Valorisation of a leguminous species, Sesbania grandiflora, by means of hydrothermal fractionation

Influence of temperature, time, liquid/solid ratio and sulfuric acid concentration on the hydrolysis of palm empty fruit bunches

The influence of temperature (150-190 °C), time (0-20 min), liquid/solid ratio (6-8) and sulfuric acid concentration (0.1-0.5%), on the hydrolysis of palm empty fruit bunches (EFBs) was studied and the liquid and solid fractions were analyzed. Polynomial models were found to reproduce the experimental results with errors less than 15% in most of the cases (except for xylose concentration). Operating conditions of 190 °C for 15 min at a liquid/solid ratio of 6 and a sulfuric acid concentration of 0.1% resulted in the production of 3.12, 4.0, 2.35 and 2.28 g/L of glucose, xylose, arabinose and acetic acid, respectively, starting with 1000 g of EFBs. The yield was 67.96%. Soda-anthraquinone, ethanol and ethanolamine pulping of the solid fraction provided pulps with brightness values (63.24%, 28.78%, 48.76%), but with poor resistance properties (6.57-8.54 Nm/g for tensile index, 0.38-0.44 k N/g for burst index and 0.96-1.02 mN m2/g for tear index). Therefore it is advisable to use the pulps for speciality papers or for bioethanol-production.

Exploitation of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin from Hesperaloe funifera

This work seeks the integral use of all major components of Hesperaloe funifera, separating hemicelluose by hydrothermal treatments; cellulose by pulping processes; and exploitation of lignin of pulping liquor by pyrolysis and gasification processes. By using sulfuric acid in the hydrothermal treatment (150-190 °C, 0-20 min after reaching operating temperature, 6-10 liquid/solid ratio, 0.1-0.5% sulfuric acid), the glucose and xylose of liquid fraction increase from 1.5% to 5.9%, and 4.0% to 12.4%, respectively; the yields of solid fraction decrease from 91.6% to 79.5%, and the lignin content increase from 23% to 32%. Pulps and paper sheets obtained from solid fractions hydrothermal treatments and from raw material pulped with diethanolamine, are worse than those obtained with soda-anthraquinone (Yield 57.8%; kappa number 24.9; Viscosity 711 mL/g; Brightness 54.8%; Tensile index 73.6 Nm/g; Stretch 2.84%; Burst index 6.13 kN/g and Tear index 1.69 mNm2/g). By acidification (pH 6) of soda pulping liquor it separate lignin-rich solids, which by pyrolysis gave a gas containing 1.13% H2, 31.79% CO and 1.86% CH4 by weight. Gasification of the same sample provided a gas containing 0.18% H2, 24.50% CO and 17.75% CH4.

Soda pulp and fuel gases synthesis from Hesperaloe funifera

The main objective of this work is to evaluate the suitability of Hesperaloe funifera which is an alternative raw material, for pulping with soda-anthraquinone to produce pulp and paper. It was studied the influence of operational variables (temperature (155-185 degrees C), cooking time (20-60 min) and soda concentration (5-15%), with a constant addition of 1% of anthraquinone and a liquid/solid ratio of 8, in soda-anthraquinone cooking of H. funifera on pulps and paper sheets properties obtained. Finally, the cooking liquors were acidified to separate solid fractions that were subjected to pyrolysis and gasification in order to obtain synthesis and fuel gases. H. funifera contains little lignin and abundant alpha-cellulose; this, together with the morphological characteristics of its fibers, makes it a potentially highly useful papermaking raw material.