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civil engineers. Accoya, has been examinedminutely and tested exhaustively byresearch institutes and found to meet thevarious claims made. Interestingly theworld’s largest manufacturer of coatings,Netherlands based Akzo Nobel, is preparedto give a twelve year guarantee on itsSikkens range of paints when used onAccoya.

Accsys’ business model is that of licensingits technology rather than producingproduct.

“Our focus is to licence the technology toothers all over the world” explainsPaterson-Brown “thereby keeping ourselves to an asset-light model which isa high-margin generator. It also meansthat we’re not competing with potentialcustomers, we’re not cannibalising thefull scale of our market and we’re alsoachieving considerable scalabilitythrough local partners and licensees.We’re in conversation on five different

continents in more than a dozen countrieswith local operators who will produceAccoya for their own markets and, indoing so, pay us licence fees and royaltieson production.”

Nevertheless, the company has built afully operational technology demonstrationplant in Arnhem, in the Netherlands,close to its R&D facilities and convenientfor sales into western Europe. Buildingthe plant took around a year and produc-tion began in March 2007. The initialcapacity was 25,000m3 but the companyis using some recent Euronext funding todouble that principally, according toPaterson-Brown, to provide pipeline

capacity to licensees while they build newfacilities. However, interest in developingnew uses for Accoya has led to increasingdemand which Titan Wood can also meetusing this increased capacity.

Accoya replaces steel

Although Accoya isn’t available at yourlocal DIY store the UK’s largestsawmilling company, BSW Timber, hastaken it on and sells it through a numberof specialist joineries and timber merchants. One of the first direct publicuses of it has been as cladding for anarchitect-designed house in Fife but amore spectacular proposed application isin constructing two bridges at Sneek, inthe Netherlands. The idea of buildingheavy traffic road bridges mainly out ofwood seems extraordinary and it’s anindication of confidence in the strength,stability and low maintenance requirementsof Accoya that it was chosen. Despitebeing produced from relatively inexpensive

wood Accoya isn’t cheap althoughPaterson-Brown points out, reasonablyenough, that if you take into account thevery low wastage that occurs with Accoyaand allow for the durability and very lowmaintenance, Accoya’s costs are actuallyamong the lowest over the life of a project.

Thermoplastics, and in particular uPVC,have become ubiquitous in the constructionindustry and have severely damaged thetraditional wooden window, door andcladding markets largely because of easymechanical construction and low maintenance needs. However, quite apartfrom the dreary appearance they presentthere are wide concerns around environ-

mental issues both as regards productionand disposal with particularly stronglocal government opposition in the likesof the Netherlands, Germany and someScandinavian countries.

Accoya is, of course, simply wood andhas far greater thermal resistivity thandoes PVC meaning that its use helps tokeep buildings warmer in winter and cool-er in summer. Further, although the acetyla-tion process gives Accoya far more dura-bility than ordinary softwood it remainsinflammable and non-toxic and so can beburnt at the end of its life or recycled.

Worldwide market

“We’ve concentrated on pointing out thequality of the product: that Accoya is thebest wood you can buy for exterior applications, that it performs better thananything Class 1 in the wood industry”says Paterson-Brown “but we haven’temphasised the environmental benefits.Sustainability is certainly increasinglyimportant and our focus is very much onsustainable forestry, and certificationssuch as Forest Stewardship Council.”

Considering merely the most appropriateuses for Accoya and taking a conservativeview suggests that Accoya is competingin a market worth some €100bn althoughthe complete wood industry is worthconsiderably more. Add in markets suchas thermoplastics or metals where Accoyacould become a replacement material anda serious rival to steel, and the potentialmarket is huge. Accsys’ market cap hasgrown from an initial €50m three yearsago to some €550m today and is likely tocontinue increasing given the significantglobal interest in licensing the technology.Paracelsus probably wouldn’t care muchabout the economics but, given hisimportant place in the history of scienceand his interest in alchemy, wouldundoubtedly be hugely impressed at thismodern transmutation of inexpensiveand degradable softwoods into a materialsuitable for use in complex civil engineeringprojects and a serious rival to steel.

“It may be an old process but ourapproach is a cutting-edge step change,really innovative technology” saysPaterson-Brown. “It’s a first class product,environmentally friendly and there’sdemand all over the world. All thesethings make it a really enjoyable companyto develop. We’re having fun with it!”

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The modern alchemist

Hardwoods have been used for thousandsof years as building and cladding materi-als. Earlier generations worked their waythrough ancient oak forests or stands ofchestnut, beech or elm and shippedacross the world vast quantities of exoticwoods like teak or mahogany, valuingthem for their beauty and their durability.Some of these sources have now vanishedcompletely while others have becomeunsustainable at previous use levels.

Hardwoods are expensive and increasinglyscarce. Time to maturity is generallymuch longer than that of softwoods.Hardwoods are typically denser and heavierand so more costly to transport and tomachine. For these reasons hardwood usehas declined greatly.

Softwoods have few of these disadvantages.They’re fast growing and can be managedeasily like any other crop. The wood isgenerally easy to work and relativelycheap. Their major disadvantage, however,is being susceptible to decay. Softwoodsused in construction invariably need tobe protected in some manner, usuallywith a coating such as paint or varnish toprotect them or through some toxic treat-ment which makes the wood unsuitableas a food source for micro-organisms.

Softwoods also flex, expanding and contracting with the seasons, and sopaint flakes off and maintenance ofwooden window frames or doors becomesa continuing chore. Where woods aretreated with toxic materials such CCA(chromated copper arsenate) or creosotethere are potential health risks and the useof such treatments is increasingly bannedacross the world.

“Today you have a very limited capabilityof using hardwoods for external commodity-based applications, such as windows,doors and cladding,” explains WillyPaterson-Brown, Executive Chairman ofAccsys Technologies. “It’s expensive, suppliesand quality are unreliable and there areissues around sustainability and environ-mental legislation. Softwoods used outdoorsare prone to decay and have a limited life

span.. There is strong demand for a reliable alternative.”

Transmuting wood by acetylation

Accsys, and its wholly owned subsidiary,Titan Wood, had for some time beenresearching wood preservation processesand had investigated modifying cellu-lose, the primary structural componentof green plants including trees. Part ofthis work included looking at acetylation,a well established process. Acetylationturns the naturally occurring salicylicacid into aspirin, for instance, or mor-phine into heroin and is used in manyother processes.

The chemically functional group acetyloccurs naturally in many plant substances and the essence of the Accsysprocess is to increase greatly the acetylcontent of the wood used.

“Perhaps you left conkers in a glass ofvinegar overnight to harden them.” saysPaterson-Brown. “That’s a simple form ofacetylation. Our innovation is the development of a complex technologythat improves the performance of wood,

turning a historically good idea into acommercially practical one, the economicsof which are very, very exciting and profitable.”

Wood cellulose has a large number ofhydroxyl groups which adsorb and releasewater according to climatic conditions andare thought to be the sources of decay initiated through enzyme action. In theAccsys process the wood is brought intocontact with pressurised and heatedacetic anhydride, the condensation productof two molecules of acetic acid. Theacetyl group bonds with the problematicfree hydroxyl groups and increases significantly the acetyl content of thewood. For instance pine has an acetylcontent of 2% and oak 4% whereas thepercentage for acetylated wood is higher,sufficient to give it the best durability rating – Class 1.

Changing the wood species

“Fundamentally you change the coremolecular structure of the wood duringthe process.” explains Paterson-Brown“You’ve effectively created a new woodspecies which we’ve named Accoya™.You take a piece of pine, for example, andmodify it to a point where it will performat least as well as the best tropical hard-woods. It has greater stability, durability,UV resistance and swelling and shrinkageare reduced by 75% or more so you getbetter coatings adhesion.”

“The new structural stability means thatyou’ve literally changed a piece of fastgrowing, low cost, low quality wood intosomething that that can be guaranteedfor a performance of more than fiftyyears. Moreover, the wood is modifiedright through the cross section, not justat the surface, and its quality can bemeasured after the process has takenplace, providing additional quality assur-ance. The innovation here is that there’sa type of alchemy, both in performancequality and in the economics.”

These are strong claims but Accsys isattracting significant support both fromcompanies seeking to licence the technology across the world and fromactual or potential users such as municipaland national governments, architects and

Alchemy sought ways to change lead or iron into gold or silver and to find the mysteriouselixir of life conferring longevity. Murdoch Mactaggart learns from a modern day Paracelsushow Accsys works its alchemical miracles on wood.

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