Organosolv

Organosolv is a pulping technique that uses an organic solvent to solubilise lignin and hemicellulose. It has been considered in the context of both pulp and paper manufacture and biorefining for subsequent conversion of cellulose to fuel ethanol. The process was invented by Theodore Kleinert^[1] as an environmentally benign alternative to kraft pulping. Organosolv has several advantages when compared to other popular methods such as kraft or sulfite pulping. In particular, the ability to obtain relatively high quality lignin adds value to a process stream otherwise considered as waste. Organosolv solvents are easily recovered by distillation leading to less water pollution and elimination of the odour usually associated with kraft pulping.

Solvents

Organosolv pulping involves contacting a lignocellulosic feedstock such as chipped wood with an aqueous organic solvent at temperatures ranging from 140–220°C. This causes lignin to break down by hydrolytic cleavage of alpha aryl-ether links into fragments that are soluble in the solvent system. Solvents used include acetone, methanol, ethanol, butanol, ethylene glycol, formic acid, and acetic acid. The concentration of solvent in water ranges from 40-80%. Higher boiling solvents have the advantage of a lower process pressure. This is weighed against the more difficult solvent recovery by distillation ^[2]. Ethanol has been suggested as the preferred solvent due to cost and easy recovery. Although butanol is shown to remove more lignin than other solvents and solvent recovery is simplified due to immiscibility in water, its high cost limits its use.

Organosolv for pulp production

Numerous authors report that pulping with ethanol-water solutions gives a lignin free pulp yield 4-4.5% higher than that of kraft pulp ^{[3][4][5][6][7]}. The commonly used solvents acetone and ethanol have been examined with respect to pulp properties. The pulping of wheat straw with 40% mixtures of acetone or ethanol with water requires 60 minutes at 180°C to give good pulp properties ^[8]. Organic solvents are almost always used as a mixture with water for process considerations such as reducing the vapour pressure and lowering the pH in order to also solubilise hemicellulose.

Organosolv for fuel ethanol production

Recently, due to the popularity of 2nd generation biofuels, the organosolv process has been considered in the context of bioethanol production. Cellulose from the organosolv process is amenable to enzymatic hydrolysis into glucose followed by fermentation to dilute ethanol. The organosolv fractionation of mountain beetle killed lodgepole pine has yielded 97% conversion to glucose. Pan et al.^[9] recovered 79% of the lignin using conditions of 170°C, 1.1% w/w H₂SO₄, 65% v/v ethanol for 60 minutes.

Lignin recovery

The recoverey of lignin from ethylene glycol organosolv pulping can be effected by 3 times dilution with acidified water. The lignin precipitates and forms spherical aggregates ranging from 0.5-2.5µm. Filtration, while time consuming, is then most effective while the mixture is hot (>100°C) ^[10]. Recovery can be achieved by filtration or centrifugation. Due to the hydrophobic nature of organosolv lignin, flotation of organosolv lignin is effective without the use of the collecting and precipitating agents^[11] that are required for flotation of kraft lignin.

Processes

Organocell uses two stage organosolv with roughly 50% methanol solutions. Sodium hydroxide is added in the second stage at a loading of 30% w/w of the dry wood. The lignin from the second stage is isolated by adding phosphoric acid until a pH of 4.0 is reached^[12]. The Alcohol Pulping and Recovery (APR) process treats wood in 3 stages, each using increasingly cleaner solvent. The important process parameters are extraction time, temperature, solvent composition and pH. Pilot plant operation has shown that ethanol pulping produces pulp superior to sulphite pulp at a lower cost. Lignin and hemicellulose are recovered in high yields. In 1987 the APR process was renamed the Alcell process. The process uses aqueous ethanol solutions (40-60% v/v) to delignify wood at temperatures from 180-210°C and 2-3.5MPa. Solvent is recovered with flash evaporation, vapour condensation and vacuum stripping^[13]. A demonstration organosolv pulp mill has operated in Mirimichi, New Brunswick, Canada from 1989-1996 using the Alcell process. Repap owned the IP to the process when taken over by hedge funds in 1997. The pilot plant boasted superior environmental performance, excellent bleached pulp, an economically attractive scale of 300tons/day and commercially attractive by-products. It is said that the technology can be used to exploit small regions of hardwood resource that could not support a modern sized kraft mill^[14].

See also

• kraft process
• sulfite process
• lignin

References

1. ^ US Patent 3,585,104. http://www.google.com/patents?id=thxvAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&source=gbs_overview_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
2. ^ Sarkanen, KV, Acid-catalysed delignification of lignocellulosics in organic solvents, in Progress in Biomass Conversion, K V Sarkanen and D A Tillman, Editors. (1980), Academic Press. p. 127-144.
3. ^ Botello, JI, Gilarranz, MA, Rodriguez, F, Oliet, M, Preliminary study on products distribution in alcohol pulping of Eucalyptus globulus. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, (1999). 74(2): p. 141-148.
4. ^ Alcaide, LJ, Dominguez, JCG, Ot, IP, Influence of cooking variables in the organosolv pulping of wheat straw using mixtures of ethanol, acetone, and water. TAPPI, (2003). 2(1): p. 27-31.
5. ^ Garrote, G, Eugenio, ME, Diaz, MJ, Ariza, J, Lopez, F, Hydrothermal and pulp processing of Eucalyptus. Bioresource Technology, (2003). 88(1): p. 61-68.
6. ^ Kleinert, TN, Organosolvent pulping with aqueous alcohol. TAPPI, (1974). 57(8): p. 99-102.
7. ^ Pye, EK, Lora, JH, The Alcell process. A proven alternative to kraft pulping. TAPPI, (1991). 74(3): p. 113-118.
8. ^ Alcaide, LJ, Dominguez, JCG, Ot, IP, Influence of cooking variables in the organosolv pulping of wheat straw using mixtures of ethanol, acetone, and water. TAPPI, (2003). 2(1): p. 27-31.
9. ^ Pan, XJ, Xie, D, Yu, RW, Lam, D, Saddler, JN, Pretreatment of lodgepole pine killed by mountain pine beetle using the ethanol organosolv process: Fractionation and process optimization. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, (2007). 46(8): p. 2609-2617.
10. ^ Thring, RW, Chornet, E, Overend, RP, Recovery of a solvolytic lignin - effects of spent liquor acid volume ratio, acid concentration and temperature. Biomass, (1990). 23(4): p. 289-305.
11. ^ Macfarlane, AL, Prestidge, R, Farid, MM, Chen, JJJ, Dissolved air flotation: A novel approach to recovery of organosolv lignin. Chemical Engineering Journal, (2009). 148(1): p. 15-19.
12. ^ Lindner, A, Wegener, G, Characterization of lignins from organosolv pulping according to the organocell process. 1. Elemental analysis, nonlignin portions and functional-groups. Journal of Wood Chemistry and Technology, (1988). 8(3): p. 323-340.
13. ^ Diebold, VB, Cowan, WF, Walsh, JK, Solvent pulping process, (1978), C P Associates Ltd: US patent 4.100.016.
14. ^ Pye, EK, Lora, JH, The Alcell process. A proven alternative to kraft pulping. TAPPI, (1991). 74(3): p. 113-118.