Pilot-Scale Production of Hemicellulose Ethers from Softwood Hemicelluloses Obtained from Compression Screw Pressate of a Thermo-Mechanical Pulping Plant
Petri Widsten,
Karl Murton,
Tracey Bowers,
Jamie Bridson,
Armin Thumm,
Stefan Hill,
Keryn Tutt,
Mark West,
Garth Weinberg,
Gavin Durbin,
Christophe Collet
Affiliations
Petri Widsten
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Karl Murton
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Tracey Bowers
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Jamie Bridson
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Armin Thumm
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Stefan Hill
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Keryn Tutt
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Mark West
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Garth Weinberg
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Gavin Durbin
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Christophe Collet
Scion, 49 Sala Street, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua 3046, New Zealand
Bio-derived materials are becoming increasingly sought-after as a sustainable alternative to petrochemical-derived polymers. In the present pilot-scale study, a hemicellulose-rich compression screw pressate, obtained from the pre-heating stage of thermo-mechanical pulping (TMP) of radiata pine, was purified by treatment with adsorbent resin (XAD7), then ultrafiltered and diafiltered at 10 kDa to isolate the high-molecular weight (MW) hemicellulose fraction (yield 18.4% on pressate solids), and, finally, reacted with butyl glycidyl ether to plasticise the hemicelluloses. The resulting light brown hemicellulose ethers (yield 102% on the isolated hemicelluloses) contained ca. 0.5 butoxy-hydroxypropyl side chains per pyranose unit and had weight- and number-average MWs of 13,000 Da and 7200 Da, respectively. The hemicellulose ethers may serve as raw material for bio-based products such as barrier films.
