The present invention provides a method for extracting a solid purified product from an alkaline polysaccharide-containing precursor material, comprising the steps of: (a) neutralising the alkaline polysaccharide-containing precursor material with an acid and obtaining a neutralised solid polysaccharide-containing material; (b) mixing the neutralised solid polysaccharide-containing material with bleach to create a mixture; and (c) separating a solid purified product from the mixture.

The present invention relates to a process for forming cellulose fibers or film from dissolved cellulose. The process comprises the steps of: dissolving cellulose in an aqueous coagulation sodium salt solution to provide a cellulose spin dope; extruding the cellulose spin dope into a coagulation bath liquid comprising an aqueous coagulation sodium salt solution to provide cellulose fibers or film; withdrawing a portion of the coagulation bath comprising coagulation sodium salt and sodium hydroxide (NaOH); cooling the withdrawn portion of the coagulation bath to precipitate solid coagulation sodium salt to recover sodium hydroxide (NaOH) substantially free from the coagulation salt; and using at least a portion of the recovered sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in dissolving the cellulose to provide the cellulose spin dope.

A process for the manufacture of butanol, acetone and/or other renewable chemicals is provided wherein the process utilises one or more of the group comprising by-products of the manufacture of malt whisky, such as draff, pot ale and/or spent lees, biomass substrates, such as paper, sludge from paper manufacture and spent grains from distillers and brewers, and diluents, such as water and spent liquid from other fermentations. The process comprises treating a substrate to hydrolyse it and fermenting the treated substrate at an initial pH in the range of 5.0 to 6.0. Also provided is a biofuel comprising butanol manufactured according to the process of the invention.

A wood-derived carbohydrate composition is disclosed. The wood-derived carbohydrate composition comprises monomeric C6 sugars and monomeric C5 sugars in a total amount of at least 80 weight-% based on the total dry matter content of the carbohydrate composition. The ratio of the monomeric C5 sugars to the monomeric C6 sugars is at most 0.15. Disclosed is also a method for producing a wood-derived carbohydrate composition.

The present disclosure provides a surface-nanocrystallized cellulose-containing biomass material, a preparation method and use thereof. The cellulose-containing biomass material is one or more derived from biomass materials containing cellulose components from natural plants or animals. Nanoscale celluloses are present on a surface of the surface-nanocrystallized cellulose-containing biomass material, and a portion of hydroxyl groups in the cellulose structure has been converted to carboxyl groups, such that the surface-nanocrystallized cellulose-containing biomass material has high specific surface area, high surface activity, and high crystallinity. Thus, the present application provides an excellent raw material for the further processing of biomass materials.

The present disclosure provides a surface-nanocrystallized cellulose-containing biomass material, a preparation method and use thereof. The cellulose-containing biomass material is one or more derived from biomass materials containing cellulose components from natural plants or animals. Nanoscale celluloses are present on a surface of the surface-nanocrystallized cellulose-containing biomass material, and a portion of hydroxyl groups in the cellulose structure has been converted to carboxyl groups, such that the surface-nanocrystallized cellulose-containing biomass material has high specific surface area, high surface activity, and high crystallinity. Thus, the present application provides an excellent raw material for the further processing of biomass materials.

The invention relates to a process for treating a lignocellulosic material, e.g., wood, comprising the following steps: providing a lignocellulosic material; removing at least some but less than all lignin from the lignocellulosic material to yield a delignified structure; and densifying the delignified structure to yield the delignified, densified material, wherein the delignified, densified material is equal in size or is smaller in size relative to the lignocellulosic material provided; where densifying may include contacting said delignified structure, at least in part, with at least one fluid at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. The invention also relates to a composite structure able to be obtained in this way, and to any part comprising at least one such structure.

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.

A cellulose saccharification method including an introduction step of introducing water, a raw material containing cellulose, and a surfactant into a saccharification vessel so as to obtain a liquid mixture, an agitation step of agitating the liquid mixture due to rotation of an impeller portion, and a detection step of detecting a torque sensed by the impeller portion, wherein regarding the agitation step, after agitation is performed until an amount of the torque changed in a unit time period becomes less than or equal to a predetermined value, when the torque is more than or equal to a threshold value, the surfactant is additionally introduced into the liquid mixture, or when the torque is less than the threshold value, a pH adjuster and an enzyme are introduced into the liquid mixture.

Provided is fibrous cellulose used for producing a concrete-pump pressure-feeding primer containing calcium carbonate powder, which is excellent in a dispersion stability and a pressure-feeding property. The fibrous cellulose is used for producing the concrete-pump pressure-feeding primer through mixing with the calcium carbonate powder. The fibrous cellulose contains ultrafine fibrous modified cellulose which has an ionic group and has a fiber width of 1,000 nm or less.