Dissolving pulp and viscose staple fiber manufacturing

Puu-0.4110 Conventional and nonconventional pulping as a basis of

biorefinery

Sirpa Välimaa Stora Enso Biomaterials

SE Biomaterials November 30, 2015 1
 Contents

1. Dissolving pulp manufacturing

– What is dissolving pulp
– Market and demand
– Textile market and viscose properties
– Wood species
– MWD and crystallinity
– Pre-hydrolysis kraft process
2. Viscose staple fiber manufacturing
– Viscose stable fiber production process
– Controversial textile industry
3. Being an engineer in the changing forest
industry

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1. Dissolving pulp manufacturing

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What is dissolving pulp?

• Dissolving pulp, also called dissolving cellulose, is a

bleached wood pulp or cotton linters that has a high
cellulose content (> 90%). It has special properties including
as a high level of brightness and uniform molecular-weight
distribution.[1] This pulp is manufactured for uses that require
a high chemical purity, and particularly low hemicellulose
content, since the chemically similar hemicellulose can
interfere with subsequent processes. Dissolving pulp is so
named because it is not made into paper, but dissolved
either in a solvent or by derivatization into a homogeneous
solution, which makes it completely chemically accessible
and removes any remaining fibrous structure. Once
dissolved, it can be spun into textile fibers (viscose or
Lyocell), or chemically reacted to produce derivatized
celluloses, such cellulose triacetate, a plastic-like material
formed into fibers or films, or cellulose ethers such as
methyl cellulose, used as a thickener.

www.wikipedia.com
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Dissolving pulp is not only one grade

Fubio cellulose program

SEPMP Sirpa Välimaa November 30, 2015 5
RISI RISI

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RISI PÖYRY for Fubio Cellulose
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RISI 30, 2015 7
Viscose properties

• Easy to mix with other fibers

• Moisture absorption
• Touch & feel
• Drape
• Excellent reproduction of printing patterns
• Bright colors when printed
• Colors have excellent washing endurance
• Beautiful lustre
• Not electrifying
• Shrinking
• Wrinkling

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Commodity dissolving pulp can be produced from many
wood species

Extractives

Lignin Acacia
Eucalyptus
Spruce
Hemicellulose Pine
Birch

Cellulose

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

R.Isotalo: Wood and pulp chemistry. Helsinki 1996

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The challenge is to preserve cellulose and remove
hemicellulose, lignin and extractives

R.Isotalo: Wood and pulp chemistry. Helsinki 1996

P.Stenius: Forest Products Chemistry. Book 3 in the series of Papermaking Science and Tehnology. Fapet Oy. Jyväskylä 2000.
A-S. Jääskeläinen & H.Sundqvist: Puun rakenne ja kemia. Otatieto. Helsinki 2007.
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Main variables

• Raw material
• Wood pulp
• HW
• SW
• Cotton linter
• Bamboo
• Production process
• Sulfite
• Pre-hydrolysis

• Alkaline extraction

• Requirements per application

• Commodity – viscose
• Acetate
• Ether
• Nitrocellulose
H.Sixta Aalto university

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Crystalline and amorphous areas

• Fibre wall cellulose has

high degree of crystallinity,
60-75%, due to which
cellulose is relatively inert
during chemical treatments

• The chemical and thermal

stability of hemicelluloses is
generally lower that that of
cellulose due to their lack
of crystallinity and lower
degree of polymerization

• Hemicelluloses react more

completely which is partly
due to their location in the
fibre walls
A-S. Jääskeläinen & H.Sundqvist: Puun rakenne ja kemia. Otatieto. Helsinki 2007.
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Pre-Hydrolysis Kraft Process Description

Sirpa Välimaa
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The pulp production process

Wood Oxygen
Wood Cooking Bleaching Drying Pulp
room treatment

Weak liquor Weak liquor

Lime Evaporation
Causticizing
kiln plant

Concentrated
Green liquor waste liquor
Soda
recovery
plant
Energy
production for
Bark the process
Bark
boiler

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 Pre-hydrolysis kraft process description

• Pre-hydrolysis
• Neutralization
• Hot filling
• Cooking
• Displacement
• Unbleached pulp

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Pre-hydrolysis

• Pre-hydrolysis is carried out by dosing steam

both from the top and from the bottom of the
digester
• The process variables are hardwood source,
liquor-to-solid ratio, acidity as well as
temperature and time (which are creating a P
factor together). Steam pressure is constant.
• As fibres are steamed acetic acid is released
from labile acetyl groups present in the
hemicellulose
• Pre-hydrolysis degrades the major part of the
hemicelluloses which then become solubilized
in the subsequent alkaline process steps
• Purification selectivity (the ratio of xylan-to-
hemicellulose removal) is the highest during
pre-hydrolysis and neutralization
• Reactive hydrolysis products must be
immediately neutralized, extracted and
displaced prior to cooking

H.Sixta: Handbook of Pulp. Chapter 4.2. Kraft Cooking process.

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Neutralization

• In the neutralization
1. the organic acids in the pulp are neutralized with white liquor by pushing it through
the chip bed in the digester
2. Oligo- and monosaccharides are subjected to extensive fragmentation reactions
and solubilized in the neutralization liquor
• The process variable is the white liquor amount. White liquor consistency is constant.
• The degradation of the hydrolytically cleaved hemicelluloses which started in the pre-
hydrolysis still continues during the neutralization step
• Neutralization requires a sufficient supply of effective alkali to ensure the complete
extraction of the polysaccharides and to prevent re-condensation and re-precipitation
of both carbohydrates and lignin compounds
• Delignification starts immediately after introduction of the neutralization liquor
• improved permeability of the cell wall due to increased pore volume
• Improved penetration of the cooking liquor and the partial hydrolytic cleavage
of lignin structures and lignin-carbohydrate bonds
• The neutralization step is immediately succeeded by a hot liquor filling

H.Sixta: Handbook of Pulp. Chapter 4.2. Kraft Cooking process.

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Hot liquor filling

• The neutralization liquor is displaced

with hot white liquor and hot black
liquor
• Hot displacement is efficient for both
delignification as well as for final
purification
• The highest delignification rate is
achieved in the hot displacement

H.Sixta: Handbook of Pulp. Chapter 4.2. Kraft Cooking process.

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Cooking

• Cooking stage controls the final

delignification bringing down the
kappa number (lignin content of
the pulp) to the needed level
• The process variables are
temperature and time (which
create an H factor together)
• Cooking has the highest
delignification selectivity but it
also removes low-chain
hemicelluloses
• Cooking ensures a homogeneous
pulp quality due to levelled-out
alkali profile
• Cooking process is important for
viscosity and brightness control
H.Sixta: Handbook of Pulp. Chapter 4.2. Kraft Cooking process.

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 Displacement

• The purpose of the displacement is to

terminate the cooking process
• The cook is terminated by cold displacement
from the bottom of the digester to the top of
the digester using washing filtrate
• Cold displacement means < 90 C
temperature
• Displacement time has connection to pulp
quality
• The pulp is displaced into a blow tank from
where it continues to knot separation – wash
presses – oxygen delignification- wash press
– screening – wash precipitator – brown
stock tank – bleaching (D0-EoP-D1-P) –
drying machine

H.Sixta: Handbook of Pulp. Chapter 4.2. Kraft Cooking process.

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Good quality dissolving pulp means…

• Guaranteeing good reactivity of

the pulp by skillful processing of
pulp in
– Pre-hydrolysis
– Neutralization
– Cooking
• And having optimal process
– times
– temperatures
– alkali (concentration, residue
and dosage)
– pH

November 30, 2015 21

What is reactivity and why it is important?

2 3

• Cellulose chain consists of glucose-anhydrite-units which bound together with β1,4 bonds
• The solubility of the native cellulose (cellulose I) is low as it has a dense crystalline structure and a
lot of hydrogen bonds.
• Solubility and reactivity can be increased through chemical handlings – modification can be carried
out in the hydroxyl-units (cellulose I > cellulose II).
• Reactivity means the ability of the dissolving pulp to participate various chemical reactions in the
production process of regenerated cellulose.
• Each glucose-anhydrite-units has three hydroxyl-groups in three positions; 2, 3 and 6. The most
impact on reactivity has the positions 2 and 3.
• Reactivity is connected with accessibility and substitution:
– Accessibility = the ability of cellulose to react with NaOH in the mercerization and activate the
pulp
– Substitution = how many of the hydroxyl-groups is reacting
• Reactivity is both affected by the raw material used in the process as well as the dissolving pulp
production process.
R.Isotalo: Wood and pulp chemistry. Helsinki 1996.
H.Sixta: Handbook of Pulp. Chapter 4.2. Kraft Cooking process.
22
P.Stenius: Forest Products Chemistry. Book 3 in the series of Papermaking Science and Tehnology. Fapet Oy. Jyväskylä 2000.
A-S. Jääskeläinen & H.Sundqvist: Puun rakenne ja kemia. Otatieto. Helsinki 2007.
2.Viscose staple fiber manufacturing

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Viscose process

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-Mercerization
- cellulose is absorbed with app.18% NaOH to create alkali cellulose
- after proper swelling the excess NaOH is removed by pressing to create the wanted dry-matter
content
-Shredding
- the purpose of the shredding is to create more reacting surface to alkali cellulose
-Pre-aging
- alkali cellulose is reacting with air and the average molecular chain length decreases
- for example 45 C and 5 h; the viscosity is adjusted with temperature
- catalysts can be used to speed up the reaction, for example Fe, Mn and Co compounds
-Xanthation and dissolving
- alkali cellulose reacts with CS2 and creates cellulose xanthogenate
- reaction time in closed reactor for example 1 h in 23 C
- cellulose xanthogenate is dissolved in a mixer in weak NaOH to create viscose
Ripening
- viscose is ripened in 20 C for 5 to 24 h
- in this connection the viscose is filtered
from 2 to 3 times to remove the unreacted
cellulosic fibers as well as other impurities
Air removal
- the air and gas bubbles in the viscose are
removed in a vacuum

A typical viscose is syrup like liquid that contains

5-7% sodium and 7-10% cellulose
Spinning
- viscose is pumped into spinning
nozzles
- a common amount of holes in
the nozzles is 1500-14000 pcs
(sometimes even 54000 pcs)
- the size of the holes is 45-200
μm
- the spinnerettes are in the
spinning bath consisting in Na2SO4
(10-30%), H2SO4 (6-10%) and
ZnSO4 (1-4%)
- the temperature of the spinning
bath is 40-60 C
- typical VSF spinning machine can
have 150-400 nozzles and spinning
speed of 40 to 80 m/min
Stretching the fibers after spinning to create strength

First washing before leading the continuous fiber into cutter

Finishing of fibers after cutting (fibers forming a mat on a wire):

- washing with water and NaOH solution to remove the carbon
- some hypochlorite bleach the fibers but brightness mainly from pulp fibers
- acidification with acetic acid to neutralize the fibers
- surface friction decreasing
- drying, opening up and baling of fibers
29
Chemistry of creating viscose fibers from dissolving
pulp

30
Few puzzles to be solved in the textile industry…

• Recovery of the chemicals from

the viscose process
• Production conditions
• Occupational health and safety

• Alternative processes to CS2

• Fashion industry and brand

owners
• Fast fashion

• Consumer readiness to pay from

sustainable fashion

Summary preConcept Report November 30, 2015 31

What is sustainable fashion?

• Polyester vs. viscose

• Cotton vs. viscose
• R-PET
• High quality material vs. fast fashion
• Domestic vs. exported
• Recycling of clothes
• Sewing and having the clothes sewed

IT IS YOUR LEGACY!

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 3. Being an engineer in the changing forest industry

Summary preConcept Report November 30, 2015 33

35
 Love your job and it loves you back!

• Grab the opportunities

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• Ability to work in global organization –
language and cultural learning
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yourself
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information
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– not inside your company nor the actual
sales work and convincing customers
• Lead and keep up the spirit
• Ability to convince others if you know the way

36
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starting on January 2016

• Stay tuned for many

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help to solve the challenges
caused by the world
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• Pilot episode available in

http://suomentulevaisuus.com/#
esittely

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Meet me in Design Factory
on Friday 4th Dec 9:00-13:00
at Stora Enso stand to
discuss more!