Bio-soda pulping of lignocellulosic residues of palma rosa grass: An attempt towards energy conversion

Abstract

The lignocellulosic residues (LCR) of <i style="">Cymbopogon martini</i> after steam distillation had 13.6% lignin, 74.4% holocellulose and 25.4% pentosan.<i style=""> Phanerochaete chrysosporium</i> degraded 30.11% of lignin, 62.25% of pentosan and 18.60% of holocellulose of the original value of LCR of <i>C. martini</i> after 28 days at 40°C<i style=""> </i>in solid-state culture with a higher <i style="">in vitro</i> dry matter digestibility. The steam distillation and <i style="">Phanerocheate chrysosporium</i> treatment of LCR of <i style="">C. martini</i> abated the mass transfer problem and facilitated the faster penetration of cooking liquor. The pulp yield was mitigated by 0.63% with insignificant decrease in kappa number and 0.81% with 1.32 units decrease in kappa number for bio-soda and bio-soda-O₂ pulping processes respectively when cooked at 11% alkali dose compared to soda pulping (active alkali14%) with a saving of 3% cooking chemicals.