Research Articles

The enzymatic saccharification of pretreated furfural residues with different lignin content was studied to verify the effect of lignin removal in the hydrolysis process. The results showed that the glucose yield was improved by increasing the lignin removal. A maximum glucose yield of 96.8% was obtained when the residue with a lignin removal of 51.4% was hydrolyzed for 108 h at an enzyme loading of 25 FPU/g cellulose. However, further lignin removal did not increase the hydrolysis. The effect of enzyme loading on the enzymatic hydrolysis was also explored in this work. It was concluded that a high glucose yield of 90% was achieved when the enzyme dosage was reduced from 25 to 15 FPU/g cellulose, which was cost-effective for the sugar and ethanol production. The structures of raw material and delignified samples were further characterized by XRD and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Logistic regression models were developed to identify significant factors that influence the location of existing wood-using bioenergy/biofuels plants and traditional wood-using facilities. Logistic models provided quantitative insight for variables influencing the location of woody biomass-using facilities. Availability of “thinnings to a basal area of 31.7m2/ha,” “availability of unused mill residues,” and “high density of railroad availability” had positive significant influences on the location of all wood-using faciities. “Median family income,” “population,” “low density of railroad availability,” and “harvesting costs for logging residues” had negative significant influences on the location of all wood-using faciities. For larger woody biomass-using mills (e.g., biopower) availability of “thinnings to a basal area of 79.2m2/ha,” “number of primary and secondary wood-using mills within an 128.8km haul distance,” and “amount of total mill residues,” had positive significant influences on the location of larger wood-using faciities. “Population” and “harvesting costs for logging residues” have negative significant influences on the location of larger wood-using faciities. Based on the logistic models, 25 locations were predicted for bioenergy or biofuels plants for a 13-state study region in the Southern United States.

It is of general interest to produce fermentable carbohydrates from plant biomass. However, obtaining monosaccharides requires some effort, due to the intricate structure of the cell wall lignocellulosic complex. The aim of this study was to apply a simple two-stage hydrolysis process, using only concentrated hydrochloric acid, to generate fermentable carbohydrates from L. rotundiflorus biomass. First and second stage acid concentrations were 32% and 42.6%. Total monosaccharide yields with respect to dry matter after the first stage, second stage, and the overall process, were 27.5%, 21.0% and 48.4%, respectively. Xylose was the main first stage carbohydrate in the hydrolysate, followed by glucose, arabinose, and galactose. After the second stage only glucose and a small amount of xylose were detected. The polysaccharide hydrolysis was eased by overall low lignin content. Some advantages of this method were the use of a single hydrolyzing agent and that most of the polysaccharides were hydrolyzed in reasonably high yields. The acceptable yield, relative simplicity, the use of most of the biomass along with the wide availability, low cost of the chemicals, and the ample supply of lupines, would facilitate the scaling of these laboratory studies to pilot and industrial levels.

Studies on the durability and dimensional stability of a series of hardwoods and softwoods after thermal modification in vegetable oils and in steam atmospheres have been performed. Mass loss after exposure to Coniophora puteana (BAM Ebw.15) for 16 weeks was very low for European birch, European aspen, Norway spruce, and Scots pine thermally modified in a linseed oil product with preservative (for 1 hour at 200 oC). Fairly low mass losses were obtained for wood thermally modified in linseed-, tung- and rapeseed oil, and losses were related to the wood species. Low mass loss during rot test was also found for Norway spruce and Scots pine modified in saturated steam at 180 oC. Water absorption of pine and aspen was reduced by the thermal treatments and the extent of reduction was dependent on wood species and thermal modification method. Thermally modified aspen was stable during cycling climate tests, whereas pine showed considerable cracking when modified under superheated steam conditions (Thermo D). At lower modification temperature (180 oC) an increase in mass after modification in rapeseed oil of spruce, aspen and sapwood as well as heartwood of pine was observed, whereas at high temperature (240 oC) a mass loss could be found. Oil absorption in room tempered oil after thermal modification in oil was high for the more permeable aspen and pine (sapwood).

is often a problem due to compression recovery. Alternatively, oil-heat treatment (OHT) improves wood dimensional stability and enhances resistance to biological attack. This study examined combined wood densification and OHT. Large wood veneer 700 700 mm specimens prepared with aspen (Populus tremuloides) were densified using heat, steam, and pressure at 160ºC, 180ºC, and 200°C, respectively. OHT at 180, 200ºC, and 220ºC for 1, 2, and 3h was then applied to the densified veneers. Results show that OHT efficiently improved dimensional stability and reduced compression set recovery. OHT temperature and duration markedly influenced the reduction of compression set recovery: the higher the OHT temperature and duration, the lower the recovery. Less than 5% recovery was obtained under various OHT conditions, and almost 0% recovery under some OHT conditions. Radial and tangential swellings of densified veneers were reduced dramatically. Compared to OHT duration, OHT temperature had a pronounced higher impact on radial and tangential swelling. Irreversible swelling (IS) in the compression direction of densified veneers decreased after OHT, particularly with high temperature and long duration, and anti-swelling efficiency (ASE) in the compression direction improved significantly.

In this study, variation in acoustic properties of Arizona cypress wood was monitored from pith to bark as affected by tapering of the growth ring width. Specific modulus of elasticity, acoustic coefficient, damping, and acoustic conversion efficiency were calculated. It was shown that the outer parts of the stem, close to the bark containing narrower growth rings, exhibited lower damping due to internal friction and higher sound radiation. Our finding theoretically justified the luthier craftsmen’s traditional preference toward timbers with narrow growth rings to make sounding boards in musical instruments.

Attempts were made to enhance the hydrolysis of Asclepias syriaca (As) seed floss and poplar seed floss (PSF) by cellulase after pre-treatment with ionic liquids. Two ionic liquids, namely 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [BMIM]Cl and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrachloroaluminate [EMIM]Cl-AlCl3, were used. In comparison with conventional cellulose pretreatment processes, the ionic liquids were used under a milder condition corresponding to the optimum activity of cellulase. Hydrolysis kinetics of the IL-treated cellulose materials was significantly enhanced. The initial hydrolysis rates for IL-treated cellulose materials were greater than those of non-treated ones. The structural modifications of hydrolyzed cellulose materials were analyzed using FTIR spectroscopy.

Ultrasonic irradiation with organic solvents and alkaline extractions were carried out on a fast-growing poplar wood, triploid of Populus tomentosa Carr., in an attempt to develop efficient lignin isolation procedures. Four organosolv and three alkaline lignin fractions were successively isolated and comparatively characterized by sugar analysis, alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), quantitative 13C, and 2D HSQC nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, as well as thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that the ultrasonic treatments and sequential extractions with three different concentrations of NaOH led to a release of 90.9% of the original lignin. The four organosolv lignin preparations obtained under the ultrasound-assisted extractions were degraded significantly and contained more carbohydrate and non-condensed syringyl units when compared to the three alkaline lignin preparations. Furthermore, the analyses confirmed that L5, the lignin preparation with the highest yield (44.6% of the original lignin), was partially acylated at the γ-carbon of the side-chain preferentially over syringyl units. The percentage of lignin acylation of β-O-4’ linkages was about 14%. The amount of β-O-4’, β-β’, and –OCH3 were estimated to be about 0.31/Ar, 0.06/Ar, and 1.73/Ar, respectively. The ratio of S/G was calculated to be 2.0.

This paper deals with the effect of UV light through window glass on the changes in colour of surfaces of uncoated and clear-coated thermally modified wood, and on chemical changes of surfaces of uncoated thermally modified and unmodified wood. Discoloration of the uncoated wood samples and those treated with three commercial transparent coatings (two-component polyurethane varnish, water-borne varnish, and nano-impregnation) was measured spectrophotometrically using CIELAB parameters (L*, a*, b* and DE*). FTIR spectroscopy was used to study chemical changes caused by UV irradiation. Colour change (DE*) was recorded in all tested wood samples after exposure to UV light, and the smallest discoloration was recorded in wood samples coated with two-component polyurethane varnish. FTIR spectroscopy results show that thermal treatment and exposure to UV light modified the chemical structure of wood surface and that the thermally modified samples exposed to UV light showed similar changes as unmodified samples exposed to UV light, but less pronounced.

The utilization of post-consumer papers in the production of new paper products is increasing all over the world in recent years. Recycling of photocopier paper is a major problem due to difficulty in removal of non-impact ink. Enzymes offer potential advantages in ecofriendly deinking of recovered paper. In this study the deinking of photocopier paper was examined using chemicals and a commercial cellulase enzyme. Parameters of deinking experiments were optimized for hydrapulping. The ink was removed by flotation and washing processes. Then these parameters were compared in terms of ink removal ability of the process, as well as optical and strength properties of the deinked paper. The application of enzymatic deinking improved ink removal efficiency by 24.6% and freeness by 21.6% with a reduction in drainage time of 11.5% in comparison to those obtained with chemical deinking. The physical properties, namely burst index and tensile index, were observed to improve by 15.3% and 2.7%, respectively and brightness and tear index decreased by 2.1% and 21.9%, respectively. Results of deinking efficiency of photocopier paper showed that the enzyme used in the present work performed better than the conventional chemicals used for deinking.