This work seeks to trace the influence of G.W. Leibniz on G.W.F. Hegel and the chapter called ‘Force and the Understanding’ in his Phänomenologie des Geistes. Using Leibniz’s theory of forces developed in texts such as Specimen Dynamicum, in which Leibniz argues against the Cartesians in favour of a ‘dynamic’ view on substances, it is here argued that the notion of biological life is of crucial importance for understanding Hegel’s transition from Consciousness to Self-Consciousness at the end of ‘Force and the Understanding’. For Leibniz, force is posited as that which gives unity to the monad, and this by functioning as their inner source of activity. This infusion of activity into the monad gives rise both to the physical world of bodies, as well as to the mental world of consciousnesses. Leibniz also sees force in direct analogy with biological life, as they share one characteristic feature, namely the capacity for ‘perception’ and ‘desire’. Consequently, organic life is for Leibniz what is most real in the world, uniting all bodies with a conscious soul. This move, I argue, is essential for understanding Hegel in ‘Force and the Understanding. More specifically, when Hegel’s consciousness discovers that, through the dialectic of force and law, organic life has become its new object, it also realizes that its faculty of the Understanding [Verstand] is related to its very own biological nature. The outer world of appearance, consciousness realizes, is thereby intimately connected to the inner of things, the so called supersensible world. Hegel thus regards consciousness of biological life as a sort of bridge that unites the Understanding with the concept, or rather, unites internal thinking with the outside world. This gives rise to Consciousness’ awareness of its own thinking, which is equivalent to it becoming a Self-consciousness.

The oxidation of lignin model compounds was studied in conventional solvents in parallel with oxidations in ionic liquid solvents. Catalyst systems were investigated in ionic liquid solvents to determine how reaction rates and the selectivity for benzylic carbon oxidation were affected. Oxidation rates were often lower in ionic liquids than in conventional solvents ‒ as indicated by lower conversion in a standard reaction time ‒ likely due, at least in part, to the higher viscosity of ionic liquids. Mechano chemical treatment of Indulin AT kraft lignin by ball milling with KOH and toluene produced significant carbonyl functionality, among other changes. The chemical reactivity of the lignin was increased, resulting in greater lignin degradation from porphyrin oxidation followed by Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. The mechanochemical treatment produced a level of lignin oxidation that was similar to that produced by porphyrin-catalyzed oxidation. Combining mechanochemical treatment with porphyrin oxidation produced a synergistic positive effect on the depolymerization of lignin, as demonstrated by a significantly higher yield of monomers. The methyl ester of vanillic acid was obtained as the main monomeric product (after methylation), along with a small amount of methyl 5-carbomethoxyvanillate.

Lignin, the second most abundant biopolymer on earth, is potentially a replaceable source for bulky fuels and chemical feedstocks. There have been numerous reports on methods for the oxidative cleavage of β-O-4 linkages but relatively few reports of how those methods affect other linkages that are present in lignin. We investigated how the β-1 and β-5 linkages respond under oxidative conditions proposed for lignin deconstruction based on their effect on β-O-4 linkages. Mechanochemical treatment of lignin can greatly improve the yield of monomer products and we applied a mechanochemical approach, using powerful ring-and-puck milling to promote lignin degradation. Along with similar production of monomers in a much shorter period than what we observed in previous ball-milling process, much more unexpected reactions were taking place during the current mechanochemical process. Lignin is a promising feedstock for epoxy resins since lignin-derived aromatic monomers usually bear hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. We are working on utilizing these mono-aromatic compounds and highly-functionalized-lignin as precursors for preparation of epoxy thermosets. We are interested in investigating the properties of thermosets by utilizing the actual isolated monomer streams from raw lignin. We expect to observe attractive thermal and mechanical properties from these lignin-derived epoxy thermosets compare to that of the commercialized but currently limited-used BPA-based epoxy resins.

This thesis summarizes the outcome of work performed withthe objective to contribute to the knowledge and development ofthe kraft cooking process using spectrophotometricinterfaces. In kraft cooking, it is desirable to maximize the removal oflignin in the cook without loss of pulp strength. Theselectivity can be improved by exchanging some of the hydrogensulfide ion in the white liquor for polysulfides. Paper Ipresents a spectrophotometric method for in-line monitoring ofthe electrochemical production of polysulfide using anATR-probe for the UV-Vis range. A linear relation existsbetween the ATR-probe response and the concentration ofabsorbing species. Thus the process can be followed by simplemonitoring of a few wavelengths. A spectrophotometric monitoring system using a durableNafion ionomer membrane interface for continuous on-linemeasurement of sulfide and dissolved lignin during kraftcooking has previously been developed by our group. In paperII, the permeation of low molecular weight anions from liquorshaving high ionic strengths through a membrane in Na+ form hasbeen studied. A general relation between penetration and ionsize approximated by molecular weight has been established. Thepenetration of different anions can be explained as a diffusionthrough the winding membrane channels. Further the differentanions transport independently without being interfered by thesample matrix. In light of this validation, we applied the membraneinterface to the determination of anthraquinone-2-sulfonate(AQ-S) in alkaline pulping liquor. In paper III, a simple andrapid spectrophotometric method was developed and implementedon real samples. Interferences from other compounds penetratingthe membrane were minimized by reduction of the penetrated AQ-Sand measurement at 520 nm. This method is quick and can be usedon-line. Further, we extended the method to determination ofanthraquinone (AQ) in pulping liquor (paper IV). Although AQ isregarded as insoluble, it was found that the apparentsolubility of AQ in alkaline solutions increases considerablyin the presence of lignin, reaching 0.14 g/L at 90 oC. Thismakes the calibration of AQ possible. Time-resolvedmeasurements of dissolved AQ in 3 kraft-AQ pulping processeswere performed. The results show that the membrane has great potential aspart of a selective interface in applications where theconcentrations of small anions are to be monitored in mediawith high ionic strength. Keywords: Kraft cooking, On-line, Sulfide, Lignin,Polysulfide excess sulfur, Anthraquinone-2-Sulfonate (AQ-S),Anthraquinone (AQ), Nafion Membrane, UV-Vis, ATR-probe,Spectrophotometric.

In this thesis, size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) of woodpolymers dissolved in lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide(LiCl/DMAc) has been used to characterize the molar massdistributions (MMD) of wood polymers in pulp fibers afterchemical degradation. Characterization of birch kraft pulps subjected to ozonedegradation and acid hydrolysis, respectively, rendereddifferent changes in the MMD. Ozone degradation resulted inlarge redistributions of the original MMD, observed as thedevelopment of a distinct fraction of cellulose withintermediate molar mass. Acid hydrolysis resulted in minorchanges of the original MMD compared to ozonation. Fiberssubjected to acid hydrolysis were considerably weaker thanozonated fibers. These results indicated that there aredifferences in how the two chemicals degrade the fiber. The solubility of softwood kraft pulp fibers was enhanced byderivatization of the fiber polymers with ethyl-isocyanateduring simultaneous dissolution in LiCl/DMAc. Thederivatization made it possible to achieve reliable estimationsof the MMD, and hence molar masses, of softwood kraft pulps.The derivatization procedure made it possible to dissolve 90 %of softwood kraft pulps with kappa numbers over 50. Severe alkaline degradation of birch and Norway spruce woodchips was studied both by varying the pulping time and byvarying the initial alkali concentration. Differences werefound in the MMD of the two fiber types, and the alkalinedegradation was found to affect polymers in the entire MMD. Multi-angular laser light scattering (MALLS) was used as adetection technique with SEC on cellulosic samples. The MMD andaverage molar masses obtained through directstandardcalibration with commercial standards were compared with MMDand molar masses as obtained by MALLS-detection. Largediscrepancies were found, and two methods of correcting forthese discrepancies were developed. Theoretical simulations of polymer degradation wereperformed. Random, or homogeneous degradation was used as amodel for alkaline cellulose chain scission, and a resemblancewith experimental data was observed. End-wise depolymerizationof cellulose was also simulated and the results are discussedin the light of experimentally observed MMD. <b>Keywords:</b>cellulose, kraft pulp, birch, spruce,ozonation, acid hydrolysis, degradation, MMD, sizeexclusionchromatography, light scattering, molar mass, chainscission

Acid/base and metal ion adsorption properties have been investigated for a range of chemically modified bleached Kraft fibre materials (pulps). The studies were performed via potentiometric titrations, Flame Atomic Absorbtion (and Emission) Spectroscopy, Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy and Extended X-ray Absorbtion Fine Structure measurements. As a result of a chemical modification procedure, the total concentration of acidic carboxylate groups in the fibre materials ranged between 43 and 590 μmol/g. The preferable surface potential model for modelling the ionic strength dependent acid/base properties of fibre materials with low charge densities, i.e. unmodified fully bleached Kraft fibre materials, was found to be the Basic Stern Model. For fibre materials with high total charge, ≳100 μmol/g, this model resulted in poor fits to data, and for such materials a number of Constant Capacitance Models, one at each ionic strength, must be recommended. With respect to metal ion adsorption, the results have indicated that the unspecific Donnan theory could correctly model the simultaneous adsorption of several metal ions, i.e. K+, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+ and Cu2+, provided that the salt concentration in the fibre suspension is low. In suspensions of high salt concentration it was, however, found that this very same model strongly underestimated the adsorption of Ca2+ and Cu2+. Here, the Donnan model had to be complemented by specific ion exchange equilibria. These results were corroborated by spectroscopic evidence of specific interactions between Cu2+-ions and fibres. The spectroscopic indication of a complex formed between two fibre surface carboxylate groups and one Cu2+-ion, agree with the specific ion exchange model. It was therefore concluded that specific metal ionfibre interactions cannot be neglected, especially at high salt concentrations. The interactions occurring between the polycation GaO4Al12(OH)24(H2O)127+ and fibre materials were studied by both adsorption and spectroscopic measurements. These indicate that GaO4Al12(OH)24(H2O)127+ is surprisingly stable in fibre suspensions and that intact GaO4Al12(OH)24(H2O)127+- ions are strongly adsorbed onto the fibres. Also for this ion, specific interactions has to be considered, since the strong adsorption registered was too strong to be explained by Donnan equilibria. In the thesis, the stochiometric composition and an equilibrium constant characterising these interactions is presented.

There is an ongoing debate both in the United States and Europe about the need to develop a broader view of scholarship and the different activities connected with it, including “service to the community”. In Sweden, service takes the form of practice-oriented engagement and collaboration with the surrounding community, as stipulated by Swedish law regulating universities’ activities. Collaboration is frequently perceived as a supplementary task, in addition to education and research, hence the name ‘the third task’. Many academics, university teachers and researchers, are today involved in different collaborative partnerships. This thesis focuses academics’ learning in two different contexts: collaboration with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and in a multidisciplinary research programme at the National Institute for Working Life in Sweden (NIWL). The results of the first investigation reveal that the academics learn different strategies to instigate, accomplish, deepen and further develop collaboration between universities and SMEs. The results also show also that academic professionals engaged in this type of activity need to handle the rigid structures of the academic organisation, which neither encourage nor reward these individuals’ efforts to collaborate. However, this study shows that although academics and practioners from SMEs come from different working cultures with their various traditions associated with language and interaction, a continuous exchange and dialogue creates trust and competence for all parties, as well as learning in the form of new knowledge that is useful for both the academia and SMEs. Collaboration across disciplines is rapidly becoming an integral feature of research, due to the desire to explore problems and questions that are not confined to a single discipline and the need to solve societal problems. The second empirical investigation focuses on the workplace learning of researchers in a multidisciplinary research (MDR) programme at the National Institute for Working Life in Sweden (NIWL), and their collaboration with practitioners. The results show that academics in this multidisciplinary context reach a deepened awareness of the perspectives of their own and others’ fields of research, as well as a heightened curiosity to learn more. The learning also involves gaining new insights about their own learning and how this takes place; its impact on their own professional development, and discovering, sometimes surprisingly, how their competence can be used in new areas of research. The interaction of knowledge and experience with researchers of different disciplines and practitioners creates a context that demands a different type of learning for the academics, compared to working in their own disciplines. Both investigations give an understanding of how academics experience their learning in collaboration with practitioners and researchers from different disciplines. It shows how the holistic integration of knowledge deriving from the academic functions of collaboration, teaching and research contributes to development within the academia and in working environments outside it. / Det finns en pågående debatt, både i USA och i Europa om behovet att utveckla en bredare syn på akademisk kompetens och de olika aktiviteterna som den innefattar, bland annat det som kallas “tjänster riktade mot samhället”. I Sverige tar dessa samhällsorienterade tjänster formen av praktik orienterad involvering och samarbete med det omgivande samhället, i enlighet med den lagstiftning som reglerar högskolans verksamhet. Samarbete uppfattas ofta som en uppgift som ligger utöver utbildning och forskning; den kallas därför också “den tredje uppgiften”. Många akademiker, universitetslärare och forskare, är idag engagerade i olika former av samverkan. Avhandlingen fokuserar akademikers lärande i två olika sammanhang: samverkan med små och medelstora företag (SMF), och samverkan inom ramen för ett flervetenskapligt forskningsprogram vid Arbetslivsinstitutet (ALI). Resultaten från den första undersökningen visar att akademikerna lär sig olika strategier för att initiera, genomföra, fördjupa och vidareutveckla samverkan mellan högskolan och SMF. Resultaten visar också att akademikerna som är verksamma inom detta område behöver hantera den akademiska organisationens rigida strukturer, som varken uppmuntrar eller belönar dessa individers ansträngningar att samverka. Akademiker och praktiker i SMF kommer från olika arbetskulturer, med olika traditioner förknippade med språk och interaktion. Undersökningen visar dock att kontinuiteten i utbytet och dialogen skapar ett förtroende och kompetensutveckling för alla involverade parter, samt ett lärande i form av ny kunskap som är användbar både för akademin och för SMF. Tvärvetenskapligt samarbete håller på att bli en grundläggande del av all forskning, beroende på önskan att utforska problem och frågeställningar som inte är begränsade till ett enstaka ämnesområde, och behovet att lösa de problem samhället ställs inför. Den andra empiriska undersökningen fokuserar forskares lärande på arbetsplatsen inom ett flervetenskapligt forskningsprogram vid (ALI), samt deras samarbete med praktiker. Resultaten visar att det som akademiker lär i detta flervetenskapliga sammanhang är en fördjupad medvetenhet om perspektiven i deras egen och andras forskningsfält, samt en förstärkt nyfikenhet att lära mer. Lärandet innebär även att komma till nya insikter om deras eget lärande, och hur detta äger rum; hur det påverkar deras egen professionella utveckling, och att upptäcka - ibland överraskande – hur deras kompetens kan användas i nya forskningsområden. Samspelet mellan kunskap och erfarenhet hos forskare med olika ämnesbakgrund och med praktiker skapar ett sammanhang som kräver en annan typ av lärande for akademikerna, jämfört med deras inomdisciplinära arbete. Resultaten från båda undersökningarna ger en förståelse av hur akademiker upplever sitt lärande i samarbete med praktiker och andra forskare från olika ämnen. Det visar hur den holistiska kunskapsintegrationen som härrör från de tre akademiska funktionerna samverkan, undervisning och forskning, samtidigt bidrar till utveckling i arbetsmiljöer både inom och utanför akademin. / Populärvetenskaplig beskrivning på svenska av artiklarna I-IV.

Sootblowing is a process in which supersonic steam jets are used to periodically blast deposits off heat transfer tubes in kraft recovery boilers. However, sootblowing significantly consumes the valuable high pressure steam generated by the boiler, hence it should be optimized. A recovery boiler consists of three convective sections - superheater, generating bank and economizer. The tube arrangement in these sections, particularly the tube spacing is different from each other. Moreover, tubes in an economizer are finned. A sootblower jet will interact differently with these tube arrangements, potentially affecting its strength, and hence deposit removal capability. The objective of this work was to characterize jet/tube interaction in the three sections of a recovery boiler. Lab-scale experiments were conducted in which these interactions were visualized using the schlieren technique coupled with high-speed video, and were quantified by pitot pressure measurements. This work is the first to visualize the interactions. The offset between the jet and tube centrelines, the nozzle exit diameter relative to the tube diameter, and the distance between the nozzle and tube were varied to examine their effects on jet/tube interaction. Results showed that due to the very low spreading rate of a supersonic jet, a jet (primary jet) stops interacting with a superheater platen when the jet is only a small distance away from it. When the jet impinges on a tube, the jet deflects at an angle, giving rise to a weaker ‘secondary’ jet. Due to the large inter-platen spacing, a secondary jet has an insignificant impact in a superheater. In a generating bank, the primary jet weakens between the closely spaced tubes due to increased mixing. However, a secondary jet impinges on the adjacent tubes exerting a high impact pressure on those tubes. The primary jet also weakens between finned economizer tubes, but remains stronger for a greater distance than in a generating bank. As in the case inside a generating bank, a secondary jet also impinges on adjacent rows of tubes in an economizer. The results imply that in a superheater, a sootblower jet must be directed close to the platens to yield useful jet/deposit interactions, and to avoid wasting steam by blowing between the platens. In a generating bank, deposits beyond the first few tubes of a row experience a weaker sootblower jet, and thus may not be removed effectively. However, secondary jets may contribute to removing deposits from the first few adjacent tubes. They may also induce erosion-corrosion of those tubes. Secondary jets may also help remove deposits from adjacent rows in a finned tube economizer. In an economizer, the strength and hence, the deposit removal capability of a sootblower jet diminish only slightly beyond the supersonic portion of the jet. A mathematical model was also developed to determine the feasibility of using inclined sootblower nozzles in recovery boiler superheaters, and suggests that it may be possible to clean superheater platens more effectively with slightly inclined nozzles.

Sootblowing is a process in which supersonic steam jets are used to periodically blast deposits off heat transfer tubes in kraft recovery boilers. However, sootblowing significantly consumes the valuable high pressure steam generated by the boiler, hence it should be optimized. A recovery boiler consists of three convective sections - superheater, generating bank and economizer. The tube arrangement in these sections, particularly the tube spacing is different from each other. Moreover, tubes in an economizer are finned. A sootblower jet will interact differently with these tube arrangements, potentially affecting its strength, and hence deposit removal capability. The objective of this work was to characterize jet/tube interaction in the three sections of a recovery boiler. Lab-scale experiments were conducted in which these interactions were visualized using the schlieren technique coupled with high-speed video, and were quantified by pitot pressure measurements. This work is the first to visualize the interactions. The offset between the jet and tube centrelines, the nozzle exit diameter relative to the tube diameter, and the distance between the nozzle and tube were varied to examine their effects on jet/tube interaction. Results showed that due to the very low spreading rate of a supersonic jet, a jet (primary jet) stops interacting with a superheater platen when the jet is only a small distance away from it. When the jet impinges on a tube, the jet deflects at an angle, giving rise to a weaker ‘secondary’ jet. Due to the large inter-platen spacing, a secondary jet has an insignificant impact in a superheater. In a generating bank, the primary jet weakens between the closely spaced tubes due to increased mixing. However, a secondary jet impinges on the adjacent tubes exerting a high impact pressure on those tubes. The primary jet also weakens between finned economizer tubes, but remains stronger for a greater distance than in a generating bank. As in the case inside a generating bank, a secondary jet also impinges on adjacent rows of tubes in an economizer. The results imply that in a superheater, a sootblower jet must be directed close to the platens to yield useful jet/deposit interactions, and to avoid wasting steam by blowing between the platens. In a generating bank, deposits beyond the first few tubes of a row experience a weaker sootblower jet, and thus may not be removed effectively. However, secondary jets may contribute to removing deposits from the first few adjacent tubes. They may also induce erosion-corrosion of those tubes. Secondary jets may also help remove deposits from adjacent rows in a finned tube economizer. In an economizer, the strength and hence, the deposit removal capability of a sootblower jet diminish only slightly beyond the supersonic portion of the jet. A mathematical model was also developed to determine the feasibility of using inclined sootblower nozzles in recovery boiler superheaters, and suggests that it may be possible to clean superheater platens more effectively with slightly inclined nozzles.

Over the past 10 years, growing concerns over the modification of fibers have led researchers to focus on enriching the carboxyl group content of fibers by chemical oxidation and topochemical grafting. The current series of experiments continues this line of research by investigating the carboxyl group content of fibers during kraft pulping, alkaline peroxide bleaching, and 2,2,6,6-tetrametyl-1-piperidinyloxy radical (TEMPO)-KBr-NaClO oxidation system. The first experiment characterizes changes in the carboxyl group content of fibers for two sets of kraft pulps: 1) conventional laboratory cooked loblolly pine kraft pulps, and 2) conventional pulping (CK) versus Lo-Solids pulping (LS) pulps. The results indicate that effective alkali (EA), temperature, and H-factor are the primary factors controlling fiber charge during kraft pulping. Another set of kraft pulps distinguished by conventional pulping and Lo-Solids pulping were investigated to determine the effect of H-factor and pulping protocol on fiber charge. The second experiment examines the influence of alkaline peroxide treatment on elementally chlorine-free (ECF) bleached softwood kraft pulp. The effect of increased fiber charge on refining, cationic starch adsorption, and hornification was examined. The final experiment investigates the effect of TEMPO-mediated oxidation of an ECF bleached softwood kraft pulp on carboxyl group content, carbonyl group contents, degree of polymerization, and water retention value of fibers. The results show that TEMPO-mediated oxidation is useful in enriching the carboxyl and carbonyl groups to fibers, as well as enhancing the property of water adsorption of fibers. These findings suggest that: (1) kraft pulping process can be modified to obtain the target carboxyl group content, (2) terminal peroxide bleaching provides higher fiber charge which can save energy and chemical charge of subsequent refining and wet-end processes, respectively, as well as reduce hornification during drying, (3) TEMPO-mediated oxidation of fibers is capable of improving the properties of fibers, including fiber charge and water adsorption, and enhancing final paper strength.