Research Articles

Mg-Al-CO3 LDH was synthetized, using co-, and was used in flame-retardant paper as filler. The crystallizations, granularities of Mg-Al LDH, and characters of flame-retardant papers were investigated through XRD, FT-IR, TEM, TG-DTA, and SEM techniques. The results indicated that Mg-Al hydrotalcites were layered hexagonal nanoparticles, with high positive charge density, perfectly crystallized structure, and striking performance in furnish retention improvement. Mg-Al hydrotalcites with high whiteness can improve the whiteness of flame-retardant paper; the whiteness of flame-retardant paper increased by 82.1% while the dosage of LDH was 20wt%, but the Mg-Al hydrotalcites affected the strength index of flame-retardant paper adversely. The flame-retardant papers based on fiber using Mg-Al hydrotalcites as fillers showed excellent inflaming retarding performance. The oxygen index of the flame-retardant paper produced was above 25% at the dosage of 20wt%.

The effect of fungal pretreatment of Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) wood chips on the performance of treated pulps was studied. The chips were pretreated with P. chrysosporium BKM-1767 fungus at 1, 2, and 4 weeks using an inoculation temperature and relative humidity of 39 oC and 65%, respectively with two pulping times (80 and 90 min) and three sodium sulfite charges (14, 18, and 22%). The cooking temperature of 165 °C, and liquor-to-wood ratio of 7:1 were kept constant. Beating energy consumption showed a maximum savings of 43% for four-week treatment of wood chips with the fungus. The screen yield of the unbleached CMP ranged between 76 and 84% depending on the chip inoculation time and cooking conditions. A decreasing trend in screen yield of the pulp after chips incubation could be explained by the enzyme action on the lignin or polysaccharides. Pulp strengths including tensile, burst, tear, and fold declined with an increase in chip treatment time. Applying 3% H2O2, 4.2% NaOH, 3% NaSiO3, and 0.3% DTPA for 1 hour in two similar stages and 2 weeks fungal pretreatment of chips showed the best optical properties of bleached pulp. After a two-stage H2O2-bleaching sequence, the maximal brightness value for the control and biopulps were 54.8% and 56.2%, respectively. Overall, two-week treatment showed the better performance of P. chrysosporium on Hornbeam chips.

Kraft pulping is the most commonly used pulping process in the pulp and paper industry. In this process wood chips are chemically delignified using sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide. Delignification is usually followed by mechanical fiberization and a bleaching process of the resulting wood pulp. In addition to lignin-free wood pulp, this process also produces waste that contains residues of used chemicals, lignin, cellulose, hemicelluloses, and small amounts of other wood components. Because of the worldwide large-scale production of paper, the sludge from paper mills contributes significantly to environmental pollution. Although there have been great efforts being made to utilize this lignin-rich material, sludge is mostly disposed in landfills or incinerated in a boiler. This research project used secondary sludge as a substrate for 7 wood-decay fungi taxonomically belonging to the genus Trichoderma. The examined fungi expressed the capability of consuming sludge components as a carbon source to produce extracellular proteins. The proteins were separated by gel electrophoresis. Before and after fungi cultivation, the sludge was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

The effect of mild acidic and alkaline pretreatments of various plant biomasses on their enzymatic hydrolysis has been studied. The yield of reducing sugars and utilization rate of the biomass were used as reliable characteristics of enzymatic digestibility of the biomasses. The experiments showed that alkaline pretreatment was more efficient than acidic pretreatment. As a result of alkaline pretreatment, a more efficient delignification of the biomasses and considerable improvement of the digestibility parameters were observed. It was found that residual lignin content in the biomass after alkaline pretreatment was related to initial lignin content in untreated biomass. Moreover, residual lignin showed an evident negative effect on enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated biomass samples, and its removal contributed to higher enzymatic digestibility. It is more preferred to select a mild alkaline pretreatment for biomass that has low content of initial lignin. Such treatment yielded highly delignified biomass with increased percentage of cellulose fraction, which enhanced digestibility at low enzyme loading with a relatively short hydrolysis time.

In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) approach was employed for modeling the moisture absorption (MA) and thickness swelling (TS) properties of oriented strand board (OSB) in various applications. A series of ANN models were developed for the analysis and prediction of correlations between processing parameters and MA and TS of OSB. An ANN model was found for modeling the effects of OSB treatment variables on the MA and TS. The required data for training and testing of the model were obtained from the experimental results of Salay (2010). In designing this model, the MA and TS of the OSB were determined using OSB treatment variables, including board layup type, resin type, application rate of resin, and wax content. When experimental data and results obtained from the ANN were compared by regression analysis using Matlab, it was determined that both groups of data (test and train) were consistent. It was demonstrated that the well-trained feed forward and back propagation multilayer ANN model is a powerful and sufficient tool for the prediction of MA and TS; therefore, by using ANN outputs, satisfactory results can be estimated, rather than measured and hence time and cost are reduced in all the required experimental activities.

The feasibility of the production of cellulose acetate (CA) from recycled paper dust from carton boxes was examined. Two pre-treatments were carried out on the carton box’s paper dust (CPD) to improve the pulp properties for better effect of synthesis. The results showed that the acid and oxygen-alkaline pretreatments were capable of increasing the alpha-cellulose content from 80.5 percent to 87.3 percent and 85.3 percent, respectively. Both pre-treatments also decreased the hemicellulose and ash contents by more than 50 percent. The degree of substitution (DS) of the resultant CA from pre-treated paper dust was improved from 1.94 to 2.13-2.16. The CA that was synthesized from the recycled paper dust showed comparable DS and had a similar trend of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra. Both pretreated pulps also showed an increment in the degree of crystallinity and had maximum degradation effect of temperature when compared to CPD CA. However, all the cellulose acetates produced showed a lower DS and thermal stability compared to commercial cellulose acetate (C CA). The degree of crystallinity of all the cellulose acetate was decreased in comparison to the original material.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of thermally compressed veneer laminating on some of the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard. Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky)veneers were compressed under various press conditions. Commercially produced particleboard samples were laminated with such compressed veneer sheets. The density, 2-h and 24-h water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS), bending strength (MOR), and modulus of elasticity (MOE) in the parallel and perpendicular directions to grain orientation were measured. The results showed that all of the particleboards laminated with compressed veneer had higher MOR and MOE values compared to unlaminated particleboard and particleboard laminated with non-compressed veneer. In the sandwiched panels, particleboards laminated with veneer sheets and compressed at a pressure of 4 MPa and a temperature of 150 oC had the highest MOR and MOE values. The MOR and MOE values decreased with increasing temperatures higher than 150 oC. The TS value for 2-h and 24-h immersion times decreased with increasing press temperature. The findings of this work could provide some insight in producing sandwich-type panels with improved properties. It appears that compressed veneer using different press temperatures and pressures could be considered as an alternative way of developing sandwich-type products with satisfactory structural properties.

The influence of three drying schedules on the selected mechanical properties of poplar wood (Populus alba L.) was evaluated in terms of suitability for structural applications. For this purpose, 70 mm-thick poplar lumber was conventionally dried by three different moisture content based schedules of T5-D2, T5-D4, and T5-D6. In these schedules, the wet bulb depression was changed as a means of increasing of the drying intensity. After drying, the mechanical properties of the lumber, including bending properties (MOE and MOR), toughness, shear strength parallel to grain, and tensile strength perpendicular to grain, were measured. Results revealed that the severe drying schedule (T5-D6) caused higher reductions in the mechanical properties of the dried boards, particularly the MOE and MOR. Furthermore, toughness and tensile strength perpendicular to grain were not affected by the increasing of the wet bulb depression. The influence of all the three adopted schedules on the mechanical properties was evaluated using the drying rate, final moisture content gradient, and qualitative characteristics of the dried boards.

Chemical modification of Douglas fir bark and its subsequent utilization in adsorption of Pb(II) from aqueous solutions was investigated. The polysaccharidic moiety of barks was functionalized by periodate oxidation and derivatized after reductive amination in the presence of aminated oligo-carrageenans. Pb(II) adsorption isotherms of derivatized barks were then determined and compared to the capabilities of crude barks using the Langmuir adsorption model in terms of affinity (b) and maximum binding capacity (qmax). Compared to crude barks, the derivatization of barks by oligo-carrageenans resulted in significant enhancements of qmax and b by up to x8 and x4, respectively. The results obtained from crude barks on chemically grafted carboxylic and sulfated barks are discussed and interpreted through the Hard and Soft Acids and Bases (HSAB) theory.

Cassava residue from breweries is being generated in large amounts in Guangxi Province of China, and this has potential to cause serious environmental problems if disposed of improperly. Two-stage anaerobic fermentation is a promising method for the treatment of such residue. In this study, the effect of feed to microbes ratio (F/M ratio) on the anaerobic acidogenic fermentation of cassava residue was studied to determine the optimal F/M ratio and to maximize the performance in a subsequent methanogenic stage. The experiments were carried out at the F/M ratios of 0.2, 0.61, 1.02, 2.05, 3.07, and 4.09 g cassava-TS/g sludge-VSS in six laboratory-scale, completely stirred, tank reactors (CSTR) at mesophilic temperature (35°C). An F/M ratio of 1.02 g cassava-TS/g sludge-VSS resulted in the highest solid removal efficiency and VFA/COD ratio, while starch removal efficiency was still near 100 percent, and acidification was relatively high. As a further benefit, the VFA distribution was more suitable for the subsequent methanogenic fermentation stage.