Feat of ‘dung-gineering’ turns cow manure into one of world’s most used materials

A brand new method to extract tiny cellulose strands from cow dung and switch them into manufacturing-grade cellulose, presently used to make the whole lot from surgical masks to meals packaging, has been developed by researchers from UCL, Edinburgh Napier College and Teesside College.

The examine, published in The Journal of Cleaner Manufacturingdescribes the brand new “pressurized spinning” innovation and its potential to create cellulose supplies extra cheaply and cleanly than some present manufacturing strategies, utilizing a waste product from the dairy farming business, cow dungbecause the uncooked materials.

The advance is the primary time that manufacturing-grade cellulose has been derived from animal waste and is a major instance of round economic system, which goals to reduce waste and air pollution by reusing and repurposing assets wherever potential.

The researchers say that implementing the know-how can be a win-win scenario for producers, dairy farmers and the setting.

Cellulose is likely one of the world’s mostly used manufacturing supplies. Discovered naturally within the cell partitions of crops, it was first used to create artificial supplies within the mid-Nineteenth century, together with the unique materials utilized in photographic filmcelluloid.

At present it may be present in the whole lot from cling movie to surgical masks, paper merchandise, textiles, meals and prescription drugs. Although it may be extracted organically, additionally it is typically produced synthetically utilizing poisonous chemical substances.

Pressurized spinning (or pressurized gyration) is a producing know-how that makes use of the forces of strain and rotation concurrently to spin fibers, beads, ribbons, meshes and movies from a liquid jet of soppy matter. The a number of award-winning know-how was invented in 2013 by a group from UCL Mechanical Engineering led by Professor Mohan Edirisinghe.

Professor Edirisinghe, the senior writer of the examine, stated, “Our preliminary query was whether or not it may very well be potential to extract the tiny fragments of cellulose current in cow manure, which is left over from the crops the animals have eaten, and trend it into manufacturing-grade cellulose supplies.

“Extracting the fragments from dung was comparatively easy utilizing gentle chemical reactions and homogenization, which we then became a liquid resolution. However after we tried to show the fragments into fibers utilizing pressurized spinning know-how, it did not work.

“By a process of trial and error, we figured out that using a horizontal rather than a vertical vessel containing surface nozzles and injecting the jet of liquid into still or flowing water caused cellulose fibers to type. We have been then capable of change the consistency of the liquid to create different types, similar to meshes, movies and ribbons, every of which has completely different manufacturing purposes.

“We’re still not quite sure why the process works, but the important thing is that it does. It will also be fairly easy to scale up using existing pressurized spinning technology, the vessels for which were designed and built in the UCL Mechanical Engineering workshop.”

The brand new method, referred to as horizontal nozzle-pressurized spinning, is an energy-efficient course of that does not require the excessive voltages of different fiber manufacturing methods similar to electrospinning.

The group say that adapting present pressurized spinning machines to the brand new course of needs to be comparatively easy. The better problem is more likely to be the logistics of sourcing and transporting the uncooked materials, cow dung, however that the environmental and industrial advantages of doing so can be important.

Ms. Yanqi Dai, first writer of the examine from UCL Mechanical Engineering, stated, “Dairy farm waste similar to cow manure is a risk to the setting and people, particularly by waterway air pollution, the discharge of greenhouse gases into the ambiance when it decomposes, and the unfold of pathogens. It’s also typically a burden on farmers to get rid of correctly.

“Horizontal nozzle-pressurized spinning could be a huge boost to the global dairy farming industry, by putting this problematic waste product to good use and perhaps creating a new source of income.”

The analysis group is presently in search of alternatives to work with dairy farmers to make the most of the know-how and scale it up.

Animal waste is a rising drawback globally. Analysis in 2019 estimated that the quantity of animal waste is because of improve by 40% between 2003 and 2030 to not less than 5 billion metric tons, with many farms producing extra manure than they will legitimately use as fertilizer. This waste typically finds its method into water, the place it may well have a devastating impact on ecosystems and even result in illness in people.