Michael Finell

Pre-treatment and extraction techniques for recovery of added value compounds from wastes throughout the agri-food chain

The enormous quantity of food wastes discarded annually forces a look into alternatives for this interesting feedstock. Thus, food bio-waste valorisation is one of the current imperatives of society. This review is the most comprehensive overview of currently existing technologies and processes in this field. It tackles classical and innovative physical, physico-chemical and chemical methods of food waste pre-treatment and extraction for the recovery of added value compounds and detection by modern technologies and is an outcome of the COST Action EUBIS, TD1203 Food Waste Valorisation for Sustainable Chemicals, Materials and Fuels.

Briquetting of fractionated reed canary-grass for pulp production☆

Abstract A new harvesting system, delayed harvest, and the fibre properties of RCG (reed canary-grass, Phalaris arundinacea L.) makes RCG an interesting new source of raw material for the pulp and paper industry in northern Europe. Storage and transport are some of the limiting factors for using RCG as pulp raw material. The cost of transportation and storage is strongly related to the density of the raw material. To be able to guarantee year round available raw material to pulp mills, the logistic problems must be solved. This study examines low-density briquetting of RCG to improve logistics. To evaluate if the conditions in the briquetting process caused fibre damage, the properties of pulp from briquetted material was compared to those of pulp from non-briquetted material. Pulp produced from briquetted RCG had more fines as compared to the non-briquetted reference material. Hand sheets produced using pulp from briquetted RCG were thinner, denser, and had lower air permeability compared to the non-briquetted reference material. The strength properties of pulp made from briquetted RCG indicated little or no difference compared to the reference material. Briquetting of RCG can increase transport capacity, by taking full advantage of maximum load permitted on the vehicle. This improves the transport economy considerable.

EFFECT OF DRY FRACTIONATION ON PULPING CONDITIONS AND FIBRE PROPERTIES OF REED CANARY GRASS

ABSTRACT A new harvesting system and the fibre properties of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) makes this grass an interesting new raw material source for the pulp and paper industry in the Nordic countries. Pilot scale tests in Finland shows that high quality fine paper can successfully be produced from delayed harvested reed canary grass. Birch pulp can be replaced with reed canary grass pulp in fine paper furnish without any significant differences in the functional properties of paper. To achieve good pulp and paper properties the raw material has to be pre-treated (removal of leaves and sheaths by fractionation) before pulping. Fractionating produces a “chip” fraction of mainly internodes for pulp production and a meal fraction of leaves and sheaths that can be used as biofuel. Fractionation improves the homogeneity of the raw material and the pulp properties. Silica and other minerals, which are considered as a problem in alkaline pulping processes, are concentrated in the meal fraction. Fine material that causes poor drainage of the pulp is also removed in the fractionation process. In this work, different degrees of fractionation have been studied. Pulping conditions and fibre properties for totally unfractionated raw material up to best available raw material (manually fractionated) are compared.

Effects of Extractives on the Physical Characteristics of Scots Pine Sawdust Fuel Pellets

In order to evaluate the effect of extractives on particle bonding, pellets were produced from extracted and nonextracted Scots pine sawdust in a laboratory piston press pelletizer. In the experime...

Effects of microwave drying on biomass fatty acid composition and fuel pellet quality.

Abstract Drying of biomass for fuel pellet production is a time- and energy-consuming process. The objective of this study was to investigate not only whether microwave drying could be an alternative drying method but also whether the microwave treatment brings beneficial chemical properties into the biomass feedstock in terms of, for example, fatty acid composition and, further, whether this could be advantageous in the production of wood pellets. Microwave drying tests were conducted using fresh sawdust from pinewood as a biomass model. In these tests sawdust was dried from weight-based moisture content 0.47 to final moisture contents in the interval 0.08–0.14. The chemical composition, pellet-making and mechanical properties of the pellets were then investigated. It was shown that 0.5 kg sawdust could be dried within 40 min of microwave exposure. The effects of microwave treatment on the fatty and resin acid composition indicated that some changes occurred, but the total amounts were not significantly different from those in oven-dried samples. However, the microwave treatment of sawdust significantly improved pellet density and pellet strength. These results indicate new possibilities to alter fatty and resin acid composition and to improve particle bonding within fuel pellets.