A method for producing an amine oxide by oxidation of a tertiary amine in a reactor under continuous introduction of tertiary amine in a reaction fluid and export of amine oxide, wherein a suitable surface-to-volume ratio and/or a suitable flow speed with corresponding surface/volume loads are selected in the continuous process. The reaction fluid is usually reacted in the reactor with a laminar flow.

A porous body is placed in a rectangular parallelepipedal casing made of a stainless steel to prepare a mold form. A CNF-containing slurry is charged into the mold form, and another porous body is placed on the CNF-containing slurry. If the CNF-containing slurry are enwrapped in a nylon mesh, leakage of the CNF-containing slurry from a gap between the mold form and the porous body or clogging of the porous bodies can be inhibited. The upper and lower porous bodies are heated while applying a load to the CNF-containing slurry for a desired period of time to effect hot pressing, thereby obtaining a desired molded product. This provides a method for molding CNFs which enables a CNF molded product having a three-dimensional configuration to be obtained at a high productivity, and the CNF molded product obtained by the method for molding CNFs.

The invention relates to a method for removing lignin from lignocellulosic biomass. The method comprises feeding of lignocellulosic biomass and a first aqueous solution into a reactor vessel, the lignocellulosic biomass and the first aqueous solution forming a reaction mixture; reducing the pressure in the reactor vessel below 0.8 bar absolute pressure, preferably 0.5 bar absolute pressure, more preferably below 0.2 bar absolute pressure; keeping the reaction mixture in a predetermined extraction temperature, and adding at least one extraction chemical, such as base or acid, to the reaction vessel and extracting lignin from the biomass to the liquid phase of the reaction mixture.

The invention relates to a method for removing lignin from lignocellulosic biomass. The method comprises feeding of lignocellulosic biomass and a first aqueous solution into a reactor vessel, the lignocellulosic biomass and the first aqueous solution forming a reaction mixture; reducing the pressure in the reactor vessel below 0.8 bar absolute pressure, preferably 0.5 bar absolute pressure, more preferably below 0.2 bar absolute pressure; keeping the reaction mixture in a predetermined extraction temperature, and adding at least one extraction chemical, such as base or acid, to the reaction vessel and extracting lignin from the biomass to the liquid phase of the reaction mixture.

This patent application discloses membranes comprised of cellulose esters that are crosslinked. The membrane can be in the form of a flat film, tube or hollow fiber membrane. The membranes are plasticization resistant and can be used to separate gases.

The present invention provides for a method of fermenting or saccharifying a biomass comprising: (a) (i) contacting a biomass comprising a polysaccharide, and an ionic liquid (IL) to form a first solution, or (ii) providing the first solution comprising the biomass and the IL, (b) contacting the first solution and carbon dioxide such that the first solution results in a lower pH, (c) introducing (i) an enzyme capable of enzymatically to breakdown at least one bond in the polysaccharide or a breakdown product of the polysaccharide, and/or (ii) a microorganism that capable of producing the enzyme and/or fermenting the polysaccharide or a breakdown product of the polysaccharide, such that the polysaccharide is at least partially broken down and the first solution is transformed into a second solution.

The present invention relates to a process for extracting oxidised metal pollutants from treated cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass to recover the metal. The treatment also generates a cellulosic or lignocellulosic biomass which can to be used as a feedstock for biofuel, for making cellulose containing materials, and provides a source of other renewable chemicals.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing microfibrillated polysaccharide, preferably microfibrillated cellulose. The invention also relates to microfibrillated cellulose obtainable by the method and use of the microfibrillated cellulose. The method of manufacturing microfibrillated cellulose comprises the following steps: a) Providing a hemicellulose containing pulp, b) Providing wood degrading enzymes c) Mixing pulp and enzymes d) Keeping the mixture in a continuous, flowing system of essentially cylindrical geometry (for example in a plug-flow reactor), e) Conveying the mixture to one or more mixing zones for recirculating and homogenizing the mixture, and f) Harvesting microfibrillated cellulose with a relatively narrow size distribution during the recirculation.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing microfibrillated polysaccharide, preferably microfibrillated cellulose. The invention also relates to microfibrillated cellulose obtainable by the method and use of the microfibrillated cellulose. The method of manufacturing microfibrillated cellulose comprises the following steps: a) Providing a hemicellulose containing pulp, b) Providing wood degrading enzymes c) Mixing pulp and enzymes d) Keeping the mixture in a continuous, flowing system of essentially cylindrical geometry (for example in a plug-flow reactor), e) Conveying the mixture to one or more mixing zones for recirculating and homogenizing the mixture, and f) Harvesting microfibrillated cellulose with a relatively narrow size distribution during the recirculation.

The present invention relates to a method for pretreating lignocellulose by using an acid-base mixture catalyst. The method pretreats lignocellulose, by using a mixture catalyst of an acid and a base, so as not to pass through additional neutralization steps, and carries out pretreatment and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation through an identical single reactor process, thereby having an effect of producing ethanol in an excellent production yield from lignocellulosic biomass while simplifying the total process and reducing equipment costs and total processing costs.