A Comparative Study on Green Liquor Pre-Pulping Extraction of Mixed Hardwood Chips

Mixed hardwood chips were pre-pulping extracted with green liquor prior to kraft pulping in order to recover hemicelluloses for use as biofuels. This green liquor solution containing mainly sodium sulfide and sodium carbonate was applied at different alkali charges (expressed as Na2O) of 0, 1, 3, and 5% on dry wood weight. The extractions were performed at 160 degrees C for residence times ranging from about 1-2 h to determine the effect of extraction severity on composition of the pre-pulping extract. The severity of hemicellulose extraction time and green liquor charge controls the concentration of acetic acid and monosaccharide sugars available for downstream processing, the accumulation of degradation products such as organic acids and furans in the extract. As the alkali charge was increased, the amount of acetate side chains on the hemicelluloses and the dissolved lignin in the extract increased but the carbohydrate and sugars in the extract decreased appreciably. Hot water extraction (0% alkali addition) released the greatest amount of carbohydrates, up to 29.80 g/L measured as component sugars, but resulted in the greatest decrease in pulp yield. Meanwhile, pre-pulping extraction with 3% green liquor increased the pulp yield while greatly reducing the component sugars to 7.08 g/L. Fundamental data obtained in this study will allow selection of optimum hemicellulose extraction conditions for integrating the extraction operation into the Kraft pulping process.