp and paper industries, and associated technologies involving cellulose and other forest products. We provide technical sessions, Webinars, and networking opportunities to promote these areas and help engineers and scientists advance their skills, knowledge, and capabilities. We also coordinate with other divisions dealing with related areas to strengthen AIChE's role and to promote the exchange of ideas and knowledge.
The Division has been evolving to be increasingly focused on renewable bioproducts, including biorefineries and other engineering issues involving bio-based materials that go beyond forests per se to also include biomass issues, etc. Take a look at our technical program (below) for 2007 or 2006 to get a feel for these directions.
There are about 150 members in the Division representing academia, industry, and other groups. The most visible work of the Division is in sponsoring and organizing multiple technical sessions at national AIChE meetings, often collaborating with TAPPI and other groups. These technical sessions provide forums for the exchange of information about new technical developments in the forest bioproducts industries.
Upcoming changes for the Division include the introduction of regular Webinars from technical experts and others to increase the opportunities for Division members to stay on top of this rapidly evolving field. An annual meeting just isn't enough to meet the needs of Division members, so stay tuned on information about Webinars and other opportunities.
Dear Members of the AIChE Forest Products Division,
If you are new to the Forest Products Division (FPD) of AIChE; welcome! If you have been a member for a while, thank you for sticking with us through a period of reduced activity. Recent consolidation of trade conferences has limited opportunities for presenting leading-edge work related to the forest products industries. At the same time, academic efforts have advanced bio-based product research, forest biorefinery process development, and material science and engineering fundamentals at the molecular level, a.k.a., nanotechnology. More than ever before the FPD can support the evolution of our industry by providing a forum for presenting these new developments.
I am committed to leading a Division transformation to better meet member needs. To do this, I need your input, and urge you to get involved.
I look forward to an exciting [Annual] meeting and welcome your involvement in the Division.
Christopher L. Verrill
Past Chair, Forest Products Division Tel: 404-894-1083
September 9, 2005
To contact any of the other leaders of the Division, please see our recently updated page of Leaders of the Forest Bioproducts Division.
| This is the official home page for the Forest Products Division of AIChE. It replaces the old AIChE FPD home page. |
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Curator: Jeff Lindsay, Contact:
Last Updated: May 6, 2009 URL: "http://www.forest-products.org" |