OrganoSoxhlet: circular fractionation to produce pulp for textiles using CO₂ as acid source

Abstract

Organosolv pulping performed in a high-pressure Soxhlet extractor using carbon dioxide as a mild and recyclable acid is described.

Design and Validation of a High-Throughput Reductive Catalytic Fractionation Method

“…Although quantitative information can be obtained in minutes from a routine 1 H NMR experiment, more complex and therefore time-consuming and/or nonquantitative NMR experiments are typically preferred for lignin analysis due to its structural complexity leading to overlapping resonances. 72,73 Fortunately, 1 H− 13 C heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR spectroscopy reveals that the aromatic proton resonances overlap substantially less in RCF oil than in the corresponding native biomass. 17 In the HSQC spectrum of RCF oil from poplar (Figure 5A), the S 2/6 resonances are centered at 6.45 ppm, whereas the three guaiacyl resonances are centered at 6.63, 6.74, and 6.80 ppm.…”

Valorization of Beetle Infected Spruce to Produce Textile Fibers and Biofuels: Environmental Sustainability Evaluated by Life Cycle Assessment

“…Thus, the product distribution can be steered by applying a stabilizing catalyst: however, the yield of monophenolic compounds does not motivate RCF [18,62]. Especially as upgrading of the pulp would require tedious purification from catalyst or specialized equipment [43,60,63]. Another disadvantage of RCF -that has not yet been addressed by the community-is the ash content where the 2.6 wt% ashes present in the feedstock would contaminate any precious metal leading to poisoning of the catalyst and would not be economically or environmentally sustainable.…”

“…Recently, our group developed a value chain from hybrid poplar, a hardwood, to give dissolving grade pulp and a biofuel. However, the pulp was not regenerated and the lignin was upgraded using a nonconventional technology, employing formic acid as hydrogen donor without carrier liquid [43,44]. In addition, the land-use and climate change impact categories were not beneficial as marginal land was used for poplar plantations.…”

Feedstock-agnostic reductive catalytic fractionation in alcohol and alcohol–water mixtures

“…17,20 The composition of the solid pulp from RCF typically includes cellulose with varying quantities of hemicelluloses and residual lignin, which depend on the reaction conditions. 17 To achieve an economically viable RCF process, 21 reactor configurations, [22][23][24][25] low-pressure solvent systems, 26 solvent recycling, 27,28 catalyst type, 29,30 and utilization of entire RCF oil, 31 have been pursued. Along with these process innovations, RCF has been applied to hardwoods (poplar, 32 oak, 33 beech, 34 and eucalyptus 20 ), softwoods (pine 35 and spruce 36 ), and herbaceous biomasses (corn stover, 18 switchgrass, 37 Miscanthus × giganteus, 38 walnut shell, 39 and wheat straw 40 ).…”