Aspen Bibliography

Innovations for Hardwood Utilization: Catalysed Organosolv Pulping and Saccharification

Document Type

Report

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Regional Development, Canadian Forestry Service, Edmonton, Alberta, & Forestry, Lands and Wildlife, Forest Industry Development Division, Edmonton, Alberta. Catalogue No. FO 42-91-57-1988 E (Ministry of Supply and Services Canada)

Issue

Canada-Alberta Forest Resource Development Agreement Report 57

First Page

1

Last Page

15

Publication Date

1986

Abstract

Primarily, pure and mixed aspen, poplar, birch and softwood raw materials can be effectively converted to fully bleached chemical pulps at high yield (>54%), ethyl alcohol and lignin by-products by the neutral alkali earth metal (NAEM) salt catalysed organosolv pulping process. Besides the high pulp yield and viable byproducts, the process advantages include: small economies of scale, low capital investment, extremely low process water requirement, low pulp manufacturing costs, lack of environmental pollution and a high rate of return on investment. The process requires funding for sealing up from bench scale by design and fabrication of pre-commercial equipment. By slight modifications of the chemistry, the pulping process is converted into a highly efficient wood hydrolysis process which quantitatively decomposes wood into its chemical components of sugars and lignins. These basic feedstocks can be used in biological and chemical technologies leading to any or a combination of ethyl alcohol, acetone, butyl alcohol, propyl alcohol, phenol sand aromatic hydrocarbon products to supply oxygenates and other liquid fuel chemicals into the growing liquid fuel markets. This industry would solely depend on forest and mill residues as its source of raw material and thus would not compete in any way but rather complement the traditional wood uses of lumber and pulp production. Process advantages include quantitative chemical (sugar and lignin) recoveries, small economies of scale, low environmental stress and high rates of return on investment. Integration of organosol v pulping with organosol v wood hydrolysis would more than double the potential output of Alberta's forest. Due to the currently high interest in oxygenates (alcohol) as octane enhancers in gasoline in the USA, the additional revenue would have a substantial affect on the profitability of aspen processing to pulp and chemicals in Alberta as well as significantly stabilize these forestry operations in the future.

Link to Full Text

Share

 
COinS