Date of Award
Spring 2-28-2020
Semester of Degree
May
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
M.S. in Paper and Bioprocess Engineering
Department
Environmental and Forest Biology
Major Professor
Bandaru Ramarao
Steering Committee Member
Thomas E Amidon
Steering Committee Member
Shijie Liu
Steering Committee Member
Gary Scott
Steering Committee Member
Bandaru Ramarao
Steering Committee Member
Gyu Leem
Abstract
Lignocellulosic hydrolysates contain significant amount of colloidal lignin and its removal is vital since it inhibits fermentation, hinders oligomer hydrolysis and affects filtration. Flocculation of lignin prior to filtration is viable and previous research (Yasarla & Ramarao, 2012) demonstrated PEO’s ability to form complexes with lignin in the hydrolyzate. PEO viscosity was determined precisely to use as a control variable for flocculant quality. Flocculation efficiency of PEO in hydrolyzates was studied using parameters such as supernatant turbidity, sedimentation rate, filtration rate and cake permeability. Concentrations, dosages and molecular weights of PEO during flocculation were varied to study its effects. Multicomponent flocculation using APAM and p- DADMAC demonstrated better lignin removal than PEO flocculation. Addition of wood pulp as a filter media to PEO was based on incorporating both flocculation and filtration as a single operation. A depth filtration model was fitted using assumed parameters to obtain concentration profile and filter efficiency.
Recommended Citation
Puthota, Mary Jennifer, "Separation of Lignin from Lignocellulosic Hydrolyzates using Polymeric Flocculants and Fibrous Depth Filter Media" (2020). Dissertations and Theses. 148.
https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/etds/148