Aquasolv pretreatment of plant materials for the production of cellulose and paper

Aquasolv (hydrothermolysis) uses only hot compressed liquid water at 180 to 220 degrees to fractionate plant biomass. Depending on temperature, 30 to 60% of the raw material (wheat straw rice, straw, bagasse and willow wood) are thereby solubilized In a ten-liter pilot plant,different process modes were analyzed. The combined recirculation-percolation-process demonstrated the best energy and water-saving behavior. The fractionated samples, the he micellulose-containing liquid and the cel; lulosic residue are very well pr epared for enzymatic saccharification. From the pulp obtained, paper sample s with tensile strength values off 3-4 km were produced. DMAc/LiCl cellulos e solutions were used for molecular weight determinations. NNMO solutions d emonstrated their suitability for fibre production.