4066results about "Raw material division" patented technology

Biomass is pretreated using a low concentration of aqueous ammonia at high biomass concentration. Pretreated biomass is further hydrolyzed with a saccharification enzyme consortium. Fermentable sugars released by saccharification may be utilized for the production of target chemicals by fermentation.

Improved polymer materials and fine fiber materials can be made from the improved polymeric materials in the form of microfiber and nanofiber structures. The microfiber and nanofiber structures can be used in a variety of useful applications including the formation of filter materials.

Cellulose nanofibers have been processed from renewable feedstock in particularly from natural fibers, root crops and agro fibers, wherein the pulp was hydrolysed at a moderate temperature of 50 to 90 degree C., one extraction was performed using dilute acid and one extraction using alkali of concentration less than 10%; and residue was cryocrushed using liquid nitrogen, followed by individualization of the cellulose nanofibers using mechanical shear force. The nanofibers manufactured with this technique have diameters in the range of 20-60 nm and much higher aspect ratios than long fibers. Due to its lightweight and high strength its potential applications will be in aerospace industry and due to their biodegradable potential with tremendous stiffness and strength, they find application in the medical field such as blood bags, cardiac devices, valves as a reinforcing biomaterial.

The present invention provides a method for treating biomass composed of integrated feedstocks to produce fermentable sugars. One aspect of the methods described herein includes a pretreatment step wherein biomass is integrated with an alternative feedstream and the resulting integrated feedstock, at relatively high concentrations, is treated with a low concentration of ammonia relative to the dry weight of biomass. In another aspect, a high solids concentration of pretreated biomass is integrated with an alternative feedstream for saccharifiaction.

Cellulose nanofilaments from cellulose fibers, a method and a device to produce them are disclosed. The nanofilaments are fine filaments with widths in the sub-micron range and lengths up to a couple of millimeters. These nanofilaments are made from natural fibers from wood and other plants. The surface of the nanofilaments can be modified to carry anionic, cationic, polar, hydrophobic or other functional groups. Addition of these nanofilaments to papermaking furnishes substantially improves the wet-web strength and dry sheet strength much better than existing natural and synthetic polymers. The cellulose nanofilaments produced by the present invention are excellent additives for reinforcement of paper and paperboard products and composite materials, and can be used to produce superabsorbent materials.

To provide a paper recycling device capable of recycling paper of increased whiteness level that can be widely used for applications other than paper for newspapers, the paper recycling device of the present invention has a dry type defibrator for crushing and defibrating paper, a first transport pipe for transporting defibrated material that was defibrated by the dry type defibrator, a cyclone for air classifying and deinking the defibrated material transported by the first transport pipe, a second transport pipe for transporting the defibrated material that was deinked by the cyclone, and a paper forming machine for forming paper with the defibrated material transported by the second transport pipe.

An apparatus for promoting the healing of an exuding wound includes a wound cover for defining a reservoir over a wound in which a negative pressure may be maintained. The cover may form a substantially fluid-tight seal around the wound and permit fluid communication between the reservoir and a vacuum source suitable for providing an appropriate negative pressure to the reservoir to stimulate healing of the wound. A wound filler positioned between the wound and the wound cover includes a fibrous material treated with a surface modification additive.

A bonded abrasive tool comprises a blend of abrasive grains and a bond component. The blend of abrasive grains comprises a filamentary sol-gel alumina abrasive grain and agglomerated abrasive grain granules. A bonded abrasive tool comprising an agglomerate of filamentary sol-gel alumina abrasive and non-filamentary abrasive grains, and a bond component is also disclosed. The filamentary sol-gel alumina abrasive grain has a length-to-cross-sectional-width aspect ratio of greater than 1.0. The agglomerated abrasive grain granules comprise a plurality of abrasive grains held in a three-dimensional shape by a binding material. A method of making such a bonded abrasive tool as described above is also disclosed.

The present invention is directed to a method of forming nonwoven webs comprising coated fibers. The method of forming the nonwoven web generally comprises the steps of forming fibers from a melt fibrillation process, forming at least one fluid stream containing a coating substance, applying the coating substance onto the surface of the fiber, and depositing the coated fibers on a surface to form a web. Typically, the fibers are coated in flight. Preferably, the melt fibrillation process to form the fibers is a melt film fibrillation process. A melt film fibrillation process generally includes the steps of providing a polymeric melt, utilizing a central fluid stream to form an elongated hollow polymeric film tube, and using air to form multiple nanofibers from the hollow tube. The nonwoven web may comprise a layer having a significant number of nanofibers with diameters less than one micron. The layer may comprise two or more pluralities of fiber diameter distributions wherein at least one plurality has an average fiber diameter of less than about one micron. The coating substance can be selected from the group consisting of lotions, powders, surfactants, softeners, nanoparticles, creams, gels, conducting fluids, hydrophilic agents, hydrophobic agents, hygroscopic agents, emollients, plasticizers, absorbent gelling material, antimicrobial agents, and combinations thereof. A preferred coating substance is a surfactant. Another preferred coating substance is a hydrophilic or hydrophobic substance. The present invention is also directed to a nonwoven web comprising a layer having a significant number of nanofibers with diameters less than one micron and a coating substance is applied to a surface of said nanofibers

A process for separating the components of lignocellulosic biomass for the purpose of producing a pure reactive cellulose is disclosed. The process has two stages. In the first stage, the lignocellulosic biomass is pretreated with steam, with or without an acid catalyst, and then pressed, with or without the presence of an eluent, to remove hemicellulose and other impurities. In the second stage, the pretreated biomass is extracted with a solvent such as ethanol with or without acid catalysts in order to remove lignin and release a purified cellulose stream. The extracted cellulose is then rapidly decompressed to rupture the fibrous structure. The process provides a purified cellulose stream that is relatively easy to hydrolyze with enzymes and ferment to biofuels and other chemicals such as ethanol.

An apparatus and process for solvent pulping of cellulose-containing biomass utilizes at least one steaming vessel, a plug screw feeder or compression screw device, at least one super-atmospheric impregnation vessel, a solvent delignification reactor capable of operating at a pressure of 350 psig or more, and a solvent containing line for introducing solvent-containing liquor at the plug screw feeder outlet or compression screw device outlet. The process and system can also include at least one series connected pressure diffuser and optionally a retention tube downstream of each pressure diffuser to provide sufficient retention time to substantially preclude re-deposition of lignin on the cellulose fibers of the biomass, a blow tank connected to the last of the pressure diffusers and retention tubes, and vessels for multistage alcohol washing. The method steams the biomass and impregnates it with solvent to produce an aqueous slurry of biomass and solvent, delignifies the particulate biomass in the slurry, removes solvent while continuing delignification of the biomass in the slurry and while substantially precluding re-deposition of lignin on the cellulose of the biomass, reduces the pressure of the slurry; and then washes the slurry.

A method for making agglomerate particles from a composition comprising at least a radiation curable binder and solid particulates. The method comprises the steps of forcing the composition through a perforated substrate to form agglomerate precursor particles which then separate from the perforated substrate. Then, the particles are irradiated to form soldified, handleable agglomerate particles before being collected.

A method of producing a lithium-ion battery anode comprising: (a) providing an anode active material; (b) intercalating or absorbing a desired amount of lithium into this anode active material to produce a prelithiated anode active material; (c) comminuting the prelithiated anode active material into fine particles with an average size less than 10 μm (preferably sub-micron and more preferably <200 nm); and (d) combining multiple fine particles of prelithiated anode active material with a conductive additive and / or a binder material to form the anode. The battery featuring such an anode exhibits an exceptionally high specific capacity, an excellent reversible capacity, and a long cycle life.

A method for treatment of chemical pulp for the manufacturing of microfibrillated cellulose includes the following steps: a) providing a hemicellulose containing pulp, b) refining the pulp in at least one step and treating the pulp with one or more wood degrading enzymes at a relatively low enzyme dosage, and c) homogenizing the pulp thus providing the microfibrillated cellulose. According to a second aspect of the invention a microfibrillated cellulose obtainable by the method according to the first aspect is provided. According to a third aspect of the invention, use of the microfibrillated cellulose according to the second aspect in food products, paper products, composite materials, coatings or in rheology modifiers (e.g. drilling muds) is provided.

A process for bleaching mechanical wood pulp is provided comprising subjecting the wood pulp to at least one bleaching stage with one or more bleaching agents in the presence of one or more optical brightening agent, wherein the bleaching agents are selected from the group consisting of oxidative bleaching agents other than chlorine based bleaching agents such as chlorine dioxide, elemental chlorine or a combination thereof, reductive bleaching agents or any combination of two or more thereof.

An omnibus process of pulping and bleaching lignocellulosic materials in which a charge of a lignocellulosic material is biopulped and / or water extracted prior to pulping and bleaching. The lignocellulosic material may be mechanically pulped and bleached in the presence of an enzyme that breaks lignin-carbohydrate complexes. The aqueous extract in embodiments including a water extract step is separated into acetic acid and hemicellulose sugar aqueous solutions.

The present invention relates to the production of texturized microcrystalline cellulose from raw pulp material. This texturized microcrystalline cellulose can then be used for surface treatment of paper or paper board. Additionally, the texturized microcrystalline cellulose may be used as a starting material for production of paper or paper board.

A forming box for use in dry forming of a mat of fibrous material, and a forming method. The forming box comprises a housing with an open bottom providing direct access for fibers onto an underlying forming wire and a vacuum box underneath said forming wire; an inlet for supplying fiber material into the inside of the housing; and a number of fiber separating rollers in one or more rows in the housing between the fiber inlet and the housing bottom. An endless belt screen is provided inside the housing having an upper run between two rows of spike rollers and a lower run closer to the open bottom of the forming box. Fiber clumps captured on the lower run of the belt screen are conveyed above fiber separating rollers and are released from the upper run of the belt screen into contact with the fiber separating rollers.

A method for alteration of the morphology of cellulose fibers, particularly softwood fibers, by (a) subjecting the fibers to a metal ion-activated peroxide treatment carried out at a pH of between about 1 and about 9, preferably between 3 and 7, and (b) subjecting the treated fibers to a refining treatment thereby converts SW fibers to HW-like fibers in many respects. The metal ion-activated peroxide treatment has been noted to act on pulp cellulose and hemi-cellulose, causing oxidation and oxidative degradation of cellulose fibers. The chemical treatment of the pulp, taken alone, is not sufficient to attain the desired modification of the morphology of the fibers, however, subsequent refining or like mechanical treatment of the chemically-treated fibers to achieve a given degree of refinement of the fibers requires dramatically less refining energy to achieve a desired end point of refinement and to impart other desirable properties to the pulp. A pulp of modified SW fibers and a mixture of HW fibers and modified HW fibers are disclosed.

A manufacturing method for providing a cement bonded wood chip product, a resin bonded wood chip product and a simulated wood product, in which recycled wooden members and recycled resinous members are pulverized after having been mixed. Accordingly, a mixing process and a pulverizing process can be integrated into one single line, reducing the space as well as laborious work and efficient operation in a plant. A manufacturing method of a simulated wood product utilizing pulverized powders obtained from recycled building members as raw material, in which the building members comprise recycled wooden members made of wooden materials and resinous members made of resinous materials, the manufacturing method further comprising a mixing process for mixing the recycled wooden members, a pulverization process for pulverizing the mixed materials obtained in the mixing process to form pulverized powder, a kneading process for kneading the pulverized powders obtained by the pulverizing process, and a molding process for molding the kneaded materials obtained in the kneading process either by an extrusion or injection molding.

A sputtering target containing oxides of indium (In), gallium (Ga) and zinc (Zn), which includes a compound shown by ZnGa2O4 and a compound shown by InGaZnO4.

Plate elements, a plate configuration, and associated system for thermomechanical refining of wood chips wherein destructured and partially defibrated chips are fed to a rotating disc primary refiner, where opposed discs each have an inner band pattern of bars and grooves and outer band pattern of bars and grooves, such that substantially complete fiberization (defibration) of the chips is achieved in the inner band and the resulting fibers are fibrillated in the outer band. One embodiment is directed to a pair of opposed co-operating refining plate elements for a flat disc refiner wherein the bars and grooves on each of the inner bands form an inner feed region followed by an outer working region, the bars and groove on each of the outer bands form an inner feed region followed by an outer working region, and the gap and / or material flow area formed when the plates are placed in front of each other increases between the inner working region and the outer feed region.

A method for producing a microfibrillated cellulose, which comprises subjecting a slurry containing a pulp having a solids concentration of 1 to 6 wt % to the treatment with a disc refiner repeatedly ten times or more, to thereby prepare a microfibrillated cellulose having a number average fiber length or 0.2 mm or less and an amount of water hold of 10 mL / g or more, the amount representing the volume of water capable of being held by a unit weight of the cellulose fiber. The method allows the production of a microfibrillated cellulose having high quality with stability and with good efficiency.

A method of manufacture of a nonwoven cellulose fabric is disclosed. The fabric is made from fibers formed by extrusion of a solution of cellulose through a spinning jet. The extruded fiber is attenuated with a high velocity gas flow, and the attenuated fiber is collected on a surface (such as the curved surface of a rotating drum) on which the fiber web is subsequently coagulated. Apparatus for carrying out the method is also disclosed. The method and apparatus permit the manufacture of a nonwoven lyocell fabric web in which fibers are bonded together without the use of a binder.