A cooking method and a digester system wherein partly digested cellulosic fiber source is compressed during cooking to provide high molecular weight lignin and pulp.

A cooking method and a digester system wherein partly digested cellulosic fiber source is compressed during cooking to provide high molecular weight lignin and pulp.

The invention relates to a method for impregnating biomass (10). In a step (S100) of the method, a reactor unit (11) is fed with biomass (10) by means of a plug screw (12). In another step (S200), the reactor unit (11) is at least partially filled up to a predetermined fill level (13) with a reactant (18), such that a reaction between the fed biomass (10) and the reactant (18) takes place in order to obtain an impregnated biomass. In another step (S300), the impregnated biomass (10) is discharged from the reactor unit (11) for further processing (S300). The invention further relates to a device (1) for impregnating biomass (10).

A method for providing a treated cellulose-comprising mixed starting material (110), in particular a mixed starting material (110) for forming a, in particular regenerated, cellulosic molded body (102) is described. The method comprises: i) providing (10) a first starting material (101a) which comprises a lignocellulosic raw material, ii) providing (1) a second starting material (101b) which comprises a cellulose-containing lignin-free product, iii) mixing (15) the first starting material (101a) and the second starting material (101b) to a mixed starting material (101), and iv) at least partially commonly treating (20) the first starting material (101a) and the second starting material (101b) for obtaining the treated mixed starting material (101), in particular a mixed pulp.

Method and control system are provided for controlling values of process parameters of a pretreatment process of wood particles. A sampler is used to obtain a sample of a product flow of said pretreatment process after said wood particles have undergone steam explosion in a hemihydrolysis reactor. A particle measurement device is used to measure one or more characteristics of particles in said sample and to produce one or more pieces of measurement information indicative of the measured characteristics. Said one or more pieces of measurement information are used to select one or more values of one or more of said process parameters.

A system and method are provided for predictive control of brown stock treatment at a pulp mill. Various online sensors generate output signals representative of actual values for respective process characteristics, each of which are directly or indirectly affected by adjustments to corresponding process variables. A controller uses the output signals or associated measurement data to dynamically set target values for the process characteristics based on a predicted impact of control responses for corresponding process variables. The controller further generates control signals to actuators associated with the respective process variables based on detected variations between the respective actual values and target values. Exemplary brown stock washing control systems may optimize various types of brown stock washing configurations, including for example vacuum drum washers, compaction baffle washers, chemiwashers, direct displacement washers and wash presses. Cloud-based analytics and machine learning may also be implemented to improve the control algorithms over time.

Provided herein is a process for producing a fermentation product from a lignocellulosic feedstock. The process comprises soaking a lignocellulosic feedstock in an aqueous solution to produce a soaked feedstock. The soaked feedstock is at least partially dewatered and the at least partially dewatered feedstock is subjected to pretreating. The pretreatment chemical is sulfur dioxide, sulfurous acid or a combination thereof and can be added to the process at any stage prior to and/or during pretreatment. The pretreated feedstock composition is fed to an enzymatic hydrolysis conducted at a temperature that is higher than 58° C. The cellulose in the pretreated feedstock composition is hydrolyzed with cellulase enzymes in the presence of the dissolved solids to produce glucose. The glucose is fermented to produce the fermentation product.

Provided herein is a process for producing a fermentation product from a lignocellulosic feedstock. The process comprises soaking a lignocellulosic feedstock in an aqueous solution to produce a soaked feedstock. The soaked feedstock is at least partially dewatered and the at least partially dewatered feedstock is subjected to pretreating. The pretreatment chemical is sulfur dioxide, sulfurous acid or a combination thereof and can be added to the process at any stage prior to and/or during pretreatment. The pretreated feedstock composition is fed to an enzymatic hydrolysis conducted at a temperature that is higher than 58° C. The cellulose in the pretreated feedstock composition is hydrolyzed with cellulase enzymes in the presence of the dissolved solids to produce glucose. The glucose is fermented to produce the fermentation product.

The invention herein disclosed and claimed is a process for refining fiber from lignocellulosic biomass. The process provides refined fiber and agriculturally amenable co-products, with a virtually waste-free systems design.

Methods are disclosed for the continuous treatment of biomass comprising a pretreatment step, wherein said biomass is contacted with a first supercritical, near-critical, or sub-critical fluid to form a solid matrix and a first liquid fraction; and a hydrolysis step, wherein said solid matrix formed in said pretreatment step is contacted with a second supercritical or near-supercritical fluid to produce a second liquid fraction and an insoluble lignin-containing fraction. Also disclosed are apparatuses for the continuous conversion of biomass comprising a pretreatment reactor and a hydrolysis reactor associated with said pretreatment reactor.