Sulfite process

Abstract: Kraft lignin can be extracted from black liquor (i.e., spent liquor) of a kraft pulping process to produce value-added chemicals, but its limited water solubility hampers its end-use applications. The main objective of this study was to investigate the sulfomethylation of kraft lignin to produce water-soluble kraft lignin with an anionic charge density. In this work, hardwood kraft lignin was modified with formaldehyde and sodium sulfite under alkali conditions. The optimum conditions for sulfomethylation were 0.5 M NaOH(aq), 0.9 mol/mol sodium hydroxymethyl sulfonate/lignin at 100 °C for 3 h, and 20 g/L lignin concentration. The resulting lignin had a charge density of −1.60 mequiv/g and sulfonate group content of 1.48 mmol/g. The molecular weight, structure, thermal behavior, and elemental analyses of the product were also assessed. The modified lignin was used as a cement dispersant, and the dispersibility of cement was increased from 60 to 155 mm by adding 1.2 wt % of sulfomethylated lignin to cement....

Abstract: Lignosulfonate (LG), a water-soluble polymer from sulfite pulping process of lignocellulosic biomass, has been commercially applied as admixture for concrete. In this work, lignosulfonates were produced from alkaline lignin (AL) and enzymatic hydrolysis residue (EHR) by sulfomethylation and these lignosulfonates as water reducers for concrete were then evaluated. Results showed that 94.9% and 68.9% of lignins in AL and EHR could be sulfonated under optimum sulfomethylation conditions, respectively. The sulfonic groups in lignosulfonates from AL (AL-LG) and EHR (EHR-LG) were 1.6 mmol/g and 1.0 mmol/g, respectively. Surface tension and zeta potential analysis indicated that both AL-LG and EHR-LG can be potentially used to as dispersant for improving the fluidity of the cement paste, similarly to commercial lignosulfonate (CM-LG). Adding 0.2 wt % of AL-LG, EHR-LG, and CM-LG in the concrete, the compressive strength (28 days) of concretes increased from 38.4 Mpa to 41.6, 42.6, and 40.9 Mpa, respectively. These findings suggest that the lignosulfonate from biorefinery lignin by sulfomethylation can meet the industrial standards as water reducers for cement admixtures.