PFI: AIR-TT: Ultrapure Lignins Recovered from Paper-Mill Black Liquors as Renewable Biopolymers

该PFI：AIR技术翻译项目的重点是翻译生产超纯木质素的环保提取工艺的发明，以满足社会对廉价，可再生生物聚合物的需求。木质素是世界上最丰富的生物聚合物之一（仅次于纤维素），但由于其芳香性质而独特，赋予其特殊性质。随着热酸水木质素纯化（ALPHA）工艺的发明，具有非常低水平的杂质和受控分子量（即，“超纯”）现在可以从生物质副产物流，例如来自造纸米尔斯的黑液中回收。这些超纯木质素有可能在各种应用中取代石油衍生的不可再生聚合物，包括泡沫，涂料和碳纤维。今天，市场上可获得的所谓的硫酸盐木质素的金属含量是超纯木质素的100倍以上（即，10，000相对于100 ppm），很少或没有控制分子量。 在该项目中，ALPHA将与木质素企业的连续液体木质素回收和纯化（SLRP）工艺相结合，将黑液转化为硫酸盐木质素，然后转化为超纯木质素。 这两种工艺都使用可再生的醋酸水溶液（SLRP作为酸化剂，ALPHA作为萃取溶剂），并且都是连续工艺，因此与目前的间歇工艺相比，总成本将最小化。该项目解决了几个技术差距，从而将ALPHA从发现转化为商业应用。 首先，需要更好地理解在SLRP工艺中形成的水合液-液相经由乙酸水溶液转化为粗硫酸盐木质素的基本原理，以便可以优化操作条件以与ALPHA整合。第二，需要设计和构建用于ALPHA原型的液-液萃取、混合和沉降装置，以便在2-3个阶段中获得所需纯度和分子量的超纯木质素。第三，需要解决将ALPHA原型与现有原型SLRP装置集成的技术困难，该项目的最终目标是从典型的软木或硬木黑液中生产10-20 kg/天的超纯木质素。本科生，研究生和博士后学生将通过与Lignin Enterprises的互动获得技术翻译和成功启动小公司的经验。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating the invention of an environmentally friendly extraction process for producing ultrapure lignins to fill the need in society for inexpensive, renewable biopolymers. Lignin is one of the world's most abundant biopolymers (second only to cellulose), but is unique because of its aromatic nature, giving it special properties. With the invention of the Aqueous Lignin Purification with Hot Acids (ALPHA) process, lignins with very low levels of impurities and of controlled molecular weight (i.e., "ultra pure") can now be recovered from biomass by-product streams, such as the black liquor from paper mills. These ultrapure lignins have the potential to replace petroleum-derived, nonrenewable polymers in a wide variety of applications, including foams, coatings, and carbon fibers. Today, the so-called Kraft lignins available on the market have over 100 times the metals content of ultrapure lignins (i.e., 10,000 vs 100 ppm), with little or no control of molecular weight. In this project, ALPHA will be integrated with the Sequential Liquid-Lignin Recovery and Purification (SLRP) process of Lignin Enterprises to convert black liquor to Kraft lignin and then to ultrapure lignin. Both processes use renewable aqueous acetic acid (SLRP as an acidification reagent and ALPHA as an extractive solvent) and both are continuous processes, so overall costs will be minimized compared to the current batch technologies.This project addresses several technology gaps so as to translate ALPHA from discovery towards commercial application. First, the fundamentals of the conversion of the hydrated liquid-liquid phase formed in the SLRP process to raw Kraft lignin via aqueous acetic acid needs to be better understood, so that operating conditions can be optimized for integration with ALPHA. Second, the liquid-liquid extraction, mixing-and-settling setup for the ALPHA prototype needs to be designed and constructed so as to obtain the desired purities and molecular weights of ultrapure lignin in 2-3 stages. Third, the technical difficulties of integrating the ALPHA prototype with the existing prototype SLRP unit need to be addressed, the final objective for this project being the production of 10-20 kg/day of ultrapure lignin from a typical softwood or hardwood black liquor. Undergraduate, graduate and post-doc students will receive experience in both technology translation and the successful start-up of a small company through their interaction with Lignin Enterprises.