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.

There is described a process for the recovering of inorganic chemicals of pulp and paper making processes (IC) and the production of biochemicals from black liquor (BL) using microwaves (MW) comprising: (a) filtration of BL to produce filtered BL, in a media, (b) drying of said filtered BL with MW in said media to produce dried BL, (c) pyrolysis of said dried BL with MW in said media to produce bio-oil, biogas, and solid residue, (d) recovering of said bio-oil, and (e) recovering of IC and biocarbon from said solid residue. The disclosed process does not require chemical additives compared to processes rely on precipitation of lignin to recover said IC. The disclosed process supports efficient, direct, and long-lasting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollutants resulting from the current processes rely on burning BL in recovery boilers to recover said IC.

An anaerobic digestion system may include a material grinding/pulping portion, a hydrolysis portion arranged downstream of the grinding portion, a multiple chamber anaerobic reactor arranged downstream from the hydrolysis portion and including a gas collection and reintroduction system, a collection system for collecting digestate and gas from the anaerobic reactor.

The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing an upgraded bio-oil derived from black liquor, comprising the following steps: Providing black liquor, which comes from the pulp and paper manufacturing industry; Subjecting black liquor to a pyrolysis treatment with formation of a pyrolyzed black liquor gas and a solid mass, which comprises char and salts; Catalytic conversion of said pyrolyzed black liquor gas by contacting at least part of the latter with a bi-metallic modified zeolite catalyst with formation of the upgraded bio-oil, which comprises benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX), naphthalene and non-BTX products.

The invention discloses a process for treating black liquor comprising pyrolyzing black liquor in a fluidized bed reactor to obtain solid particles and pyrolyzed black liquor gas, heating the solid mass, returning the heated solid mass to the fluidized bed reactor for use in the pyrolysis reaction; condensing the pyrolyzed black liquor gas to obtain a condensate and recover heat and a residual gas released during condensation for heating the solid mass to a predetermined temperature for that is required for the pyrolysis.

A biodegradable filter for the removal of various pollutants, contaminants, or harmful substances from the surrounding air, and a method of fabrication. The filter includes 30% by weight of cellulose nanofibers, 30% by weight of activated carbon, and 20% by weight of polyethylene glycol. The cellulose nanofibers and activated carbon are isolated from date palm biomass, making the filter cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

A process for the preparation of small aromatic compounds from black liquor comprising: providing black liquor that derives from alkaline treatment of wood chips; subjecting the black liquor to a pyrolysis treatment to yield a pyrolysed black liquor gas and a solid mass comprising char and salts in a first reactor, wherein the salts substantially derive from the treatment of black liquor; contacting at least part of the pyrolysed black liquor gas with a catalyst in a second reactor, which is different from the first reactor to provide a conversion treatment to yield a conversion product; and recovering small aromatic compounds from the conversion product.

The present invention describes a method intended for lignin recovery, said method comprising: a step of mixing a stream of black liquor with an acidic biomass stream for providing a mixed heterogenous stream; a step of separating the mixed stream in a separation unit for providing one aqueous light phase stream and one lignin-containing heavy phase stream.

A biodegradable filter for the removal of various pollutants, contaminants, or harmful substances from the surrounding air, and a method of fabrication. The filter includes 30% by weight of cellulose nanofibers, 30% by weight of activated carbon, and 20% by weight of polyethylene glycol. The cellulose nanofibers and activated carbon are isolated from date palm biomass, making the filter cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

The present invention relates to a paper pulp preparation device comprising a wood component cooking unit and a hydrothermal liquefaction unit.

The invention also relates to the use of such a device in a method of treating the black liquor resulting from pulping and a method of preparing paper pulp from wood.