APPLICATION OF ENZYME ACCELERANT TECHNOLOGY FOR CELLULOSIC SLUDGE IN PULP AND PAPER MILLS

作者：Haynes R Daniel^*; Banerjee Sujit; Mora Sandeep

来源：J-FOR-Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes, 2013, 3(5): 42-49.

Sludge from pulp and paper mills is one of the simplest feedstocks for integration of bio-refining technologies. The opportunity to convert pulp and paper sludge, a waste stream which represents a cost to mill operation, is a good first step into the bio-refinery world. Cellulosic sludge has been evaluated at several sites, and the results are presented here. Application of enzyme accelerator technology to different types of biomass using enzymatic hydrolysis has shown areas of potential application in these evaluations.
The amount of sludge produced favours a pulp and paper mill producing only bio-sugars or a small distillation plant shared across several mills located close together. The sludge must be characterized with respect to ash content, lignin content, percentage of fines, and amount of available carbohydrates. The amount of ash can significantly impact the cost of (mechanically or chemically) processing the sludge. Based on a comparison of results from several groups working to convert sludge to bio-sugars or ethanol, the best mill sludge would have less than 8% ash, a lignin content below 7% (preferably below 4%), and high fines content.
An enzyme accelerant increases enzyme binding to fibre and can result in an approximately 20% increase in glucose production for the same amount of enzymes. This improvement can be used to reduce the time for enzymatic hydrolysis or to reduce enzyme dosage or the amount of equipment required. Process challenges includes handling sludge at 15% to 30% consistency to achieve usable concentrations of bio-sugars, good mixing to provide best conversion, and designing a process to handle ash accumulations effectively.

• 出版日期2013