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

Abstract

The lignocellulosic residues (LCR) of Cymbopogon martini after steam distillation had 13.6% lignin, 74.4% holocellulose and 25.4% pentosan. Phanerochaete chrysosporium degraded 30.11% of lignin, 62.25% of pentosan and 18.60% of holocellulose of the original value of LCR of C. martini after 28 days at 40°C in solid-state culture with a higher in vitro dry matter digestibility. The steam distillation and Phanerocheate chrysosporium treatment of LCR of C. martini 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 alkalil4%) with a saving of 3% cooking chemicals.