title: Mechanical pretreatment improving hemicelluloses removal from cellulosic fibers during cold caustic extraction.
abstract: Hemicelluloses removal is a prerequisite for the production of high-quality cellulose (also known as dissolving pulp), and further recovery and utilization of hemicelluloses, which can be considered as a typical Integrated Forest Biorefinery concept. In this paper, a process of combined mechanical refining and cold caustic extraction (CCE), which was applied to a softwood sulfite sample, was investigated. The results showed that the hemicelluloses removal efficiency and selectivity were higher for the combined treatment than that for the CCE alone. The combined treatment can thus decrease the alkali concentration (from 8% to 4%) to achieve a similar hemicelluloses removal. The improved results were due to the fact that the mechanical refining resulted in increases in pore volume and diameter, water retention value (WRV) and specific surface area (SSA), all of which can make positive contributions to the hemicelluloses removal in the subsequent CCE process.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada; Institute of Paper Science and Technology, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, Sichuan 643000, China.
authors.forename: Yishan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China.
authors.forename: Hongjie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China; Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada. Electronic address: yonghao@unb.ca.
authors.forename: Yonghao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ni
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D059625:Liquid-Liquid Extraction / Q000379:methods*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014934:Wood / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D011134:Polysaccharides; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide; C007916:hemicellulose; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Cold caustic extraction; Dissolving pulp; Fiber morphology; Hemicelluloses removal; Mechanical refining