CHICKEN FEATHERS BASED

BIOCOMPOSITES:

A NEW SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT?

G. Molins - M.D. Álvarez - N. Garrido - J. Macanás - F. Carrillo

4th novembrer 2013

POLQUITEX Research Grup

SUMMLAB Research Grup

www.upc.edu

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 2/18

Why Chicken Feathers (CFs)?

Human beings do not eat chicken feathers

(…at least purposely…)

70-80 % meat

20-25% Other wastes

(blood, head, feet, viscerae, bones)

5-9 % feathers and down

ABPs = animal by-products not intented for human consumption

ABPs

Regulation (EC) Nº 1069/2009 Commission Regulation (EU) No 142/2011

www.upc.edu

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 3/18

Why Chicken Feathers (CFs)?

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

0

250

500

750

1000

1250

1500

1750

2000

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

% W

orl

d P

rod

uct

ion

CFs

pro

du

ctio

n (

10

00

to

ns)

Ranking

64%

10%

www.upc.edu

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 4/18

What are CFs used for?

REMEMBER: >7x106

ton/year

Currently used for:

Energy

recovery

by

incineration

Composting

or

Fertilizers

Feather

meal for pet

animals

Technical

Material?

Composite materials?

www.upc.edu

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 5

Composite materials

Polymer composites

–Two or more identifiable materials

–Disadvantages

5/18 *Ren X. 2002, Journal of Cleaner Production, 11, 27-28.

Over 99 percent of every day plastics are derived from oil-based nonrenewable resources

20 to 30 % of plastics find their way into landfills

www.upc.edu

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 6

Polymer composite materials

6/18

Environmental concerns new regulations

Alternative: waste-to-product approach

BIOPOLYMERS

NATURAL FIBERS &

Chicken Feathers Polylactic acid

(PLA)

Better for the environment

www.upc.edu CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 7/18

• ILCD Handbook

• SimaPro

www.upc.edu

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

Goal & Scope

• Goal:

– Analyse the EIs of CFs/PLA

composite material containing

different amounts of CFs (0-35%)

• Functional Unit:

– Composite plate (184 x 184 x 2,2 mm3)

• Scope:

– CF’s pre-treatment

– Plate preparation

• Out of the scope:

– Poultry raising

– Transportation

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 8/18

www.upc.edu

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

Life Cycle Inventory

Crushing process

Plate manufacturing

Cleaning process

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 9/18

www.upc.edu

COD: 12.87 mg O2/g BOD5: 0.72 mg O2/g SS: 0.06 mg/g Oils: 0.12 mg/g Kjeldalh-N: 1.04 mg/g

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

LCI- Cleaning process

Dirty feathers 1 g

Dry clean feathers 0.48 g

Autoclave process

135ºC 20 min

First drying

60ºC 24h

Energy 0.53 kJ

Water 40 ml

Wet Clean feathers

Energy 0.55 kJ

Wastewater 40 ml

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 10/18

(Theoretical)

www.upc.edu

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

LCI- Crushing process

Dry clean feathers 1 g

Clean Crushed feathers 0.85 g

Crushing

Second drying

105ºC 2h

Energy 13.7 kJ

Energy 0.5 kJ

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 11/18

(Theoretical)

www.upc.edu

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

LCI- Plate manufacturing

Clean crushed feathers

Composite plate 184 x 184 x 2.2 mm3

Blending

Press

Energy

PLA

Energy Water

180ºC

50 rpm

5 minutes

100 kN

180ºC

5 minutes

INPUTS

% CFs Clean crushed feathers (g)

PLA (g)

Electricity (kJ)

0 % 0 102 745.2

10% 7.87 92.2 745.2

20% 15.7 81.9 745.2

35% 27.5 66.6 745.2

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 12/18

www.upc.edu

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

Impact assessment / Interpretation

• Avoided burdens influence

– 20% CFs composite

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 13/18

• EIs decrease considering

avoided burdens

• 20% CFs composite

www.upc.edu

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

Impact assessment / Interpretation

• EIs of CFs/PLA composites

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 14/18

Avoided burdens considered

www.upc.edu

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

Impact assessment / Interpretation

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 15/18

Ab

ioti

c d

ep

leti

on

(A

bD

e)

Aci

dif

icat

ion

(A

cid

)

Eutr

op

hic

atio

n (

Eu)

Glo

bal

war

min

g p

ote

nti

al (

GW

P1

00

)

Ozo

ne

laye

r d

ele

tio

n

(OD

P)

Ph

oto

che

mic

al o

xid

atio

n

(Ph

O)

Lan

d o

ccu

pat

ion

(LO

c)

No

n-r

ene

wab

le e

ne

rgy

con

sum

pti

on

(N

REC

)

• EIs decrease in almost all categories, especially in

land occupation

• Increase in acidification and photochemical

oxidation

• GWP(100) decreases thanks to avoided burdens

consideration

• Energy consumption from the pretreatment is the

main responsible of many EIs

www.upc.edu

CFs/PLA Environmental assessment

Conclusions

• Interesting raw material to be used in composite

materials

• Environmental benefits in most of selected

categories

• CFs pre-treatments are crucial

• Energy consumption is a key issue

Chicken Feathers

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 16/18

www.upc.edu Acknowledgements

Research Groups

• POLQUITEX - Polymeric Materials and Textile Chemistry

• SUMMLAB - Sustainability Measurement and Modeling Lab

Institutions

• Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)

• Terrassa School of Engineering (EET)

• Institute of Textile Research and Industrial Cooperation of

Terrassa (INTEXTER)

Funding

Project Ref. MAT 2010-17057

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 17/18

Presenting author: gemma.molins@upc.edu Project Leader: fernando.carrillo@upc.edu

Thank you for your attention!

Any questions?

POLQUITEX Research Grup

SUMLAB Research Grup

G. Molins et al. (ID 276) 18/18

mailto:Jorge.macanas@upc.edumailto:fernando.carrillo@upc.edu