Project Profile Learning About Lignin New FPInnovations lab pushes research forward. By Andrew Macklin T he continued emergence of the Canadian bioeconomy has increased the need for home-grown solutions for pushing the agenda for-ward. As provinces work to expand oppor-tunities for research and development for a variety of bioenergy solutions, the establish-ment of the Centre for Research and Inno-vation in the Bio-economy in Thunder Bay, Ontario, has provided the needed funding for a new lab that looks to learn more about the marketable value of lignin. In June of 2011, CRIBE announced that it was providing $850,000 for the es-tablishment of a world-class lignin lab and demonstration plant at the Resolute Forest Products (RFP) mill site (formerly Abitibi-Bowater) in Thunder Bay. In addition, Nat-ural Resources Canada provided $500,000 in funding for the project, which is being run by FPInnovations (FPI). The demonstration plant is the first facil-ity of its kind in North America. The plant has been directly integrated into the kraft mill process at RFP . Testing and evaluation of lignin is done in the FPInnovations lab onsite, with further testing and evaluation of lignin and its product applications at oth-er FPI labs as well with various research and commercial partners. Part of the work that needed to be done in advance of constructing the demonstra-tion plant was to determine an effective sys-tem for lignin extraction based on the kraft mill process already in place at Resolute. “In our process, the lignin precipitates from the black liquor as a solid when the black liquor is acidified,” said Kirsten Maki, associate research leader for the Bio-Econ-omy Technology Centre. “The resulting slurry is sent to a filter press, where the lig-nin solids are trapped in the filter while the remaining black liquor passes through the filter media. The lignin is then squeezed, washed, and dried with pressurized air, and is discharged as a clean cake of lignin at around 60% solids. This cake can be dried further and then crushed, ground or ABOVE: An overhead view of the lignin pilot plant operated by FPInnovations at the Resolute Forest Products mill in Thunder Bay. Canadian BIOMASS 21 Photo: FPInnovations
Canadian Biomass January/February 2013: Page 21
