Isolating cellulose from woody material

The current invention consists of an environmentally acceptable method and equipment for the delignification of materials containing lignin, such as newspaper and cardboard or debris from trees or agricultural trimming. This method uses low temperatures and small amounts of hydrogen peroxide to generate cellulose. It can be carried out with a column that has a semipermeable gasket installed to keep oxygen generated when hydrogen peroxide reacts with a substance that contains lignin, pressurizing the column.
The maceration process for the seven wood resources was performed using the delignifier apparatus presented in . The multipurpose apparatus was invented to perform the following six tasks, namely cold-water pretreatment, hot-water pretreatment, charging distilled water into the reaction column, lignification and maceration of cellulosic fibers, and elimination of calcium carbonate. It consists of about 14 parts, namely the electric source and controller, the Whatman tissue no. 44-based filter, the water flowmeter, the water heater, the condenser of the heater, the withdraw pump, the thermocouple thermometer, the semipermeable gasket, the upper flange, the tightly compressed cotton container, the lower flange, and the reaction column. Moreover, the recycled cardboard or newspapers as well as the H2O2 liquor.
The employment of a semi-permeable gasket attached to the reaction column’s upper flange is the apparatus’s most crucial component. This gasket helps to keep the reaction column’s internal pressure within a specific range. Fundamentally, the gasket essentially blocks, at least partially, the air from escaping including the oxygen molecules (O2) that are generated when the free radicals from the thermal breakdown of H2O2 combine.
It is important to note that a crucial element in the delignification process is the gasket’s semi-permeability. Reduced delignification efficiency would allow for less lignin to dissolve in the reagent liquid and be subsequently excluded from the lignocellulosic tissues if more “O− free” radicles could readily escape from the reaction column. However, when the internal pressure is just right, more lignin molecules can be dissolved from the lignocellulosic tissues due to the high density of oxidizing free radicles (O−), which increases the delignification efficiency.
The gasket’s ability to pass some oxygen atoms and/or molecules while keeping the internal pressure constant at a particular level is by far its most remarkable property.
The invention can be seen in the following URL:
https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadBasicPdf/11078624?requestToken=eyJzdWIiOiJiMDhkMjFlNC04YzQxLTQyYjctOTI5ZS0wZDEwNzU1NjhlZjciLCJ2ZXIiOiI5NzljODczMS1iOTJjLTQyYTgtYTkzZi0zYzFlN2FiN2U2MzEiLCJleHAiOjB9