2019 journal article

Chemical Study of Kraft Lignin during Alkaline Delignification of E. urophylla x E. grandis Hybrid in Low and High Residual Effective Alkali

ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING, 7(12), 10274–10282.

By: R. Ribeiro*, S. Vaz Junior*, H. Jameel n, H. Chang n, R. Narron n, X. Jiang n, J. Colodette*

co-author countries: Brazil 🇧🇷 United States of America 🇺🇸
author keywords: Residual Lignin; Delignification Process; Unbleached Pulp; Chemical characterization; P-31 NMR analysis
Source: Web Of Science
Added: July 8, 2019

Chips from E. urophylla x E. grandis hybrid were subjected to kraft cooking using two different approaches: low and high residual effective alkali. The lignin remaining in the pulps were analyzed for hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups. For both pulping cases, the kappa number varied between 14 and 26. Significant yield gains were observed when kraft cooking was terminated with low residual effective alkali (L-REA) in contrast to those with high residual effective alkali (H-REA) at a given kappa number. The L-REA pulps also tended to contain higher lignin and lower HexA contents than the H-REA pulps at a given kappa number. Cellulolytic enzyme lignin (CEL) was isolated from the studied pulp’s residual lignins, and their hydroxyl functional group distributions were quantified using a method involving 31P NMR. Analysis of residual lignins isolated from L-REA and H-REA cooking indicated that L-REA had high contents of phenolic hydroxyl groups and carboxylic acid groups in relation to the H-REA pulps. This work demonstrates the varied lignin chemistry one can expect when residual effective alkali levels are varied during kraft pulping and how this parameter can influence downstream unit operations and overall process performance.