Bridges, MDF boards, seat shells, boats, window construction components and wooden nails made from biocomposites are competing for the „Biocomposites of the year 2017“ innovation award. It will be awarded at the „Biocomposites Conference Cologne“ at the beginning of December.
Six products have been shortlisted for the Innovation Award „Biocomposites of the year 2017“. The award is presented at the biennial „Biocomposites Conference Cologne“ (BCC). An advisory board selected the entries for the final round from a total of 13 submissions. They will be presented at the conference in Cologne and voted on by the participants. Three prizes will be awarded in gold, silver and bronze.
It will certainly not be an easy choice for the conference participants. Very different products will be presented: from the mouldable MDF board from a bridge made of biocomposite material to nails made of wood. [infotext icon]
Already the seventh conference for biocomposites
The seventh „Biocomposites Conference Cologne“ will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, 6 and 7 December 2017, at the Maternushaus in Cologne. The organiser is nova-Institut GmbH, also from Cologne. For two days, the focus will be on new technologies and applications for biocomposites. Two years ago, 230 people attended the conference. This year, the organiser is expecting up to 300 guests. This would make the conference the best-attended biocomposites conference of the current year. It will be accompanied by an exhibition, for which 19 companies had already registered by 13 September.
More information is available at http://www.biocompositescc.com.[/infotext]
BASF SE„ and “Sonae Arauco Deutschland AG„ are entering the competition with a new wood-based material for the furniture industry. They have developed a thermoformable Composite developed. This MDF material can be processed on conventional production systems. The highlight: subsequent moulding and even embossing of the boards is possible. This opens up new design possibilities for the furniture industry.
[infotext]Bridges made of flax, hemp, epoxy resin and biodegradable PLA was developed by Eindhoven University of Technology. The structure was successfully installed by the Dutch company „NPSP bv“. The principle of the bridge is simple: layers of natural fibres are glued to a laser-cut form made of PLA foam using the resin. Initial load tests have shown that this results in a stable structure: the bridge can withstand 500 kilograms per square metre[/infotext].Conventional modern Boats consist largely of plastics and glass fibres. The product „GreenBente24“ from the third competitor „GreenBoats“, on the other hand, is made from 80 per cent renewable and recyclable materials such as flax, cork and bio-based epoxy resin.
SandwichWindow scantlings The Austrian company G.S. Stemeseder GmbH has developed a new type of window under the brand name „Stratos passive“. The construction elements for the manufacture of windows for passive houses have a density that is half that of conventional products. This achieves a particularly favourable heat transfer coefficient. The innovative product is manufactured from foamed PP, a wood composite material and solid wood elements on standard machines.
With Seat shells made of wood fibre-filled plastic, Owi GmbH is taking part in the competition. The products produced in co-operation with Linotech GmbH are intended for school furniture.
The Austrian company Raimund Beck Nageltechnik GmbH has finally rethought the well-known principle of the wooden nail. Their product „LignoLoc“ consists of magazine-loaded Wooden nails for industrial production. For the first time, wooden nails can be driven into wood with a pneumatic nailing device without pre-drilling. This creates a welding effect between the nails and the surrounding wood.
