Application of enzymes in the pulp and paper industry

The pulp and paper industry processes huge quantities of lignocellulosic bi omass every year. The technology for pulp manufacture is highly diverse, an d numerous opportunities exist for the application of microbial enzymes. Hi storically, enzymes have found some uses in the paper industry, but these h ave been mainly confined to areas such as modifications of raw starch. Howe ver, a wide range of applications in the pulp and paper industry have now b een identified. The use of enzymes in the pulp and paper industry has grown rapidly since the mid 1980s. While many applications of enzymes in the pul p and paper industry are still in the research and development stage, sever al applications have found their way into the mills in an unprecedented sho rt period of time. Currently the most important application of enzymes is i n the prebleaching of kraft pulp. Xylanase enzymes have been found to be mo st effective for that purpose. Xylanase prebleaching technology is now in u se at several mills worldwide. This technology has been successfully transf erred to full industrial scale in just a few years. The enzymatic pitch con trol method using lipase was put into practice in a large-scale paper-makin g process as a routine operation in the early 1990s and was the first case in the world in which an enzyme was successfully applied in the actual pape rmaking process. Improvement of pulp drainage with enzymes is practiced rou tinely at mill scale. Enzymatic deinking has also been successfully applied during mill trials and can be expected to expand in application as increas ing amounts of newsprint must be deinked and recycled. The University of Ge orgia has recently opened a pilot plant for deinking of recycled paper. Pul p bleaching with a laccase mediator system has reached pilot plant stage an d is expected to be commercialized soon. Enzymatic debarking, enzymatic bea ting, and reduction of vessel picking with enzymes are still in the R&D sta ge but hold great promise for reducing energy. Other enzymatic applications , i.e., removal of shives and slime, retting of flax fibers, and selective removal of xylan, are also expected to have a profound impact on the future technology of the pulp and paper-making process.