Spruce bark biorefinery

Abstract: Spruce Bark contains several fundamental main substances; lignin, non-cellulose polysaccharides, cellulose and extractives. This undergraduate study focuses on developing a process to extract each of these components from spruce bark using a biorefinery concept, with a main focus on extracting lignin without degradation. The purpose of the Bark biorefinery concept is to contribute to a circular bioeconomy, by making use of natural resources. With extended research on the area, it will be possible to produce polymers, green chemicals and biofuel from the components in bark.  This report covers the extraction of the bark components with soxhlet extraction, Hot-water extraction, organosolv extraction and peracetic acid delignification. The extraction was made on two samples, matchstick-sized bark (MS) and 20 mesh-sized bark with a diameter of 0.8 mm (20M). The purpose was to be able to compare the efficiency of the extraction between the two samples. Afterwards, the characterisation of extracts and residue was executed with carbohydrate analysis, 2D HSQC-NMR and FTIR-analysis.  The results showed that a smaller particle size led to more efficient extractions of all components as well as more pure extract solutions. Lignin concentration determinations of samples at each step showed that a significant amount of lignin was lost prior to the organosolv extraction. Future research should look into ways to reduce this loss in order to increase the lignin yield. The findings in the FTIR and NMR analyses correlates with what could be seen in other reports, discussing similar subjects. For upscaling of this process, future research should go toward optimization of all extraction methods in order to make an upscaling of the process economically viable.