Canada-based Domtar has inaugurated a commercial-scale lignin separation plant at its North Carolina mill in Plymouth, US.
Domtar said it is the first plant of this type in the US in over 25 years.
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The company started BioChoice lignin production in February 2013, with a plan to produce 75t a day.
BioChoice can be used in different industrial applications, as a bio-based alternative of petroleum and other fossil fuels, resins and thermoplastics.
In 2010, the company launched a research and engineering project to install commercial-scale lignin removal capacity at the Plymouth mill.
The US Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Energy have provided a grant to the company for the Biomass Research and Development Initiative.
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By GlobalDataDomtar research and development director, Bruno Marcoccia, said the company plans to partner with well known collaborators to develop new products, as well as to market a wide portfolio of initiatives such as BioChoice.
North Carolina State University Department of Forest Biomaterials professor Hasan Jameel said that providing manufacturers with a bio-based alternative to the use of petrochemicals will make a real difference.
"This is a big win for sustainability on two counts – Domtar improves the efficiency of its pulp-making process, and at the same time the market gets a reliable, high-quality source of this underused material with so much potential," Jameel added.
The high-quality lignin can be obtained as a by-product through kraft pulping process in the lignin removal facility, while about 1.1 million tonnes of lignin can be produced globally per year.
Image: Lignin structure. Photo: Courtesy of Karol Glab.
