Methods and systems of the present invention use mixed textile feedstock, which may include post-consumer waste garments, scrap fabric and/or other textile materials as a raw feed material to produce isolated cellulose and other isolated molecules having desirable properties that can be used and be used in the textile and apparel industries, and in other industries. A multi-stage process is provided, in which mixed textile feed material is subjected to one or more pretreatment stages, followed by at least two pulping treatments for isolating cellulose molecules and other molecular constituents, such as polyester. The isolated cellulose and polyester molecules may be used in a variety of downstream applications. In one application, isolated cellulose and polyester molecules are extruded to provide regenerated cellulose fibers and regenerated polyester fibers having desirable (and selectable) properties that are usable in various industrial applications, including textile production.

The present invention provides an improved catalytic fast pyrolysis process for increased yield of useful and desirable products. In particular, the process comprises an improved catalytic fast pyrolysis process for producing aromatic compounds, such as, for example, benzene, toluene and xylenes, from biomass feedstock containing impurities, such as, for example alkali and alkaline earth metal, sulfur and nitrogen components.

A process for increasing digestion efficiency of lignocellulosic material in a treatment vessel includes providing lignocellulosic material comprising lignocellulosic biomass, providing an alkyl polyglycoside, an alkoxylated alcohol, and a white liquor comprising sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, combining the lignocellulosic material, the alkyl polyglycoside, the alkoxylated alcohol, and the white liquor to form a mixture, and heating the mixture in the treatment vessel to a temperature of from about 125° C. to about 185° C. to digest at least a portion of the lignocellulosic material. The alkyl polyglycoside and the alkoxylated alcohol are present in the mixture in a weight ratio of actives from about 5:95 to about 95:5, respectively. The mixture is free of added surfactants that are not the alkyl polyglycoside and/or the alkoxylated alcohol. The process has increased digestion efficiency as compared to a process that does not utilize a combination of the alkyl polyglycoside and the alkoxylated alcohol.

A method of increasing the throughput and/or decreasing the energy usage of a pulping process includes the steps of providing a plurality of lignocellulosic chips, providing a refining composition, applying the refining composition to the plurality of lignocellulosic chips, and mechanically refining the plurality of lignocellulosic chips to form pulp. The refining composition includes water and a lubricating additive including the reaction product of a sugar and an alcohol. The step of applying the refining composition to the lignocellulosic chips is conducted less than 5 minutes prior to, or concurrently with, the step of mechanically refining the wood chips to form pulp.

The present disclosure generally relates to a method for controlled pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. The method comprises the steps of: Pretreating (S10) a lignocellulosic biomass material in a pretreatment arrangement, the pretreating comprising impregnating (S10A) the lignocellulosic biomass with an SO2 feed in an impregnation vessel of the pretreatment arrangement; collecting (S20) a number of process parameters of the pretreatment, which process parameters include at least a feed parameter related to the total amount of lignocellulosic biomass input to the pretreatment arrangement, and a dry matter parameter related to the dry matter content of lignocellulosic biomass input to the pretreatment arrangement; and adjusting (S30) the SO2 feed in response to the process parameters.

A method and apparatus for controlling a cellulosic pulp process for producing a pulp product having a desired pulp property is disclosed. The method involves illuminating an in-process portion of pulp using a first wavelength of light, and receiving a scattered light spectrum from the illuminated portion of pulp, the scattered light spectrum including spectral components that have been shifted in wavelength through interaction with a constituent of the illuminated portion of pulp. The method also involves filtering the scattered light spectrum to separate the spectral components, and identifying spectral features in the filtered scattered light spectrum that correspond to the pulp property. The method further involves generating a control signal for controlling the pulp process based on variations in the identified spectral features to cause the pulp property to fall within a desired range.

A method of digesting lignocellulosic material includes the steps of providing the lignocellulosic material and a caustic composition having a pH of at least about 10. The caustic composition includes water, an alkaline- or alkaline earth-metal hydroxide, and up to about 1 percent by weight based on a total weight of the composition of a branched digestion additive. The branched digestion additive has the structure: wherein A is at least one alkyleneoxy group and each alkyleneoxy group has from 2 to 4 carbon atoms, n is 0 or 1, B is a branched aliphatic hydrocarbon group having from 8 to 15 carbon atoms, X is H or B-0-(A).sub.m, and each m is independently an average value from 3 to 30, and wherein the caustic composition has a Draves Wetting Time of less than 100 seconds as determined using ASTM D2281. ##STR00001##

Digestion of cellulosic biomass solids may be complicated by release of lignin therefrom. Methods and systems for processing a reaction product containing lignin-derived products, such as phenolics, can comprise hydrotreating the reaction product to convert the lignin-derived products to desired higher molecular weight compounds. The methods and systems can further include separating the higher molecular weight compounds from unconverted products, such as unconverted phenolics, and recycling the unconverted phenolics for use as at least a portion of the digestion solvent and for further conversion to desired higher molecular weight compounds with additional hydrotreatment. The methods and systems can further include a further hydrotreatment step configured for additional lignin conversion and/or a further hydrotreatment step configured for generating hydrogen.

Digestion of cellulosic biomass solids may be complicated by release of lignin therefrom. Methods and systems for processing a reaction product containing lignin-derived products, such as phenolics, can comprise hydrotreating the reaction product to convert the lignin-derived products to desired higher molecular weight compounds. The methods can further include separating the higher molecular weight compounds from unconverted products, such as unconverted phenolics, and recycling the unconverted phenolics for use as at least a portion of the digestion solvent and for further conversion to desired higher molecular weight compounds with additional hydrotreatment. The methods and systems can further include generating hydrogen with the further hydrotreatment.

Described herein are processes for one-step delignification and hydrodeoxygenation of lignin fraction a biomass feedstock. The lignin feedstock is derived from by-products of paper production and biorefineries. Additionally described is a process for converting biomass-derived oxygenates to lower oxygen-content compounds and/or hydrocarbons in the liquid or vapor phase in a reactor system containing hydrogen and a catalyst comprised of a hydrogenation function and/or an oxophilic function and/or an acid function. Finally, also described herein is a process for converting biomass-derived oxygenates to lower oxygen-content compounds and/or hydrocarbons in the liquid or vapor phase in a reactor system containing hydrogen and a catalyst comprised of a hydrogenation function and/or an oxophilic function and/or an acid function.