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Extraction of Technical Lignins from Pulping Spent Liquors, Challenges and Opportunities

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Production of Biofuels and Chemicals from Lignin

Part of the book series: Biofuels and Biorefineries ((BIOBIO))

Abstract

Different value-added products can be produced from lignin. To produce lignin based products, lignin derivatives need to be isolated from pulping spent liquors, as pulping spent liquors are dilute in lignin and impure. In this chapter, methods for isolating lignin derivatives from pulping spent liquors are reviewed. The main challenges and perspectives in the development of viable lignin production processes are described. LignoBoost and LignoForce were designed based on the acidification concept to isolate Kraft lignin from black liquor on the commercial scale, both of which produce pure lignin. To extract lignosulfonate from sulfite spent liquors, ultrafiltration seemed to be an industrially viable method, but the extracted lignin will likely contain impurities. Laboratory studies on adsorption and flocculation techniques for isolating lignin from other spent liquors with a low lignin content, e.g. prehydrolysis liquor of Kraft based processes, or the spent liquor of the neutral sulfite semichemical processes, are also discussed. Although these techniques seem to be industrially attractive, the purity of lignin that is produced in these processes are not high.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge Canada Research Chair program of Government of Canada and Industrial Research Chair program of NOHFC for supporting this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key laboratory of Pulp and Paper Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, Qilu University of Technology, 250353, Jinan, China

    Pedram Fatehi & Jiachuan Chen

  2. Chemical Engineering Department, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, P7B 5E1, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada

    Pedram Fatehi

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  1. Pedram Fatehi
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Correspondence to Pedram Fatehi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biomass Group, College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

    Zhen Fang

  2. Research Center of Supercritical Fluid Technology, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Richard L. Smith, Jr.

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Fatehi, P., Chen, J. (2016). Extraction of Technical Lignins from Pulping Spent Liquors, Challenges and Opportunities. In: Fang, Z., Smith, Jr., R. (eds) Production of Biofuels and Chemicals from Lignin. Biofuels and Biorefineries. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1965-4_2

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