Electrolysis process for removal of caustic in hemicellulose caustic
AssigneeHuron Tech Corp
InventorsStephen W. Moran, John R. Jackson, Timothy J. Gallivan, Richard E. Loftfield
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Abstract
Pulping chemicals and hemicellulose are recovered from a starting solution essentially free of lignin but containing a mixture of hemicellulose and caustic by electrolyzing this solution in the anolyte compartment of an electrolytic cell. By electrolysis, the concentration of caustic in the anolyte is decreased and the concentration of caustic in a catholyte of said cell is increased so as to allow recovery of about 60 to about 80 percent of the caustic present in the hemicellulose caustic starting solution.
Claims10
A process for recovering pulping chemicals and hemicellulose from an essentially lignin free starting solution comprising hemicellulose and caustic, said process comprising:
- A) electrolyzing in an anolyte compartment of an electrolytic cell a hemicellulose starting solution containing about 2 to about 50 percent by weight of caustic to reduce the caustic content in said anolyte compartment to about 1 to about 2 percent by weight without precipitation of said hemicellulose, said cell comprising an anode in said anolyte compartment and a cathode in a catholyte compartment, and said anode and cathode separated by a cationic permselective membrane cell separator and
- B) removing a caustic solution from the catholyte compartment of said cell having a concentration of up to about 35 percent by weight.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.