REGULARITIES OF THE PROCESS OF PINE WOOD PEROXIDE DELIGNIFICATION IN THE PRESENCE OF SULFURIC ACID CATALYST

Abstract

The known methods to obtain microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) from wood raw material is multi-stage and it is based on the integration of environmentally hazardous processes of pulping, bleaching and acid hydrolysis of cellulose amorphous part. The paper describes a one-stage catalytic method to obtain microcrystalline cellulose from pine wood based on peroxide delignification in acetic acid-water in the presence of a catalyst H2SO4. The optimal parameters of the process of pine wood peroxide delignification in the presence of 2% H2SO4 catalyst were determined by experimental and numerical methods: temperature – 100 °C, concentration H2O2 – 5 wt.%, CH3COOH – 25 wt.%, LWR 15, duration – 4 h. They provide a high yield of cellulose (45.2 wt.%) with a low content of residual lignin (1.0 wt%).The kinetic study of pine wood peroxide delignification at the temperature range 70-100 ºC was accomplished. The delignification process is described satisfactory by the first order equation in all temperature range. The rate constants vary between 0.08·10-4 and 2.15·10-4 s-1 and the activation energy is 90 kJmol-1. It was established by FTIR and XRD methods, that the cellulose, obtained from pine wood has the composition and structure similar to the commercial microcrystalline cellulose.