Process and reactor design study of lignin propoxylation

Lignin, the second most abundant biopolymer on earth following cellulose, can be described as a million-ton, low cost, under-utilized resource. The use of lignin in polymeric products adds the highest value to the raw material. Production of engineering plastics from lignin is an attractive approach to the utilization of lignin. The use of lignin in structural materials is limited by its insolubility and its failure to undergo melt flow. A promising method to overcome the limitations is to chemically modify lignin by reaction with a low modulus substance, like an aliphatic ether. The reaction of lignin with propylene oxide (PO) produces a copolymer, hydroxypropyl lignin (HPL). Extensive studies have been directed toward the understanding of the chemistry and properties of HPL. A study of the process design is necessary to examine the economics of lignin propoxylation. This work includes the chemical and kinetic analysis of the lignin propoxylation reaction as well as the modelling of a semibatch polymerization process; the design of a lignin propoxylation pilot plant; and a preliminary study of an industrial plant. Two models for the lignin propoxylation reaction are proposed and analyzed to produce a mathematical description of the reaction process. The design of the pilot plant involves (a) the process design, which includes a material balance, a flow sheet, and a listing of the equipment; and (b) the economic analysis in which estimates of capital cost and operating costs are discussed. The scale-up to industrial production gives an estimate of the characteristics of a continuous process. This study constitutes a substantial contribution to the development of a new technology dealing with Engineering Plastics from Lignin.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Chemical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Chemical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1991

Author dc:creator

• Barbero, Ana Maria

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Glasser, Wolfgang G.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Michelsen, Donald L.
• Velander, William H.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-08182009-040305

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/44267