The thesis is focussed on low consistency (LC) refining of mechanical pulp. Theresearch included evaluations of energy efficiency, development of pulpproperties, the influence of fibre concentration on LC refining and effects of rotorposition in a two-zoned LC refiner. Trials were made in mill scale in a modern TMP line equipped with an MSDImpressafiner for chip pre-treatment, double disc (DD) first stage refining and aprototype 72-inch TwinFlo LC refiner in the second stage. Tensile index increasedby 8 Nm/g and fibre length was reduced by 10 % in LC refining at 140 kWh/adtgross specific refining energy and specific edge load 1.0 J/m. Specific lightscattering coefficient did not develop significantly over the LC refiner. The above mentioned TMP line was compared with a two stage single disc highconsistency Twin 60 refiner line. The purpose was to evaluate specific energyconsumption and pulp properties. The two different process solutions were testedin mill scale, running similar Norway spruce wood supply. At the same tensileindex and freeness, the specific energy consumption was 400 kWh/adt lower in theDD-LC concept compared with the SD-SD system. Pulp characteristics of the tworefining concepts were compared at tensile index 47 Nm/g. Fibre length was lowerafter DD-LC refining than after SD-SD refining. Specific light scattering coefficientwas higher and shive content much lower for DD-LC pulp. The effects of sulphite chip pre-treatment on second stage LC refining were alsoevaluated. No apparent differences in fibre properties after LC refining werenoticed between treated and untreated pulps. Sulphite chip pre-treatment iniiicombination with LC refining in second stage, yielded a pulp without screeningand reject refining with tensile index and shives content that were similar to nonpre-treated final pulp after screening and reject refining. A pilot scale study was performed to investigate the influence of fibreconcentration on pulp properties in LC refining of mechanical pulps. MarketCTMP was utilised in all trials and fibre concentrations were controlled by meansof adjustments of the pulp consistency and by screen fractionation of the pulp. Inaddition, various refiner parameters were studied, such as no-load, gap and baredge length. Pulp with the highest fibre concentration supported a larger refinergap than pulp with low fibre concentration at a given gross power input. Fibreshortening was lower and tensile index increase was higher for long fibre enrichedpulp. The results from this study support the interesting concept of combiningmain line LC refining and screening, where screen reject is recycled to the LCrefiner inlet. It has been observed that the rotor in two-zoned refiners is not always centred,even though pulp flow rate is equal in both refining zones. This leads to unequalplate gaps, which renders unevenly refined pulp. Trials were performed in millscale, using the 72-inch TwinFlo, to investigate differences in pulp properties androtor positions by means of altering the pressure difference between the refiningzones. In order to produce homogenous pulp, it was found that uneven plate gapscan be compensated for in LC refiners with dual refining zones. Results from thedifferent flow rate adjustments indicated that the control setting with similar plategap gave the most homogenous pulp.

The modern concept of "biorefinery" is dominantly based on chemical pulp mills to create more value than cellulose pulp fibres, and energy from the dissolved lignins and hemicelluloses. This concept is characterized by the conversion of biomass into various biobased products. It includes thermochemical processes such as gasification and fast pyrolysis. In mechanical pulp mills, the feedstock available to the gasification-based biorefinery is significant, including logging residues, bark, fibre material rejects, biosludges and other available fuels such as peat, recycled wood, and paper products. This work is to study co-production of bio-automotive fuels, biopower, and steam via gasification in the context of the mechanical pulp industry.   Biomass gasification with steam in a dual-fluidized bed gasifier (DFBG) was simulated with ASPEN Plus. From the model, the yield and composition of the syngas and the contents of tar and char can be calculated. The model has been evaluated against the experimental results measured on a 150 KWth Mid Sweden University (MIUN) DFBG. The model predicts that the content of char transferred from the gasifier to the combustor decreases from 22.5 wt.% of the dry and ash-free biomass at gasification temperature 750 ℃ to 11.5 wt.% at 950 ℃, but is insensitive to the mass ratio of steam to biomass (S/B). The H2 concentration is higher than that of CO under normal DFBG operating conditions, but they will change positions when the gasification temperature is too high above about 950 ℃, or the S/B ratio is too far below about 0.15. The biomass moisture content is a key parameter for a DFBG to be operated and maintained at a high gasification temperature. The model suggests that it is difficult to keep the gasification temperature above 850 ℃ when the biomass moisture content is higher than 15.0 wt.%. Thus, a certain amount of biomass needs to be added in the combustor to provide sufficient heat for biomass devolatilization and steam reforming. Tar content in the syngas can also be predicted from the model, which shows a decreasing trend of the tar with the gasification temperature and the S/B ratio. The tar content in the syngas decreases significantly with gasification residence time which is a key parameter.   Mechanical pulping processes, as Thermomechanical pulp (TMP), Groundwood (SGW and PGW), and Chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP) processes have very high wood-to-pulp yields. Producing pulp products by means of these processes is a prerequisite for the production of printing paper and paperboard products due especially to their important functional properties such as printability and stiffness. However, mechanical pulping processes consume a great amount of electricity, which may account for up to 40% of the total pulp production cost. In mechanical pulping mills, wood (biomass) residues are commonly utilized for electricity production through an associated combined heat and power (CHP) plant. This techno-economic evaluation deals with the possibility of utilizing a biomass integrated gasification combined cycle (BIGCC) plant in place of the CHP plant. Integration of a BIGCC plant into a mechanical pulp production line might greatly improve the overall energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness, especially when the flow of biomass (such as branches and tree tops) from the forest is increased. When the fibre material that negatively affects pulp properties is utilized as a bioenergy resource, the overall efficiency of the system is further improved. A TMP+BIGCC mathematic model is developed based on ASPEN Plus. By means of this model, three cases are studied:   1) adding more forest biomass logging residues in the gasifier, 2) adding a reject fraction of low quality pulp fibers to the gasifier, and 3) decreasing the TMP-specific electricity consumption (SEC) by up to 50%.   For the TMP+BIGCC mill, the energy supply and consumption are analyzed in comparison with a TMP+CHP mill. The production profit and the internal rate of return (IRR) are calculated. The results quantify the economic benefit from the TMP+BIGCC mill.   Bio-ethanol has received considerable attention as a basic chemical and fuel additive. It is currently produced from sugar/starch materials, but can also be produced from lignocellulosic biomass via a hydrolysis--fermentation or thermo-chemical route. In terms of the thermo-chemical route, a few pilot plants ranging from 0.3 to 67 MW have been built and operated for alcohols synthesis. However, commercial success has not been achieved. In order to realize cost-competitive commercial ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass through a thermo-chemical pathway, a techno-economic analysis needs to be done.   In this work, a thermo-chemical process is designed, simulated, and optimized mainly with ASPEN Plus. The techno-economic assessment is made in terms of ethanol yield, synthesis selectivity, carbon and CO conversion efficiencies, and ethanol production cost.   Calculated results show that major contributions to the production cost are from biomass feedstock and syngas cleaning. A biomass-to-ethanol plant should be built at around 200 MW. Cost-competitive ethanol production can be realized with efficient equipments, optimized operation, cost-effective syngas cleaning technology, inexpensive raw material with low pretreatment cost, high-performance catalysts, off-gas and methanol recycling, optimal systematic configuration and heat integration, and a high-value byproduct.

Pectinases are a group of enzymes produced by bacteria, fungi, higher plants and animals. Pectinases can modify and degrade pectins, a class of heterogeneous and multifunctional polysaccharides present in middle lamellae and primary cell walls of plants. Pectins have been showed to play diverse roles in cell physiology, growth, adhesion and separation. Pectinases are used technically in the processing of fiber production and fruit juice or wine making. We have studied the mechanisms and applications of pectinases, especially in retting, a microbiological process where bast fibers in flax and other bast fiber cultivars are released from each other and from the woody core. A strong correlation was found between the ability to perform retting and the degradation of sparsely esterified pectin, a substrate of polygalacturonase. This led to the conclusion that polygalacturonase plays a key role in the enzymatic retting of flax. We purified and characterized an extracellular polygalacturonase produced by Rhizopus oryzae, a very potent retting organism. The purified enzyme which appeared to be the single active component in retting, has non-methylated polygalacturonan as its preferred substrate. Peptide sequences indicate that the enzyme, like another polygalacturonase (EC. 3.2.1.15), belongs to glycosyl hydrolase family 28. It contains, however, an N-terminal sequence absent from other fungal pectinases, but present in an enzyme from the phytopathogenic bacterium, Ralstonia solanacearum. Our finding that removal of calcium ions from the plant material by pre-incubation in dilute acid in enzymatic retting could reduce enzyme consumption by several orders of magnitude, improves the economical feasibility of the enzymatic retting process. Comparisons with different acids showed that the action was mainly pH dependent. Pectinases were employed as analytical tools in a study of stored wood discoloration and, together with cellulases, in a mechanical process for making pulp from flax and hemp in paper production.

When producing thermomechanical pulps (TMP), wood chips and fiber material are loaded mechanically in a disc-refiner to separate the fibers and to make them flexible. In the process, much of the energy supplied is transferred to the fiber material through cyclic compression, shear and friction processes. Therefore, compression and friction characteristics are needed in order to gain a better grasp of the forces acting during refining. To this end, in this thesis, the compressive and frictional behaviors of wood were investigated under simulated chip refining conditions (i.e., hot saturated steam, high strain rate compression, and high sliding speed). Two new, custom-designed, experimental setups were developed and used. The equipment used for compression testing was based on the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) technique and the friction tester was a pin-on-disc type of tribotester (wear rig). Both pieces of equipment allow a testing environment of hot saturated steam.   In the wood–steel friction investigation, the influence of the steam temperature (100-170°C) was of primary interest. The wood species chosen for the friction tests were spruce (Picea abies), pine (Pinus sylvestris, Pinus radiata), and birch (Betula verrucosa). When performing measurements in the lower-temperature region (100-130°C), the friction coefficients registered for the softwoods were generally low and surface properties such as lubrica­tion were suggested to have a great influence on the results; however, in the higher-tempera­ture region (~130 -170°C), the friction coefficients of all investigated wood species were probably determined by bulk properties to a much greater extent. When most of the wood extractives had been removed from the specimens, testing results revealed distinct peaks in friction at similar temperatures, as the internal friction of the different wood species are known to have their maxima at ~110–130°C. One suggested explanation of these friction peaks is that reduced lubrication enabled energy to dissipate into the bulk material, causing particularly high friction at the temperature at which internal damping of the material was greatest. During the friction measurements in the higher-temperature region, the specimens of the different wood species also started to lose fibers (i.e., produce wear debris) at different characteristic temperatures, as indicated by peaks in the coefficient of friction. In refining, the generally lower shives content of pine TMP than of spruce TMP could partly be explained by a lower wear initiation temperature in the pine species.   Wood stiffness is known to decrease with temperature, when measured at low strain rates. The results presented in this thesis can confirm a similar behavior for high strain rate compression. The compressive strain registered during impulsive loading (using a modified split Hopkinson equipment) increased with temperature; because strain rate also increased with temperature. Accordingly, the strain rates should determine the strain magnitudes also in a refiner, since the impulsive loads in a refiner are of similar type. Larger strains would thus be achieved when refining at high temperatures. The results achieved in the compression tests were also considered in relation to refining parameters such as plate clearance and refining intensity, parameters that could be discussed in light of the stress–strain relations derived from the high strain rate measurements. Trials recorded using high-speed photography demonstrated that the wood relaxation was very small in the investigated time frame ~6 ms. As well, in TMP refining the wood material has little time to relax, i.e., ~0.04–0.5 ms in a large single disc refiner. The results presented here are therefore more suitable for comparison with the impulsive loads arising in a refiner than are the results of any earlier study. It can therefore be concluded that the modified SHPB testing technique combined with high-speed photography is well suited for studying the dynamic behavior of wood under conditions like those prevalent in a TMP system.

Este trabajo presenta los resultados de la investigación sobre la preparación y caracterización de las metilcelulosas a partir de las plantas anuales.Las pastas del miscanthus, el cardo, y el eucalipto, se prepararon mediante el proceso IRSP (Impregnation Rapid Steam Pulping) y se blanquearon con las secuencias del TCF (Total Chloride Free), que usan peróxido de hidrógeno y hidróxido de sodio (NaOH). Con el aumento de la severidad del proceso de obtención de las pastas, la accesibilidad y la reactividad de las pastas aumentaron mientras que la viscosidad y el número de la kappa disminuyeron. Se desarrolló un nuevo y sencillo método de metilación para preparar las metilcelulosas a partir de la madera y las plantas anuales en el laboratorio. Cada metilcelulosa de las pastas blanqueadas con las secuencias del TCF se sintetizó en una mezcla de isopropanol con metano de yodo a 600C durante 22 horas después la pasta del TCF se mercerizó en una solución del hidróxido de sodio al 40% durante 1 hora. La mercerización y la metilación se repitieron para obtener un grado de sustitución (DS) más alto. Los resultados de la espectroscopía infrarroja de transformada de Fourier (FTIR) (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) mostraron que los grupos del OH de la celulosa habían sido sustituidos parcialmente por grupos del metoxil. Los modelos de sustitución supramolecular de las metilcelulosas se determinaron mediante espectroscopía de resonancia magnética nuclear del carbono-13. La viscosidad intrínseca de las metilcelulosas se midió con agua destilada, una solución al 4% de NaOH, o DMSO. Las propiedades reológicas de las metilcelulosas se midieron con DMSO, una solución al 4% de NaOH o agua destilada. Las metilcelulosas sintetizadas tenían unas propiedades similares a las metilcelulosas comerciales. Los volúmenes hidrosolubles y alcalinosolubles de la metilcelulosas se determinaron mediante extracción con disolventes.Las metilcelulosas se prepararon a partir de pastas de lino, yute, cáñamo, sisal, y abacá mediante metilaciones heterogéneas y homogéneas. Estas pastas se blanquearonmediante el proceso ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free). La mutilación inhomogénea de las pastas blanqueadas mediante el proceso ECF se sintetizó en una mezcla de isopropanol con metano de yodo a 600C durante 22 horas después la pasta del ECF se mercerizó durante 1 hora en una solución de NaOH al 50%. La mutilación homogénea de la pasta blanqueada mediante ECF se realizó en DMSO con metano de yodo a 300C durante 48 horas. Para esta metilación homogénea se usó una metilcelulosa con un grado de sustitución más bajo, que se disolvió completamente en DMSO. La espectroscopía infrarroja de transformada de Fourier (FTIR) de las metilcelulosas mostró la existencia de grupos de metoxiles sobre las moléculas de metilcelulosa. Se utilizó la espectroscopia de resonancia magnética nuclear del carbono 13 para medir los grados de sustitución de las metilcelulosas. Los pesos moleculares de las metilcelulosas hidrosolubles se determinaron con la cromotagrafía de exclusión por tamaños (SEC). Las viscosidades intrínsecas se midieron en una solución de NaOH al 4%. Las metilcelulosas preparadas a partir de pastas de elevadas accesibilidades y reactividades tenían las mejores grados de sustitución, pesos moleculares, viscosidades y viscosidades intrínsecas.Se investigaron las accesibilidades y reactividades de las pastas del ECF. Los volúmenes de glucosa y de xilosa de estas pastas se determinaron mediante HPLC (High performance liquid chromatography) después de la hidrólisis. Las accesibilidades de adsorción de yodo de estas pastas eran bajas y sus fragmentos accesibles estaban entre el 1,31% y el 5,16%. En la región amorfa, sus fragmentos accesibles estaban entre el 5% y el 24%. Las imágenes del SEM (Scanning Electrón Microscopy) mostraron que sus fibrillas tenían distintas estructuras morfológicas. Los resultados de la espectroscopía infrarroja de transformada de Fourier (FTIR) mostraron que, después de los pretratamientos, habían disminuido tanto la media de la intensidad de los enlaces de hidrógeno como los índices de cristalinidad relativos. Sus reactividades aumentaron significativamente después de la mercerización preliminar. Las accesibilidades y reactividades de la pasta del abacá se mejoraron con los tratamientos de impregnación con agua, la mercerización a 15 bares de presión, la explosión de vapor y la mercerización preliminar. La desintegración, el incremento de los huecos, el debilitamiento de la intensidad de los enlaces de hidrógeno, la depolimerización, y la decristalización son esenciales para mejorar las accesibilidades y las reactividades, pero el factor decisivo es la especie de la planta.Hemos estudiado los factores que influyen en el peso molecular (Mw) de las metilcelulosas hidrosolubles preparadas a partir de plantas anuales. El tiempo y la temperatura de impregnación y las condiciones de cocción influyeron de manera diferente en el peso molecular (Mw) de metilcelulosas preparadas a partir de los cardos recogidos en primavera y en verano, el miscanthus y el eucalipto. Se compararon los efectos de los pretratamientos (la impregnación con agua, la mercerización preliminar, la mercerización con presión y la explosión de vapor) en la pasta del abacá. Cuando se pretrató la pasta del abacá, su metilcelulosa hidrosoluble consiguió un peso molecular más alto. De entre los pretratramientos analizados, la explosión de vapor resultó el más adecuado. Para conseguir metilcelulosas con un peso molecular más alto deben perfeccionarse las condiciones de la preparación de las pastas blanqueadas mediante ECF. La especie de las plantas es el factor decisivo para conseguir el peso molecular más alto de las metilcelulosas y para seleccionar los pretratamientos más adecuados.Los parámetros del proceso de obtención de pastas, las condiciones de la metilación, las especies de las plantas, los pretratamientos, y la estructura morfológicas de las pastas influyó en los grados de sustitución de las metilcelulosas preparadas a partir de plantas anuales. Una severidad de impregnación más alta, una temperatura del proceso de obtención de pastas más alta y un incremento del tiempo del mismo proceso consiguieron grados de sustitución más altos. Un aumento de reactivos de la metilación causó un aumento de grado de sustitución. Las pastas obtenidas de distintas especies produjeron grados de sustitución diferentes, trabajando con las mismas condiciones de metilación. Los pretratamientos aumentaron el grado de sustitución de las metilcelulosas.Esta investigación contribuye a encontrar las condiciones apropiadas para metilcelulosas diseñadas a medida, sintetizadas a partir de plantas anuales. Esta investigación demuestra que estas plantas tienen la capacidad de ser preparadas para conseguir metilcelulosas de alta calidad y de alto valor aptas para distintas aplicaciones, como la industria alimentaria, la de la construcción o la farmacéutica. La industria puede utilizar estas plantas anuales de crecimiento rápido para producir metilcelulosas, con lo que, además, se evitará el uso de madera.Palabras clave: abacá, accessibilidad, blanqueo mediante TCF, cáñamo, cardo, eucalipto, grado de sustitución, lino, metilación, metilcelulosa, miscanthus, peso molecular, plantas anuales, proceso de obtención de pasta IRSP, sisal, yute. / Preparation and characterization of methylcelluloses from some annual plantswere investigated.Miscanthus, cardoon, and eucalyptus pulps were produced by Impregnation Rapid Steam Pulping (IRSP) process and bleached by Total Chloride Free (TCF) sequences using hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide. With an increase of pulping severities, accessibilities and reactivities of bleached pulps increased while viscosities and kappa numbers decreased. A novel facile methylation was developed in order to prepare methylcelluloses from wood and annual plants. Each methylcellulose of TCF bleached pulps was synthesized in isopropanol slurry with iodomethane at 600C for 22 hours after the TCF bleached pulp was mercerized in 40% NaOH solution for 1 hour. The mercerization and methylation were repeated in order to obtain a higher degree of substitution (DS). Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra showed OH groups of cellulose were partially substituted by methoxyl groups. Supramolecular substitution patterns of methylcelluloses were determined by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Intrinsic viscosities of methylcelluloses were measured in distilled water, 4% NaOH solution, or dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO). Rheological properties of methylcelluloses were measured in DMSO, 4% NaOH solution or distilled water, in which the synthesized methylcelluloses had similar properties as commercial methylcelluloses. Watersoluble and alkali-soluble contents of methylcelluloses were determined by solventextraction.We used iodomethane to synthesize methylcelluloses from Elemental Chloride Free (ECF) bleached abaca, hemp, flax, jute, and sisal pulps via heterogeneous and homogeneous methylations. The heterogeneous methylation was carried out in isopropanol with iodomethane at 600C for 22h after a ECF bleached pulp was mercerized in excessive 50% NaOH solution for one hour at ambient temperature. The homogeneous methylation was carried out in dimethyl sulfoxide with iodomethane at 300C for 48h using a methylcellulose of low degree of substitution. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra of the synthesized methylcelluloses showed the existence of methoxyl groups on methylcellulose molecules. The degrees of substitution of the synthesized methylcelluloses were measured by 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The molecular weights of the waterVI soluble methylcelluloses were determined by Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC). Intrinsic viscosities of the synthesized methylcelluloses were measured in 4% NaOH solution. Methylcelluloses with better properties, such as greater degrees of substitution, molecular weights, viscosities, and intrinsic viscosities, were prepared from the pulps with higher accessibilities and reactivities. The factors influencing the preparation of methylcelluloses from these pulps were discussed.Pretreatments (water-soaking, pre-mercerization, mercerization under a pressure of 15 bars, and steam explosion) were used to improve the accessibilities and reactivities of celluloses of bleached flax, hemp, sisal, abaca, and jute pulps for the synthesis of methylcellulose. Glucose and xylose contents of these pulps were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) after hydrolysis. Degrees of crystallinity of these pulps were determined by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) spectra. Figures of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) showed that their fibrils had different morphological structures. The iodine adsorption accessibilities of these pulps were low and accessible fractions ranged from 1.3% to 5.2%. Accessible fractions in amorphous cellulose were calculated in the 5% to 18% range. The accessibilities of these pulps were hemp pulp > flax pulp > sisal pulp > jute pulp > abaca pulp. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra showed that mean hydrogen bond strengths were weakened and relative crystallinity indexes were decreased by pretreatments. The accessibility and reactivity of the abaca pulp were improved by water soaking, mercerization under 15 bars pressure, steam explosion and preliminary mercerization, of which steam explosion and pre-mercerization were thebest treatments. Species was the main factor for the accessibility and reactivity.We studied the factors that influenced the molecular weights (Mw) of watersolublemethylcelluloses prepared from annual plants and juvenile eucalyptus. Miscanthus and cardoon stalks, and bleached pulps of abaca, jute, sisal, hemp, and flax were used as the annual plant materials. A higher concentration of NaOH solution during the impregnation led to a spring cardoon methylcellulose having a lower molecular weight. As the impregnation times increased, so did the molecular weights of the water-soluble methylcelluloses of spring cardoon. The impregnation conditions had less influence on the methylcelluloses of summer cardoon than on the methylcelluloses of spring cardoon. As the cooking times increased, so did the molecular weights of miscanthus methylcelluloses. A lower pulping severity increased the molecular weight of eucalyptus methylcellulose. The preliminary treatments (water soaking, pre-mercerization, mercerization under pressure andsteam explosion) improved the molecular weights of water-soluble abaca methylcelluloses. The steam explosion method was the best of the preliminary treatments for the abaca pulp. Different species led to different molecular weights for methylcelluloses synthesized from ECF bleached pulps, and these were further improved by preliminary mercerization. The molecular weight of -cellulose methylcellulose changed as the ratio of the methylation reagent was varied. In order to synthesize an optimum Mw of methylcellulose, the different raw materials can be chosen, the pulping parameters adjusted (including impregnation and cooking), the cellulose pretreated, and the methylcellulose conditions changed. The plant species is the decisive factor for the Mw of methylcellulose.The pulping parameters, the methylation conditions, the species, the pretreatments, and the morphological structures of pulps influenced the degrees of substitution of the methylcelluloses prepared from the annual plants. A higher impregnation severity, a higher pulping temperature, and a longer pulping time caused a higher degree of substitution. An increase of methylation reagents led to an increase of degree of substitution. Methylcelluloses of different degrees of substitution were synthesized from the pulps of different species when a same methylation condition was used. The pretreatments increased the degrees of substitution of methylcelluloses.This investigation contributes to find appropriate conditions for the production of methylcellulose from annual plants. The present investigation demonstrates these annual plants have the capacities to produce upgraded and high quality methylcelluloses for varied applications, such as additives of foods, construction, pharmaceutics, polymerization, paints, and detergents etc. The industry can utilize these annual fast-growth plants to produce methylcelluloses. Therefore, a lot of wood will be saved.Keywords: abaca, accessibility, annual plants, cardoon, degree of substitution, eucalyptus, flax, hemp, IRSP pulping, jute, methylation, methylcellulose, miscanthus, molecular weight, sisal, steam explosion, TCF bleaching.

Thermomechanical pulping (TMP) is a highly energy intensive process where most of the energy is used in therefining of chips to fibres. Various ways of reducing the energy consumption have earlier been studied, for examplechange of refiner pattern, addition of various chemicals, and also some biochemical implementation in the form of fungus and enzymes. This study includes pre-trials with the enzymes pectin lyase and pectin esterase,multipectinase, xylanase, and mannanase. The results are studied via a reducing sugar assay, an enzymatic assayusing spectrophotometry, and capillary zone electrophoresis. The study also includes results from a pilot scalerefining with multipectinase, xylanase, and mannanase, performed with a wing refiner at Helsinki University.Reductions of energy consumption in TMP by pre-treatment of Norwegian spruce chips are investigated and apotential reduction of energy consumption of 6 % is indicated.

The kraft pulping process has been known for decades. The focus in kraft pulping has always been on better operation of the chemical recovery system. One of the targets is on deadload (sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)) reduction in white liquor. A model based on several literature references was developed to study the effect of deadload reduction. A base model was developed based on current mill operation. This base model was compared to the deadload reduction model. Overall improvement, such as operating cost saving and revenue generation was achieved from deadload reduction. Operating cost saving involves less deadload chemical in chemical recovery system, and less water that was associated with the deadload itself. Revenue generation involves generating more steam and heat from the recovery boiler that can be used for mill purposes or energy revenue. Two important variables to achieve deadload reduction are causticizing efficiency and reduction efficiency.

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