AEROGELS APPLICATION TO REMOVE PITCH IN THE PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY

Abstract

Black liquor formed in the pulping of pulp and paper industry contains pitchs, colloidal resinous materials and wood derivatives that accumulate in machinery of the pulp industry, damaging equipment or the final product. The objective of this work was to study the use of cellulose-based aerogels in pitch removal, a function of talc in most industries. Aerogels are porous solids, produced from lyophilization of a colloidal suspension of nanofibrillated cellulose and xylans, in different proportions, and PAE resin. The pitch counts were made using a Neubauer camera. All the aerogels presented adsorption power, although higher the CNF content, better the adsorbent. In general, 100:0 aerogels (CNF: Xylan) are better adsorbents compared to 30:70 aerogels. No proportionality was observed between mass and adsorption capacity, suggesting the existence of specifics amounts for each aerogel.

Keywords

• PITCH
• AEROGEL
• CELULOSE
• HEMICELULOSE
• ADSORÇÃO.