Design of lignin-based flocculants and dispersants for various aqueous systems

用于各种水体系的木质素絮凝剂和分散剂的设计

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-04050
• 负责人: fatehi, pedram
• 金额: $ 2.84万
• 依托单位: Lakehead University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=650508
• 关键词: Design; lignin; based; flocculants; dispersants

Dispersants and flocculants are water-soluble chemicals with industrial applications worldwide. Dispersants have a wide range of industrial uses, mainly to reduce viscosity of suspension and solution systems. Flocculants are widely used in wastewater treatments to remove suspended particles and dissolved organic/inorganic chemicals. However, commercially available dispersants and flocculants are mainly oil-based, expensive, ineffective, environmentally unfriendly and non-biodegradable. For these reasons, the incentives for developing greener and more efficient lignin-based dispersants/flocculants are high in the chemical industry.******Lignin has a three-dimensional structure with several aliphatic and aromatic group attachments, making it amenable for producing dispersants and flocculants. Because of its chemical structure, lignin can be tailored to have a wide range of charge densities and molecular weights, making it possible to design dispersants and flocculants with a range of different properties for potential applications in the textile, mining, and oil-sand industries and wastewater treatment systems. ******The majority of kraft lignin is currently combusted as a low-grade energy source. Lignin valorization has been considered a feasible option to make the pulping industry more profitable by using already accessible lignin resources. Dr. Fatehi's research program is unique in Canada and offers an environmentally friendly and industrially attractive approach for producing value-added water-soluble products such as dispersants and flocculants from lignin. ******The objectives of this research program are to: 1) investigate new pathways to produce lignin-based dispersants and flocculants, 2) investigate physical/rheological aspects of lignin polymerization, and 3) identify the correlations between the properties of lignin-based dispersants and flocculants and their performance in various simulated models and industrially-produced solution and suspension systems. The potential impact of this program will be the development of processes for designing lignin-based dispersants and flocculants for various colloidal systems. Considering the urgency for expanding the use of kraft lignin (and thus increasing the revenues of kraft pulp mills) and the demand for using more environmentally friendly dispersants and flocculants in the mining and oil-sand industries, it is expected that newly designed processes will be of great interest to kraft pulp mills who will use the developed technologies. The results of the proposed research will have the potential to support the kraft pulping, mining and oil-sand industries, which will increase Canada's competitiveness in the global commodities market and bring stable jobs and greater prosperity to rural communities.

分散剂和絮凝剂是在世界范围内具有工业应用的水溶性化学品。分散剂具有广泛的工业用途，主要用于降低悬浮液和溶液体系的粘度。絮凝剂广泛应用于废水处理，去除悬浮物和溶解的有机/无机化合物。然而，市售的分散剂和絮凝剂主要是油基的，价格昂贵，效果不佳，对环境不友好，不可生物降解。因此，化学工业对开发更环保、更高效的木质素基分散剂/絮凝剂的诱因很高。木质素具有三维结构，具有几个脂肪族和芳香族基团，使其适合于生产分散剂和絮凝剂。由于其化学结构，木质素可以定制成具有广泛的电荷密度和相对分子质量，这使得设计具有各种不同性质的分散剂和絮凝剂成为可能，在纺织、采矿、油砂工业和废水处理系统中具有潜在的应用。*目前，大部分硫酸盐木质素是作为一种低品位能源燃烧的。木质素有价化被认为是一种可行的选择，通过利用现有的木质素资源使制浆工业更有利可图。Fatehi博士的研究项目在加拿大是独一无二的，为从木质素中生产分散剂和絮凝剂等增值水溶性产品提供了一种环境友好和具有工业吸引力的方法。*本研究计划的目标是：1)探索生产木质素分散剂和絮凝剂的新途径；2)研究木质素聚合的物理/流变学方面；3)在各种模拟模型和工业生产的溶液和悬浮液体系中，确定木质素分散剂和絮凝剂的性质与其性能之间的关系。该计划的潜在影响将是开发用于各种胶体系统的木质素分散剂和絮凝剂的设计工艺。考虑到扩大硫酸盐木质素使用的紧迫性(从而增加硫酸盐纸浆厂的收入)，以及采矿和油砂行业对使用更环保的分散剂和絮凝剂的需求，预计新设计的工艺将引起使用已开发技术的硫酸盐纸浆厂的极大兴趣。拟议的研究结果将有可能支持硫酸盐制浆、采矿和油砂行业，这将增加加拿大在全球大宗商品市场的竞争力，并为农村社区带来稳定的就业机会和更大的繁荣。