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Acidification has been commercialized for producing kraft lignin from black liquor of kraft pulping process. This work intended to evaluate the effectiveness of acidification in extracting lignocelluloses from the spent liquor of neutral sulfite semichemical pulping (NSSC) process and from prehydrolysis liquor (PHL) of kraft-based dissolving pulp production process. The results showed that the NSSC and PHL spent liquors had some lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCC), and that the square weighted counts of particles with a chord length of 50–150 μm in the spent liquors were significantly increased as pH dropped to 1.5. Interestingly, the acidification reduced the lignosulfonate/lignin content of NSSC and PHL by 13% or 20%, while dropped their oligosugars content by 75% and 38%, respectively. On a dry basis, the precipitates had more carbon, hydrogen and a high heating value of 18–22 MJ/kg, but less oxygen, than spent liquors. The precipitates of PHL could be used as fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the adsorption of lignocelluloses from spent liquor (SL) of neutral sulfite semi chemical (NSSC) pulping process on bentonite was investigated. It was observed that 0.26 g/g of lignin and 0.27 g/g of hemicelluloses from SL were adsorbed on bentonite under the conditions of 50 °C, 100 rpm and 40 g/g SL/bentonite after 3 h of treatment. The adsorptions of lignin and hemicellulose were increased to 1.8 g/g and 0.45 g/g, respectively, via adding 15 mg/g of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) in the system of SL/bentonite. The turbidity and COD removals were improved from 69% to 93% and from 25% to 38% by adding PDADMAC to the SL/bentonite system, respectively. The increase in the heating value of bentonite (from 0 to 15.4 MJ/kg) confirmed the adsorption of lignocelluloses. The modified bentonite can be used as filler in corrugated medium paper production or as fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The main objective of this work was to study the adsorption behavior of various components dissolved in the pre-hydrolysis of kraft process on activated carbon. In this work, model prehydrolysis liquor (PHL) solutions (MPHL)s were prepared via mixing various commercially available monosugars, xylan, lignin and furfural; and their adsorption performance on activated carbon (AC) was investigated. In singular (one component) MPHL/AC systems, furfural had the maximum and xylose had the minimum adsorption, and the adsorption of monosugars was basically similar on AC. Also, polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) was added (0.5g/l) to singular xylan or lignin MPHL/AC system, which increased the lignin and xylan adsorptions to 350 and 190mg/g on AC, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A process for removing inhibitors from pre-hydrolysis liquor (PHL) of a kraft-based dissolving pulp production process by adsorption and flocculation, and the characteristics of this process were studied. In this process, industrially produced PHL was treated with unmodified and oxidized activated carbon as an absorbent and polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) as a flocculant. The overall removal of lignin and furfural in the developed process was 83.3% and 100%, respectively, while that of hemicelluloses was 32.7%. These results confirmed that the developed process can remove inhibitors from PHL prior to producing value-added products, e.g. ethanol and xylitol via fermentation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Dissolved lignocelluloses from the pre-hydrolysis liquor (PHL) of kraft-based dissolving pulp production process were recovered by adsorption to lime mud produced in the causticizing plant of the kraft process. The adsorption of lignocelluloses was a fast process, and could be completed within one hour. The addition of polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) significantly increased the amounts of adsorbed lignin and hemicelluloses, which more than doubled at the PDADMAC dosage of 0.1% (based on the weight of PHL). The measured heating values of the adsorbed lignocelluloses indicate that adsorption of lignocelluloses to lime mud may result in the energy saving of the lime kiln. The process proposed in this study could also be adapted to decrease inhibitor concentrations (lignin and acetic acid) if the dissolved hemicelluloses in the PHL were used to produce value-added products, e.g., ethanol, xylitol, based on the fermentation process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hemicelluloses in industrially produced pre-hydrolysis liquor (PHL) were precipitated with ethanol. These PHL-derived hemicelluloses (PHL-EH) and a commercial, pure birch wood xylan sample (powder form) (BWX) were bleached using chlorine dioxide (D0 and D1) and hydrogen peroxide (Ep) in the D0EpD1 sequence, and the chemical compositions, molecular weights and charge densities of the treated samples were assessed. When applied to high-yield pulp (HYP) at 50mg/g, 26 and 20mg/g of the bleached PHL-EH and BWX, respectively, were adsorbed without significantly affecting paper properties. These results suggest that semi-bleached hemicelluloses could be used to increase the basis weight of paper products. Furthermore, an integrated process was proposed that converts the kraft-based dissolving pulp production process into a biorefinery unit with dissolving pulp, bleached hemicelluloses and lignin as main products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The presence of lignin impairs the utilization of the hemicelluloses dissolved in the pre-hydrolysis liquor (PHL) of the kraft-based dissolving pulp production process. In this paper, a novel process was developed by combining the acidification and poly ethylene oxide (PEO) flocculation concepts to improve the lignin removal. The results showed that the lignin removal was improved by the addition of PEO to the acidified PHL, particularly at a low pH of 1.5. The main mechanisms involved are the lignin/PEO complex formation and the bridging of the formed complexes. This hypothesis was supported by the turbidity, FTIR and particle size measurements. Interestingly, the hemicelluloses removal from the acidification/PEO flocculation was marginal, which would be beneficial for the down-stream ethanol production from the PHL. Additionally, a process flow diagram was proposed that incorporates this new concept into the existing configuration of kraft-based dissolving pulp production process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we proposed a new modification for an ethanol-based pulping process, which would consist of the pre-hydrolysis (pre-extraction) of wood chips for removing hemicelluloses; the ethanol extraction of pre-hydrolyzed wood chips for removing lignin; and the post purification of cellulose, leading to the production of pure cellulose. We also experimentally evaluated the separation of hemicelluloses from the pre-hydrolysis liquor (PHL) obtained from a pulp mill. To remove lignin from the PHL, it was acidified to a pH of 2, which resulted in 47% lignin precipitation. The lignin separation from the acidified PHL was further improved via adding polyethylene oxide and poly aluminum chloride or adding ethyl acetate. To recover the hemicelluloses from the acidified PHL, ethanol was added to the acidified PHL with a volumetric ratio of 4 to 1. The isolated lignin and hemicelluloses were characterized by a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and a gas permeation chromatography (GPC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Non-wood is one of the most important raw materials for pulp and paper production in several countries due to its abundance and cost-effectiveness. However, the pulping and papermaking characteristics of canola straw have rarely been investigated. The objective of this work was to determine the potential application of canola straw in the chemimechanical pulping (CMP) process. At first, the chemical composition and characteristics of canola straw were assessed and compared with those of other non-woods. Then, the CMP pulping of canola straw was conducted using different dosages of sodium sulfite and sodium hydroxide. The results showed that, by applying a mild chemical pretreatment, i.e., 4–12% (wt.) NaOH and 8–12% (wt.) Na2SO3, in the CMP pulping of canola straw, the pulp brightness reached almost 40%ISO, and the strength properties were comparable to those of bagasse CMP and of wheat straw CMP. The impact of post-refining on the properties of canola straw CMP was also discussed in this work. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• LignoTall process was introduced to produce tall oil, salt and tall oil lignin. • Lignotall process can be integrated into kraft pulping process. • The physicochemical characteristics of tall oil lignin and kraft lignin are different. • Spent liquor of the process can be reused in pulping or treated in wastewater system. • Tall oil lignin could be used in the production of rubber and epoxy resins. The aim of this work was to study the production and characterization of tall oil lignin (TOL) from tall oil soap (TOS) of the kraft pulping process following a new process (i.e., LignoTall). Also, the properties of the TOL and kraft lignin (KL) produced via LignoForce technology were compared. Although TOL and KL were generated from the same black liquor and softwood species, they had remarkably different characteristics, confirming the impact of the production methods on the physicochemical properties of the isolated lignin. TOL had higher molecular weight, O/C elemental ratio, sulfur content, and carboxylate-OH content but lower methoxy group content than did KL. The high sulfur group content (7.3%) of TOL can be very useful for the vulcanization process. Moreover, the high carboxylate-OH content of TOL (0.56 mmol/g) is desirable for its utilization in epoxy resin production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Lignocelluloses of NSSC pulping process was removed by adsorption and flocculation. [•] Maximum turbidity and COD reductions of SL were 39% and 79%. [•] Lignin and hemicellulose adsorptions reached 2.5 and 0.5g/g for PDADMAC/SL/AC. [•] MW of PDADMAC affected the properties of complexes and SL significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study undertakes a state-of-the-art review on thermophilic membrane bioreactors (ThMBRs). Thermophilic aerobic membrane bioreactors (ThAeMBR) and thermophilic anaerobic membrane bioreactors (ThAnMBR) have been widely tested for various high-temperature industrial wastewater treatments at lab- and pilot-scale studies and full-scale applications. The biological and membrane performances of the ThAeMBRs and ThAnMBRs could be better, comparable or poorer, as compared to the mesophilic ones. In general, sludge yield was much lower, biodegradation kinetic was higher, and microbial community was less diversity in the ThAeMBR and ThAnMBR systems. The results from the literature show that ThMBR technology has demonstrated many advantages and is a promising technology for industrial wastewater treatment and sludge digestion. Furthermore, challenges and opportunities of various ThMBRs for industrial applications are identified and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • β-O-4 decreased with intensifying autohydrolysis intensity of wood chips. • Lignin was deposited on wood chip surface via intensifying autohydrolysis. • Phenolic OH had a correlation with enzymatic hydrolysis of autohydrolyzed chips. • Binding of lignin and enzyme was increased with intensifying autohydrolysis. Enzymatic hydrolysis is a method to generate biofuel from biomass, and autohydrolysis is a popular method to pretreat biomass prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. The primary aim of the present study was to determine the role of lignin produced in the autohydrolysis process on the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass. The HSQC and 31P NMR analyses confirmed that β-O-4 of lignin was reduced, while β-5, β-β, and S/G-ratio of lignin were increased with intensifying the hydrolysis intensity. The increase in the hydrolysis intensity significantly enhanced the condensed and non-condensed phenolic OH group of lignin. Interestingly, the cellulase enzyme adsorbed more on lignin that had more phenolic content, and its association with lignin reduced its activity for hydrolyzing cellulose microcrystals. Strong negative correlations were observed between the enzymatic hydrolysis yield and the condensed S-OH (r 2 = 0.978) and G-OH (r 2 = 0.961) of lignin generated in the autohydrolysis process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]