Pilot trials of hemicelluloses extraction prior to thermomechanical pulp production: Part 1

Pilot data indicate that wood chip pretreatment with oxalic acid reduced the specific energy required to make thermomechanical pulp. A combined oxalic acid/bisulfite treatment resulted in 21% refiner energy savings and 13% increase in brightness for aspen. A low level of oxalic acid treatment was effective for spruce. Energy savings of 30% was observed with no significant change in strength properties. Adding bisulfite did not significantly increase the brightness of the spruce pulp. For pine, the optimum treatment was a moderate level of oxalic acid, which resulted in 34% energy savings and an increase in strength properties. For all of these treatments 1-3 w/w % carbohydrates were recovered, which can be fermented to produce ethanol. The extract sugar solution contained significant quantities of arabinose.