STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE FOR U.S. AGRICULTURE: UTILIZATION OF AGRICULTURE CROP AND PROCESS RESIDUES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SUSTAINABLE AND VALUE-ADDED BIOPRODUCTS IS CRITICAL FOR IMPROVING ENVIRONMENT AND BIOECONOMY. OUR INTEGRATED APPROACH, WHERE WE HAVE VALUE ADDED CO-PRODUCTS, SUCH AS XYLOSE (MARKET VALUE $3/KG) FROM NATURAL FIBERS, WE EXPECT THE PRODUCTION COST OF CARBONIZED FIBER TO BE VERY COMPETITIVE. WIDE USE OF LOW COST AND HIGH PERFORMING CARBONIZED FIBERS IN INJECTION MOLDED AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTS - IN PLACE OF EXPENSIVE AND SPARSELY USED CARBON FIBERS - CAN IMPROVE FUEL EFFICIENCY AND EMISSION STANDARDS AMONG THE US AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLES. AMONG THE EXISTING SOURCES OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS, GRAIN HULLS (SOY, CORN, RICE, ETC.) ARE ONE OF THE HIGHLY DESIRABLE BIOMASS STARTING MATERIAL. THE SOY HULLS FROM SOYBEAN PROCESSING, CORN FIBER FROM DISTILLERIES AND ETHANOL MANUFACTURERS, AND RICE HULLS FROM RICE MILLING ARE AVAILABLE IN LARGE VOLUMES AT A CONSISTENT QUALITY. THEIR SHIPPING, STORAGE, AND OTHER LOGISTICS COSTS ARE MORE EFFECTIVELY MANAGEABLE COMPARED TO OTHER TRADITIONAL BIOMASS FEEDSTOCKS.CURRENT MARKET: ACCORDING TO A REPORT PUBLISHED BY NREL DOE IN 2016 THE THEORETICAL CARBON-FIBER PRODUCTION POTENTIAL FROM U.S. CROP RESIDUES IS ESTIMATED AT ABOUT 15 MILLION TONS PER YEAR WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY MORE THAN THE PROJECTED NATURAL FIBER DEMAND OF 170,000 TONS IN 2025. HOWEVER, THERE ARE PRODUCTION CHALLENGES FOR LOW-COST SCALABLE CONVERSION PATHWAYS FOR SUCH BIOMASS INTO CARBON FIBER AND OTHER BIOPRODUCTS. MAJOR US CROPS HARVESTED RESIDUES THAT CAN BE USED AS SOURCE FOR NATURAL FIBERS COME FROM CORN, SOY, WHEAT, GRAIN SORGHUM, RICE, BARLEY, OATS, SUGARCANE, AND COTTON THAT AMOUNT TO 125 MILLION TONS PER YEAR. THIS PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEVERAGE THE BIOMASS OBTAINED FROM US CROPS AND UTILIZE THEM TO MAKE VALUE ADDED BIOPRODUCTS. HOWEVER, AMONG THE VARIOUS HARVESTED CROP BIOMASS, GRAIN HULLS PROVIDE THE MOST LUCRATIVE AND MULTI-SCALE FIBERS.WE WILL WORK WITH OWENSBORO GRAIN COMPANY, OWENSBORO, KY TO SOURCE OUR BIOMASS FOR MAKING CARBONIZED FIBERS. FURTHERMORE, THE XYLOSE MARKET IS EXPECTED TO GROW AT A CAGR OF 6.9% AND EXPECTED TO BECOME A $2 BILLION MARKET BY 2020.COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS: WOOD FLOUR, BAST FIBERS (E.G., HEMP), AND CARBON FIBERS FROM BIOSOURCES ARE SOME OF THE FIBER PRODUCTS CURRENTLY USED IN THE FIBER COMPOSITE MARKET. XYLOSE IS MOSTLY SOLD INTO THE PRODUCTION OF XYLITOL (AN ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER) AND C5-PLATFORM OF BIOCHEMICALS AND BIOFUELS.DESCRIPTION OF CONCEPT: IN OUR RECENT STUDIES FROM A PREVIOUS GRANT FUNDED BY UNITED SOYBEAN BOARD (USB), WE UTILIZED SOY HULLS FOR EXTRACTING FIBERS WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY PRODUCING XYLOSE (NATURAL SUGAR) AS A VALUE ADDED PRODUCTAND FURTHER UTILIZED THE MODIFIED SOY FIBERS IN MAKING THERMOPLASTIC POLYMER COMPOSITES THAT IMPROVED THE PERFORMANCE OF THE COMPOSITES AS WELL AS REDUCED THE COST OF FIBERS. ADDITIONALLY, USING OUR UNIQUE SELECTIVE HYDROLYSIS PROCESS THAT PROCESSED THE EXTRACTEDFIBERS WHICH HELPED REDUCE AIR TRAPS OCCURRING AT FIBER-POLYMER INTERFACE THAT RESULT IN IMPACTING MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF NATURAL FIBER COMPOSITES. OUR INITIAL MODELED COMPARISONS OF SPECIFIC STIFFNESS (YOUNG'S MODULUS/ DENSITY) OFFERED BY NATURAL FIBER COMPOSITES (HEMP, SOY AND KENAF), SHORT CF AND SHORT GF COMPOSITES WITH PA6 AT 30 WT.% LOADING SHOW THAT, ASSUMING AN IDEAL BONDING AT THE FIBER-POLYMER INTERFACE, THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE PROPERTIES OF NATURAL FIBER COMPOSITES ARE COMPARABLE TO SHORT CF COMPOSITES; HOWEVER, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT SELECTIVE CARBONIZATION WITH SIZING AND SURFACE TREATMENT OF MODIFIED NATURAL FIBERS PROCESSED BY OUR PROPOSED PROCESS WILL ENABLE PROVIDING COMPARABLE MATERIAL PROPERTIES (AVERAGED) TO OFF-THE-SHELF CF COMPOSITES.DESIRED PROJECT OUTCOMES: UTILIZATION OF AGRICULTURE CROP AND PROCESS RESIDUES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SUSTAINABLE AND VALUE-ADDED CO-PRODUCTS ARE CRITICAL FOR IMPROVING ENVIRONMENT AND BIOECONOMY. OUR INTEGRATED APPROACH, WHERE WE HAVE VALUE ADDED CO-PRODUCTS, SUCH AS XYLOSE (MARKET VALUE $3/KG) FROM NATURAL FIBERS, WE EXPECT THE PRODUCTION COST OF CARBONIZED FIBER TO BE VERY COMPETITIVE. WIDE USE OF LOW COST AND HIGH PERFORMING CARBONIZED FIBERS IN INJECTION MOLDED AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTS - IN PLACE OF EXPENSIVE AND SPARSELY USED CARBON FIBERS - CAN IMPROVE FUEL EFFICIENCY AND EMISSION STANDARDS AMONG THE US AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLES.LASTING IMPACT: XYLOSE COST (ABOUT $1.30/LB) IS HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON THE STARTING MATERIAL COST. OUR INTEGRATED APPROACH, WHERE VALUE ADDED CO-PRODUCTS FROM SOY HULLS ARE CREATED, EXPECTED TO RESULT IN COST-COMPETITIVE XYLOSE. THE PRICE OF NATURAL FIBERS IN COMPOSITES MARKETS VARIES DEPENDING ON THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE COMPOSITES. CERTAINLY, THE EXPECTED PRICE FOR MODIFIED SOY HULLS IN THE COMPOSITES MARKETS WILL BE MUCH HIGHER THAN THE CURRENT 4-8C/LB FOR SOY HULLS IN FEED MARKET.GLOBAL MARKET VOLUME FOR XYLITOL STOOD AT 159.52 KILO TONS IN 2015. AT 4-5 LB OF HULLS PER BUSHEL, WE EXPECT TO PRODUCE 300 TONS OF XYLOSE AND 1500 TONS OF MODIFIED HULLS FOR EVERY 1 MM BUSHELS OF SOYBEAN. AT $1.30/LB XYLOSE AND $0.20/LB FOR MODIFIED HULLS, THIS OPPORTUNITY CAN GENERATE AND ADDITIONAL REVENUE OF $1.2 MM PER MILLION BUSHELS OF BEANS.