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The thermogravimetric of sugarcane bagasse pretreated by hot-water has been studied in this paper. Results indicated that residual solid pretreatment by hot water could decrease the activation energy of phase 2 (270-350 °C) obviously, which makes the pyrolysis more energy-saving. By hot water pretreatment, the hemicellulose, especially xylose (9.78%/o.d. dry mass at 170 °C and 1 h) was greatly extracted into hydrolyzates liquor. Greatly minimized hemicellulose waste at low temperature during pyrolysis also agreed with biorefinery concept. Therefore, bagasse with hot-water pretreatment should be a good pyrolysis material for value-added material., (Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A kinetic model was developed to characterise the heterogeneous nature of kraft delignification kinetics, taking into account the effect of chip thickness. The final form of the model applied to kraft delignification can be represented by a first-order rate equation with a rate constant inversely proportional to a power function of chip thickness. Published laboratory results from kraft pulping of various lignocellulosic materials were used to validate the model. The outcomes confirm the significant effect of chip thickness on the delignification rate. The resultant model was used to predict the effect of chip thickness on the kappa distribution of kraft pulps.