Volume 13 Issue 3

A method for producing lignocellulosic fibrillar fines directly from moist wood through a grinding process was evaluated. The method is based on a conventional stone wood grinding process with a novel grinding stone surface structure. The grinding stone (wheel) with a surface profile serrated in the axial direction of the wheel, forces fibres to break down into fibrils instead of detaching as fibres from the wood matrix. The arrangement mimics the inclined feeding of a log against a grinding stone and is completed without any related technical difficulties. Typically over a 90% conversion rate to fines (passing the Standard Mesh 200 wire) were achieved. The characteristics of the fines were influenced by the details of the surface structures, the velocity of the grinding stones, the feeding rate of the woods, and the specific energy consumption. This method enables novel means to adjusting the structure and properties of paper and paperboard products, as well as those of novel fibre and fibre-composite products.

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are a unique category of green solvents that have gained attention in biomass processing due to their distinctive properties not offered by traditional solvents. The pH behavior of 17 selected DESs along with their temperature dependence on pH were evaluated in this study. For all investigated DESs, a temperature increase caused a decrease in pH value.

The search for microbial enzymatic activities applied to wastewater treatment is an important task in environmental biotechnology. Microbial enzymes have been previously explored in hostile habitats. They are increasingly important in extreme habitats; biological wastewater from the pulp and paper mill industry can harbor microorganisms with valuable enzymatic capabilities that can improve the efficiency for the same process of depuration. This study was performed to characterize and evaluate cellulolytic, amylolytic, and lipolytic activities of bacteria isolated from a pulp and paper effluent. The enzymatic activities were evaluated by the formation of a clear halo around the colonies in defined substrate media. By the use of a sequence analysis of 16S rDNA libraries, isolates were identified. The 16S rDNA libraries belong to the Bacillus subtilis, B. megaterium, B. licheniformis, B. pumilus, B. thuringiensis, B. cereus, Chryseobacterium daecheongense, and Microbacterium sediminis (an alkali-tolerant bacteria which has only been isolated from deep-sea sediment). B. cereus was the best strain for cellulose and lipase activities; moreover, C. daecheongense was best for amylase activity. The present study shows that the aerated lagoons from the pulp and paper industry are a promising source of bacterial with different enzyme activities. This data is relevant for industrial applications.

Effects of the plasma treatment were evaluated for particles from winter wheat stalks relative to the properties of particleboards manufactured from such treated particles. Using urea-formaldehyde adhesive, boards with a nominal density of 540 kg/m3 and a thickness of 6 mm were manufactured. Two degrees of plasma treatment were selected: cold plasma applied at atmospheric pressure by jet system, with a generator output voltage of 26.9 V and a current of 6.9 A; and in the second treatment, a maximum voltage of 28.6 V was used with a current of 8.7 A. The physical properties (equilibrium moisture content and thickness swelling depending on relative humidity) and mechanical properties (bending strength and tensile strength perpendicular to the plane of the board) were determined. The results showed that the plasma pre-treatment of particles had a statistically significant effect on the resulting composite properties. The mechanical properties of the boards increased with both plasma treatments, but the physical properties changed negatively. Boards manufactured from particles treated with a higher degree of plasma treatment resulted in significantly higher equilibrium moisture contents and thickness swelling than the reference boards.

Wood-fired small- and medium-scale combined heat and power (CHP) plants are a proven technology for producing domestic, carbon-neutral heat and power. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a promising conversion technology for producing an improved, more versatile wood fuel. By integrating the HTC and CHP processes, the HTC process can be notably simplified. This study compares six different integration schemes to non-integrated plants. The overall energy conversion efficiencies were similar in all six schemes, but there were differences in power output and in plant complexity, and thus likely differences in investment cost and operability. The most promising cases were evaluated at varying HTC temperatures. This comparison showed that temperatures over 220 °C became problematic for the simpler heat recovery schemes, which resulted in poor efficiencies.

Specific reliability parameters are used to determine the durability and safety of a furniture structure. An experimental study was conducted to determine the probability of failure free time and compare the reliability and hazard rates of selected joints used in case furniture. The investigations were performed on samples of joints with a connector of the screw, dowel, or eccentric type. Altogether, 600 samples were tested. The reliability tests were conducted on a specially designed laboratory stand. The reliability characteristics of the individual joints were used to designate the most reliable type of joint. The hazard rate of the dowel joint was about 8 times that of the confirmat screw joint. In the case of the eccentric joint, the hazard rate was as much as 57 times higher than it was for the screw joint. The test method presented here for determining the reliability of joints aid in the selection of a connector type during case furniture design.

Samples of Scotch pine sapwood were treated with epoxidized linseed and soybean oils via an empty cell process to improve the hydrophobic properties of wood. Boric acid was included to introduce fungicidal properties into the oils. Two retention levels (80 to 140 kg/m³ and 170 to 270 kg/m³) were targeted for oil treatments. Both an empty cell method and emulsion techniques were used to combine epoxidized oils and boric acid in a one-step treatment. Iodine number changes, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), water absorption (WA), anti-swelling efficiency (ASE), and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) analyses were used to characterize the wood after treatment. High iodine number changes that indicated a reduction the amount of unsaturated double bonds were determined. The FTIR analysis of epoxidized oils revealed a peak at 820 cm^-1, which indicated that epoxide moieties (C-O-C) were present. All of the oil treatments resulted in statistically significant lower water absorptions than the control sample. The lowest water absorption values were obtained from wood treated with epoxidized oils. The highest ASE result (70%) was observed on samples treated with epoxidized soybean oil at low retention (108 kg/m³). It was also determined that most of the latewood tracheids were filled with oils when compared to the earlywood tracheids.

Bamboo fibers exhibit poor solubility and reactivity because of the aggregational structure of cellulose macro-molecules in fiber cell walls. It has been shown that more free hydroxyl groups on cellulose molecules can be exposed via fibrillation of the fiber walls during a PFI beating process. The changes in fiber characteristics, such as the fibrillation degree, water retention value (WRV), and crystallinity, were analyzed. The results showed that the fiber fibrillation increased from 0.781% to 1.072%, and the WRV increased from 112.8% to 213.6% during the beating process, indicating that a fibrillation effect was present in the bamboo fiber walls that corresponded to an incremental change in the degree of mechanical pretreatment. The saturated solubility value of the treated fibers in an alkali/urea solvent system at low temperature increased from 0.22 wt.% to 2.69 wt.% with an incremental change in the degree of mechanical pretreatment. After high-revolution PFI beating, the cellulose crystallinity index of the samples decreased from 66.4% to 50.0%, but the intrinsic viscosity changed only slightly. The oxidation degree of the cellulose in the treated samples increased from 0.85 mol/AGU to 1.03 mol/AGU, which suggested that the reagent accessibility and chemical reaction performance of the bamboo fibers were both improved.

The biomass type is one of the most important factors that affects biochar properties, but the relationship between the major constituents of different biomasses and the properties of the derived biochars, especially the pH, is still unclear. In this study, the cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and ash contents of 30 representative agro-forestry biomasses and the pH, surface acid functional groups, and carbonates of 150 resultant biochars prepared with different heat treatment temperatures (HTTs) were examined. The results showed that the lignin content of the biomass had a strong negative correlation with the biochar pH (r = −0.428, P < 0.01). When the HTT was 300 °C, a high lignin content in the biomass was found to have increased the acid functional groups in the biochar, which resulted in a relatively low pH. When the HTT was greater than or equal to 400 °C, the high lignin content in the biomass negatively correlated to the carbonates, which led to a low biochar pH. It was concluded that the lignin content of agro-forestry biomass affects the biochar pH negatively, and the acid functional groups and carbonates have different effects at different HTTs.

The pretreatment of biomass materials is critical for improvement of the overall production process and product quality. In this work, a dilute zinc chloride (ZnCl₂) solution was used to pretreat bamboo chips, followed by defiberization (mechanical pulping). Compared to the results from the traditional chemi-thermomechanical pulping process, the results from this study showed that the refining energy consumption of the modified process was lowered 27%, and the tensile and burst index of the resultant pulp increased 22% and 82%, respectively. The morphological changes on the fiber surface, functional groups, and crystallinity of resultant pulps due to the ZnCl₂ treatment were also analyzed.