Enhancing water repellency and decay resistance of wood by using water-soluble fractions separated from pyrolytic lignin of fast-pyrolysis bio-oil

The quality of biocrudes from fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass can be improved by optimizing the downstream condensation systems to separate and concentrate selected classes of compounds, thus operating different technological solutions and condensation temperatures in multiple condensation stages. Scientific literature reports that fractional condensation can be deployed as an effective and relatively affordable step in fast pyrolysis. It consists in a controlled multiple condensation approach, which aims at the separated collection of classes of compounds that can be further upgraded to bio-derived chemicals through downstream treatments. In this study, fractional condensation has been applied to a fast pyrolysis reactor of 1 kg h-1 feed, connected to two different condensation units: one composed by a series of two spray condensers and an intensive cooler; a second by an electrostatic precipitator and an intensive cooler too. Fast pyrolysis of pinewood was conducted in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor at 500 °C, while condensable vapours were collected by an interchangeable series of condensers. Using the first configuration, high boiling point compounds – such as sugars and lignin-derived oligomers – were condensed at higher temperatures in the first stage (100 – 170 °C), while water soluble lighter compounds and most of the water were condensed at lower temperatures and so largely removed from the bio-oil. In the first two condensing stages, the bio-oil water content remained below 7 wt % (resulting in 20 MJ kg-1 of energy content) maintaining about 43% of the liquid yield, compared to the 55% of the single step condensation runs. The work thus generated promising results, confirming the interest on upscaling the fractional condensation approach to full scale biorefinering.

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REUSE OF THE AQUEOUS PHASE OF BIO-OIL FRACTIONATION AS A WATER-REPELLENT AGENT FOR WOOD

FLORESTA ◽

10.5380/rf.v51i3.70912 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 51 (3) ◽

pp. 557

Author(s):

Caio Silvestre Lima Sanson ◽

Ivana Amorim Dias ◽

Marina Gorgete Santos ◽

Bruno De Miranda ◽

Pedro Henrique Gonzalez de Cademartori

Keyword(s):

Contact Angle ◽

Aqueous Phase ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Insoluble Fraction ◽

Water Soluble ◽

Water Repellent ◽

Protective Agent ◽

Simple Method ◽

Bio Oil ◽

Pyrolytic Lignin

A simple method to extract pyrolytic lignin from bio-oil is under agitation in water or organic solvent. This process produces a water-insoluble fraction (pyrolytic lignin) and a water-soluble fraction (WS). In this study, we used a physical fractionation technique with water as a liquid agent to separate the two fractions of the fast pyrolysis bio-oil and obtain the WS — the object of study — to test its efficiency as a protective agent for lignocellulosic materials. The study aimed to investigate the efficiency of the aqueous phase (WS) as a water-repellent agent when impregnated into Pinus elliotti wood. To obtain WS, we used two bio-oil:water ratios (1:50 and 1:100) and two agitation speeds (17,000 and 8,500 RPM); they were respectively named WS50 and WS100, both with an average yield of 61% WS. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), thermogravimetry (TGA), contact angle, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the WS and the veneers impregnated with it. There were no morphological changes on their surface, especially regarding the non-coating of the wood pits; meanwhile, the TGA showed visible changes in the degree of thermal degradation of the impregnated material related to the chemical composition of the WS identified in the GC-MS. There was a significant increase, on average 62%, in the apparent contact angle of the impregnated wood, approximately 126°. The WS has shown to be efficient as a protective agent by converting the hydrophilic surface of Pinus elliotti into a hydrophobic one, and this effect partially remained after 45 days of exposure.

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