An extensive parameter study of hydrotropic extraction of steam-pretreated birch

Efficient fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass is an important step toward the replacement of fossil-based products. However, the utilisation of all of the components in biomass requires various fractionation techniques. One promising process configuration is to apply steam explosion for the recovery of hemicelluloses and a subsequent hydrotropic extraction step for the delignification of the remaining solids. In this work, the influence of residence time, temperature and biomass loading on lignin recovery from birch using sodium xylene sulphonate as a hydrotrope was investigated. Our results show that residence time, temperature and biomass loading correlate positively with lignin extraction, but the effects of these parameters were limited. Furthermore, when steam explosion was implemented as the initial step, hydrotropic extraction could be performed even at room temperature, yielding a lignin extraction of 50%. Also, hydrothermal degradation of the material was necessary for efficient delignification with sodium xylene sulphonate, regardless of whether it occurs during steam explosion pretreatment or is achieved at high temperatures during the hydrotropic extraction.