965results about "Lignin derivatives" patented technology

A modular process for organosolv fractionation of lignocellulosic feedstocks into component parts and further processing of said component parts into at least fuel-grade ethanol and four classes of lignin derivatives. The modular process comprises a first processing module configured for physico-chemically digesting lignocellulosic feedstocks with an organic solvent thereby producing a cellulosic solids fraction and a liquid fraction, a second processing module configured for producing at least a fuel-grade ethanol and a first class of novel lignin derivatives from the cellulosic solids fraction, a third processing module configured for separating a second class and a third class of lignin derivatives from the liquid fraction and further processing the liquid fraction to produce a distillate and a stillage, a fourth processing module configured for separating a fourth class of lignin derivatives from the stillage and further processing the stillage to produce a sugar syrup.

Biofuels can be produced by: (i) providing a biomass containing celluloses, hemicelluloses, lignin, nitrogen compounds and sulfur compounds; (ii) removing sulfur compounds and nitrogen compounds from the biomass by contacting the biomass with a digestive solvent to form a pretreated biomass containing carbohydrates and having less than 35% of the sulfur content and less than 35% of the nitrogen content of untreated biomass on a dry mass basis; (iii) contacting the pretreated biomass directly with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenolysis catalyst to form a plurality of oxygenated intermediates, and (vi) processing at least a portion of the oxygenated intermediates to form a liquid fuel.

An integrated process for the production of ethanol from woody plant material is provided, the process comprising: contacting a continuous flow of the plant material with a counter-current continuous flow of an aqueous ethanol solution at elevated temperature and pressure to provide plant material depleted of lignin; removing ethanol from the lignin-depleted plant material; contacting a continuous flow of the lignin-depleted plant material with water at elevated temperature and pressure to solubilize xylose within the plant material; and hydrolyzing cellulose present in the plant material to form glucose, which in turn is fermented to produce ethanol.

Lignin polymers having distinctive properties, including a generally high molecular weight and generally homogeneous size distribution, as well as preservation of native reactive side groups, are isolated by solvent extraction of plant materials. Methods for isolation of lignin polymers, and for use of the isolated lignin polymers are disclosed. Compositions containing lignin isolated from plant materials, such as carbon fiber composites, resins, adhesive binders and coatings, polyurethane-based foams, rubbers and elastomers, plastics, films, paints, nutritional supplements, food and beverage additives are disclosed. Xylose and xylose derivatives, furfural, fermentable sugars, cellulose and hemi-cellulose products may be used directly or further processed. The lignin polymers and other plant-derived products disclosed herein may be produced in abundance at low cost, and may be used as substitutes for feedstocks originating from fossil fuel or petrochemical sources in the manufacture of various products.

Methods of making glucose and / or furfural from biomass require one or more supercritical fluids that may be used to process biomass, cellulose from the biomass, and / or xylose from the biomass. Examples of supercritical fluids for use in processing biomass include ethanol, water, and carbon dioxide at a temperature and pressure above the critical points for ethanol and carbon dioxide but at a temperature and / or pressure below that of the critical point for water. A supercritical fluid containing carbon dioxide and water may be used to convert cellulose to glucose or convert xylose to furfural. The fluid has a temperature and pressure above the critical point of carbon dioxide, but at least one of the temperature and pressure is below the critical point for water.

A method of treating biomass feed by pyrolyzing it in the presence of superheated steam at a selected temperature for a sufficient time to produce at least one product stream.

Lignin polymers having distinctive properties, including a generally high molecular weight and generally homogeneous size distribution, as well as preservation of native reactive side groups, are isolated by solvent extraction of plant materials. Methods for isolation of lignin polymers, and for use of the isolated lignin polymers are disclosed. Compositions containing lignin isolated from plant materials, such as carbon fiber composites, resins, adhesive binders and coatings, polyurethane-based foams, rubbers and elastomers, plastics, films, paints, nutritional supplements, food and beverage additives are disclosed. Xylose and xylose derivatives, furfural, fermentable sugars, cellulose and hemi-cellulose products may be used directly or further processed. The lignin polymers and other plant-derived products disclosed herein may be produced in abundance at low cost, and may be used as substitutes for feedstocks originating from fossil fuel or petrochemical sources in the manufacture of various products.

An integrated process for the production of ethanol from woody plant material is provided, the process comprising: contacting a continuous flow of the plant material with a counter-current continuous flow of an aqueous ethanol solution at elevated temperature and pressure to provide plant material depleted of lignin; removing ethanol from the lignin-depleted plant material; contacting a continuous flow of the lignin-depleted plant material with water at elevated temperature and pressure to solubilize xylose within the plant material; and hydrolyzing cellulose present in the plant material to form glucose, which in turn is fermented to produce ethanol.

The present invention relates to a metal oxide dispersion, which can form a metal thin film onto a substrate by heat treatment at a low temperature, wherein a metal oxide having a particle diameter of less than 200 nm is dispersed in the dispersion medium. By heat treating the dispersion after applying it onto a substrate, a metal thin film is formed.

A method comprising: (a) providing a lignocellulosic substrate; (b) contacting said lignocellulosic substrate with an extractant comprising a water-soluble organic solvent to form an extracted substrate and a miscella; (c) removing miscella from said extracted substrate; and (d) hydrolyzing said extracted substrate using a chemically catalyzed process.

A modular process for organosolv fractionation of lignocellulosic feedstocks into component parts and further processing of said component parts into one or more of a de-lignified cellulose stream, a sugar stream, small-chain alcohol streams and four structurally distinct classes of lignin derivatives. The modular process comprises a first processing module configured for digesting lignocellulosic feedstocks with an organic solvent thereby producing a cellulosic solids fraction and a liquid fraction, a second processing module configured for recovering small-chain alcohols and optionally a first class of lignin derivatives from the cellulosic solids fraction, a third processing module configured for recovering from the liquid fraction at least one of a second class and a third class of lignin derivatives or mixtures thereof, and waste stream comprising a fourth class of lignin derivatives. The fourth processing module may optionally recover the fourth class of lignin derivatives.

There is provided a process for recovery of lignin from a black liquor that contains either soluble or dispersed lignin, generating a “liquid lignin” at high yield. Soluble lignin at elevated pH is precipitated by reducing the pH of the black liquor stream by countercurrent reaction with carbon dioxide, at elevated temperature and pressure, creating two bulk fluid phases: a heavy lignin-rich phase and a light lignin-depleted phase. The heavy lignin-rich phase is separated and washed countercurrently with a strong acid to displace metal cations from the lignin, creating a low-salt lignin, which is then formed into a low-dust high-bulk-density lignin fuel pellet. If needed, especially for lignin recovered from kraft papermaking black-liquor streams, an oxidation step is included to eliminate negative odor for high-value green-chemistry applications.

The present invention relates to a method using sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose (SPORL). More specifically, it relates to a sulfite-based chemical process for pretreating biomass in solutions to reduce access barriers of enzymes to the lignocellulose, resulting in efficient conversion through enzymatic saccharification.

A method for the fractionation of lignocellulosic materials into reactive chemical feedstock in a batch or semi continuous process by the stepwise treatment with aqueous aliphatic alcohols in the presence of sulfur dioxide or acid. Lignocellulosic material is fractionated in a fashion that cellulose is removed as pulp, or converted to esterified cellulose, cooking chemicals are reused, lignin is separated in the forms of reactive native lignin and reactive lignosulfonates and hemicelluloses are converted into fermentable sugars, while fermentation inhibitors are removed. In an integrated vapor compression stripper and evaporator system, aliphatic alcohol is removed from a liquid stream and the resulting stream is concentrated for further processing.

A method of hydrothermal hydrocatalytic treating biomass is provided. Lignocellulosic biomass solids is provided to a hydrothermal digestion unit in the presence of a digestive solvent, at least one of ammonia or a source of ammonia, and a supported hydrogenolysis catalyst containing (a) sulfur, (b) Mo or W, and (c) Co, Ni or mixture thereof, incorporated into a suitable support. The lignocellulosic biomass solids and digestive solvent are heated in the presence of hydrogen, supported hydrogenolysis catalyst and the at least one of ammonia or a source of ammonia forming a product solution containing plurality of oxygenated hydrocarbons and ammonia. At least a portion of ammonia is separated and recycled to the hydrothermal digestion unit.

The present invention provide a coating material composition comprising at least fine hollow particles and a matrix-forming material, wherein when the coating material composition is applied and dried to form a coating film having a low refractive index, the matrix-forming material forms a porous matrix.

A method for preparing biomass for slurry processing. The method includes solubilizing the solid material into either a dissolved state or a suspended solid in a liquid phase, and treating the liquid phase to produce chemicals and fuels.

The present invention is directed generally to a method of production of biobased chemicals, biofuels, and lignin residues from lignin sources, including waste lignin. This method may allow for selectively producing biobased chemicals, biofuels, and lignin residues from lignin sources using certain processing methods. The methods for production of these biobased chemicals, biofuels, and lignin residues may be provided by chemical-induced processing, catalytic oxidative lignin depolymerisation processing, and catalytic hydroprocessing. Further, the catalytic hydroprocessing from processes including catalytic reduction processing, catalytic hydrodeoxygenation processing, and / or catalytic / dehydrogenation processing may also be used. The method described herein also provides a means in which waste from the process(es) may be reduced and / or recycled.

Processes disclosed are capable of converting biomass into high-crystallinity nanocellulose with surprisingly low mechanical energy input. In some variations, the process includes fractionating biomass with an acid (such as sulfur dioxide), a solvent (such as ethanol), and water, to generate cellulose-rich solids and a liquid containing hemicellulose and lignin; and mechanically treating the cellulose-rich solids to form nanofibrils and / or nanocrystals. The total mechanical energy may be less than 500 kilowatt-hours per ton. The crystallinity of the nanocellulose material may be 80% or higher, translating into good reinforcing properties for composites. The nanocellulose material may include nanofibrillated cellulose, nanocrystalline cellulose, or both. In some embodiments, the nanocellulose material is hydrophobic via deposition of some lignin onto the cellulose surface. Optionally, sugars derived from amorphous cellulose and hemicellulose may be separately fermented, such as to monomers for various polymers. These polymers may be combined with the nanocellulose to form completely renewable composites.

The invention discloses a method for efficiently hydrolyzing lignocellulosic biomass and synchronously preparing multi-component liquid glucose and lignin. The method comprises the steps that: the lignocellulosic biomass through physical crushing is added with phosphoric acid to perform acid hydrolysis; then organic solvent is added to extract the lignin, the layering and the phase separation are performed, then the lignin is extracted out while the organic solvent is reclaimed under the condition of pressure reduction and distillation; phosphoric acid can be reclaimed through steps such as neutralization, filtration, acidification and so on, hemicellulose hydrolyzed liquid glucose is obtained at the same time; and the remained cellulose undergoes the zymohydrolysis to prepare cellulosic hydrolyzed liquid glucose. The method can separate lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose, remarkably decreases the degree of crystallinity of the cellulose hydrolyzed by phosphoric acid, and remarkably improves the zymohydrolysis efficiency; and the prepared hydrolyzed liquid glucose does not contain fermentation inhibitors. The method has mild treatment conditions, simple process and less side reactions; the phosphoric acid and the organic solvent can both be reclaimed and circularly used; and the method is environment-friendly, and has broad social and economic benefits.

A method for controlling the sodium and sulphur balance of a pulp mill while separating lignin from black liquor, and also a lignin product or an intermediate lignin product obtainable by the method. The present invention also provides use of a lignin product or an intermediate lignin product for the production of fuel (solid, gaseous or liquid) or materials.

A method was developed for: a) improving the filterability of acid-precipitated lignin from kraft black liquors, b) increasing the dry solids content of the final lignin product, c) reducing the acid requirements and d) minimizing or eliminating TRS emissions during the acidification of black liquor to produce lignin and / or the subsequent suspension of the lignin in acid and / or the washing of the lignin with acid. No major difference in the chemical composition, MWD and main functional groups was found in the lignin of the present invention compared with lignins produced by conventional methods.

The invention relates to functionalized lignin, rubber compositions which contain functionalized lignin and to products which have at least one component comprised of such rubber composition.

The invention discloses a method capable of carrying out green high-efficiency hydrolysis pretreatment on lignocellulose biomass. The method in the invention comprises the steps of hydrolyzing the hemicellulose in the cellulose biomass into saccharide products mainly containing xylose and oligose thereof using a two-step temperature-changing segmentation hydrolysis method so as to accomplish the pretreatment, and adding the pretreated solid raw material mainly containing cellulose and lignin to cellulase so as to accomplish enzymatic hydrolysis and recover the saccharide products to the utmost extent. The invention uses high-temperature liquid water as reaction medium, has the advantages that the method has low cost and is environment-friendly and green. The reaction conditions are moderate, the saccharide products are degraded less, and the recovery rate is high. By adopting the two-step temperature-changing segmentation hydrolysis method, the method not only hydrolyzes the hemicellulose to the utmost extent to obtain the saccharide products, but also further pre-treats the raw material such that the cellulose is made into glucose through enzymatic hydrolysis, reaching the purpose of protecting environment and hydrolyzing the lignocellulose biomass highly effectively. The raw material is capable of realizing waste utilization and promotes the development of green industries.

Non-food plant biomass is subjected to hot-water extraction in a pressurized vessel at an elevated temperature up to about 250° C. and at a pH below about 7.0, to yield an aqueous extract containing hemicellulosic components, other wood-derived compounds, and a lignocellulosic residue. The separated aqueous extract or liquor is purified and concentrated through a multi-step process producing fermentable sugars. At each stage, inhibitory chemicals such as acetic acid, lignin, and furfural are separated and eventually recovered as commercial chemicals. The lignocellulosic residue may be further processed, as a material with enhanced resistance to sorption of water, for manufacture of improved pulp and paper, construction materials, pellet fuel, and / or other useful products.

The present invention is directed to a process of producing substantially pure lignin from lignocellulosic biomass, which comprises: pre-treating a lignocellulosic feedstock to produce a reactive lignin-carbohydrate mixture; biologically-reacting the carbohydrates in the mixture, separating remaining solids from the liquid fermentation products, and drying the resulting solids to yield a substantially pure lignin product. Optionally, the lignin product may be washed and subjected to a second hydrolysis step. Optionally, the lignin product may be further processed by hydrotreating and / or pyrolysis in order to yield desirable products such as fuel additives.

Described is a coating composition adapted to enhance the adhesion of a coating or film to a substrate. The coating composition includes at least one coupling agent, partial hydrolysates thereof or mixtures thereof in a concentration greater than 25 weight percent based on the weight of the total composition; and an adhesion enhancing amount of an epoxy-containing material having at least two epoxy groups. The coating composition is free of colloidal particles chosen from silica, alumina or a mixture thereof. Also described is a process for using the coating composition and articles coated with the composition and additional coatings and films which can be photochromic.

A composition for film formation capable of forming a silica-based coating film having low water absorption and dielectric constant of 2.1 or lower and useful as an interlayer insulating film material in semiconductor devices, etc. The composition contains: (A) a product of hydrolysis and condensation obtained by hydrolyzing and condensing at least one silane compound selected from the group consisting of compounds represented by formula (1), compounds represented by formula (2), and compounds represented by formula (3) in the presence of a basic catalyst and water, <paragraph lvl="0"><in-line-formula>RaSi(OR1)4-a (1) < / in-line-formula>wherein R represents a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, or a monovalent organic group, R1 represents a monovalent organic group, and a is an integer of 1 or 2, <paragraph lvl="0"><in-line-formula>Si(OR2)4 (2) < / in-line-formula>wherein R2 represents a monovalent organic group, <paragraph lvl="0"><in-line-formula>R3b(R4O)3-bSi-(R7)d-Si(OR5)3-cR6c (3) < / in-line-formula>wherein R3 to R6 may be the same or different and each represents a monovalent organic group, b and c may be the same or different and each is a number of 0 to 2, R7 represents an oxygen atom, a phenylene group, or a group represented by -(CH2)n-, wherein n is an integer of 1 to 6, and d is 0 or 1; (B) a compound compatible with or dispersible in ingredient (A) and having a boiling point or decomposition temperature of from 250 to 450° C.; and (C) an organic solvent.

A method for precipitating (separation) of lignin, using small amounts of acidifying agents, whereby a lignin product or an intermediate lignin product is obtained which can be used as fuel or chemical feed stock (or as a chemical or a raw material for further refining), from a lignin containing liquid / slurry, such as black liquor. A method for separation of lignin from a lignin containing liquid / slurry, such as black liquor, whereby a more pure lignin is obtained, a lignin product or an intermediate lignin product obtainable by the above methods, and use, preferably for the production of heat or for use as chemical, of the lignin product or intermediate lignin product are also disclosed.

A process for depolymerizing and / or chemically modifying lignin or lignin-like compounds in which a solution of copper and peroxide acts on lignin and / or lignin-like substance at a temperature of less than 100° C., characterized in that the solution is an aqueous solution containing copper or a copper complex, a coordination compound and peroxide and wherein the concentration of the copper or copper complex is between 0.001% and 5%, and wherein the concentration of the coordination compound is lower than 20% and wherein the concentration of peroxide is between 0.01% and 20%.