Search

An integrated pretreatment process based on hydrothermal pretreatment (HTP) followed by alkaline pretreatment has been applied to treat Eucalyptus. The chemical composition and structure changes of lignin during the pretreatment were comprehensively characterized. The surface morphology of the cell walls and lignin distribution of the pretreated Eucalyptus were detected by scanning electron and confocal Raman microscopies. It was found that the chemical bonds between lignin and hemicelluloses were cleaved during the pretreatment. The results also indicated that the contents of β-O-4', β-β', and β-5' linkages were decreased with the increase of hydrothermal pretreatment temperature and the cleavage of β-O-4' linkages in lignin was accompanied with repolymerization reactions. 31 P NMR analysis showed that the content of aliphatic OH was reduced as the temperature increased and the total phenolic OH was elevated and then declined with the increase of temperature. Raman spectra analysis revealed that the dissolution rate of lignin in the secondary wall regions was faster than that in cell corner middle lamella regions during the pretreatment. These results will enhance the understanding of the cell wall deconstruction during the pretreatment and the mechanism of the integrated pretreatment process acting on Eucalyptus.

The effect of hot-water extraction on alkaline pulping was investigated. The properties of black liquor and pulp strength of bagasse were analyzed. The extraction was conducted at 160 degrees C for 30min where 13.2% of the mass was dissolved in the extraction liquor. Untreated bagasse and extracted bagasse were digested by soda and soda-AQ processes at 17% and 15.5% (with 0.1% AQ) alkali charge (NaOH). Cooking temperatures were 160 degrees C and 155 degrees C respectively. The pulp from extracted bagasse had a lower Kappa number and a higher viscosity compared to the pulp from the untreated bagasse. The black liquor from pulping extracted bagasse had a lower solid content, a lower viscosity and a lower silica content, but a higher heating value than that from pulping of untreated bagasse. Hot-water extraction resulted in a significant decrease in bleaching chemical consumption and the formation of chlorinated organics. Pulp strength properties such as the tensile index and the burst index were found to be lower, but the tear index, bulk, opacity and pulp freeness were found to be higher when hot-water extraction was applied., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)