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Title: PROCESSING KENAF BLACK LIQUOR INTO BINDERS AND FERTILIZER

Author
item Abbott Dr, Thomas
item RYMSZA, THOMAS - KP PRODUCTS
item SARINS, JODEAN - KP PRODUCTS
item Nicholson, James
item Laszlo, Joseph

Submitted to: Kenaf Association International Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/25/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Kenaf is a new annual crop, grown in the Southern U.S., and used for making paper. When paper is made from wood or kenaf, a waste product called black liquor is also generated and generally burned for fuel. In this research, we developed a process to make fertilizer and feed pellet binder out of the waste black liquor. Smaller, local paper-making plants can now be built. With this new process they will not be burning black liquor but producing beneficial products from it.

Technical Abstract: Kenaf black liquor is cogenerated with paper pulp from various cooks. From alkaline cooks, about 43% of the weight of whole stalk kenaf goes into the black liquor. The resulting black liquor is generally burned for fuel value or chemical recovery. In order to more efficiently use the black liquor, especially in small plants where incineration equipment is expensive, a series of coagulants for black liquor was investigated. Only chitosan increased lignin precipitation above the amount precipitated by acidification to pH 3.0 alone. The remaining black liquor components were exchanged on an ion exchange resin to produce a high nitrogen content material, low in sodium with potential as a fertilizer.