Ford expands use of biomaterials in production to reduce need for foreign oil
published: October 10th, 2008author: Sarah A Webs
source: Detroit Free Press
website: http://www.freep.com
Deep inside the laboratories of Ford Motor Co.'s research and innovation center, one lab feels a lot more like a witch's pantry than a place for developing the green cars and trucks of the future.
One corner is cluttered with coconuts, hemp twine, switchgrass, wheat straw, wood pellets, and oils made from grape seeds, palm trees and soybeans.
The earthy ingredients sit on countertops, hang on the wall and are stored in neatly labeled glass jars.
The work that goes on in this Dearborn lab -- replacing petroleum-based car parts with natural, renewable ones -- isn't exactly what most Americans think about when considering environmentally friendly cars.
Conscientious consumers most often focus on improving fuel economy, which averages 25 m.p.g. for America's cars and trucks.
"Most people think hybrids," said Debbie Mielewski, who has been heading unique efforts to help make Ford's products more environmentally friendly.
But Mielewski is part of a growing contingent of scientists who are trying to get consumers to also think about the thousands of parts -- and pounds of materials -- in their car that are made with petroleum, a limited resource. That includes foam seats, plastic dashboards and door panels, rubber gaskets and floor mats and yards and yards of upholstery.
"This is just as important" as improving fuel economy, Mielewski said during a recent interview with the Free Press.
Over the years, Ford has taken a lot of flak from environmentalists for failing to live up to its promises, such as its pledge three years ago to offer 250,000 hybrids a year by 2010. But Ford maintains it has a broader view of environmentalism than most consumers realize.
The evidence is easily seen around the company's sprawling Michigan facilities -- from the grass roof on the Dearborn Truck Plant to the beautiful acres of sunflowers that Ford plants around its headquarters, which reduce gas and fertilizer use and create a natural habitat for foxes, wild turkeys and butterflies.
The kind of work being done by Mielewski's research team is also an example.
Essentially, the group researches how to reduce or replace the amount of petroleum that goes into making car parts, usually by substituting biomaterials, without compromising their durability, safety and other characteristics.
"Even a small percentage of change in millions of cars starts to add up," Mielewski explained.
This kind of work used to be considered niche research.
But with high oil prices driving up costs of petroleum-based products, and consumers becoming more environmentally conscious, automakers and their suppliers are getting more aggressive about recycling parts and working to create more environmentally friendly substitutes for petroleum-based products.
"People are getting more and more interested in it," said researcher Ellen Lee. She is a technical expert in Ford's biomaterials group where she specializes in researching natural fibers and bio-resins.
The soy experiment
When Mielewski first proposed exploring replacing petroleum in plastics and other materials in 2001, her idea was viewed with a skeptical eye.
Oil was cheap. Plastic was, consequently, a highly affordable material. What's more, after decades of research and real-world use, car companies were familiar with plastic.
The attitude in many quarters was: Why bother?
But Mielewski, who has a PhD from the University of Michigan, was one of those people passionate about the environment, and apparently quite convincing.
So Ford let her assemble a team of five scientists -- with chemistry, engineering and materials science degrees -- to research what could be done.
It didn't hurt that Bill Ford, the executive chairman and a well-known environmentalist, signed on to the project.
Their first priority was taking on foam. There are about 30 pounds of foam per vehicle, Mielewski said.
Traditional polyurethane foam is derived completely from petroleum-based materials, and Mielewski's team aimed to replace just a fraction of that with soy alternatives.
Other companies that they turned to for research help warned it couldn't be done.
But Cynthia Flanigan, who has a PhD in materials science and engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the small group of scientists didn't give up.
"We all seem to be very passionate about the environment," she explained. "We wanted it to work."
By 2007, after much trial and error, largely by Christine Perry, a chemist who spent many days trying formulas and mixing techniques, Ford had proved the naysayers wrong.
The team had created new foam that met all the automotive requirements for durability and safety, while replacing 20% of the petroleum in the foam with soy.
Ford's new soy-based foam first appeared in seat backs and seat cushions in the 2008 Mustang, and it has since expanded to other models, such as the F-150 pickup, the Escape crossover and the Focus compact, among others.
By the end of the 2009 model year, Ford estimates that more than 1 million vehicles will contain soy-foam seat cushions and backs -- saving one million pounds of oil and reducing carbon dioxide (CO{-2}) emissions by 5.3-million pounds annually. CO{-2} is regarded as the chief manmade global-warming gas.
What's more, Ford has a partnership with John Deere and Sears Manufacturing to use their soy-based foams in the seating for agricultural equipment.
The next frontier
Emboldened by their success with soy-based foam, Ford's small team now has a short list of other projects under way to replace petroleum in parts. "We have just begun," Perry said.
Lately, they've spent a lot of time dabbling with natural and synthetic rubbers, which are commonly used as gaskets, door seals and floor mats in cars. Perry has been trying to add soy meal and flour as a filler, again replacing the current petroleum-based materials with sustainably grown ones.
Meanwhile, Angela Harris, who has a chemical engineering degree from U-M, is injecting micro-sized bubbles into plastic components, thereby reducing the amount of petroleum-based material needed in the first place.
Lee is working on developing new plastics, which are formulated with natural sugars from corn, sugar cane or sweet potatoes, instead of petroleum. She then makes them stronger by adding natural fibers such as switchgrass. The final product is often a beautiful textured and natural-looking material that Ford designers are excited to begin working with in concept cars -- not unlike the burl of woods that are often lacquered inside luxury cars.
Along the way, Ford's team is finding that some natural materials have better properties than some plastics and other petroleum-based materials they have been using.
Hemp fiber, for example, is incredibly strong and durable. And some of the organic materials dampen sound and absorb energy in the car better than what's being used to reduce the sound of wind and engine vibrations. "We never expected some of that," Mielewski said.
Within the next year, she is hopeful that more eco-friendly materials will be making their way out of Ford's labs and into cars and trucks.
"We expect there will be more and new applications in the next year," Mielewski said.
