Processing of ligno-cellulose materials
AssigneeLignotech Developments Limited
InventorsNone recorded
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of processing lignocellulosic material includes the steps of comminuting the material to a size that it can be processed in a hydrothermal pressure vessel, drying the material in moving air to obtain a specific moisture content, packing the material into the vessel and subjecting the material within the vessel to steam under pressure, decompressing the vessel to return the temperature and pressure to ambient and drying the product to specific moisture content; the product so formed can be used for injection moulding or to form panel boards and the like.
Claims18
A method of processing lignocellulosic materials including the steps of:
- (a) providing at least one lignocellulosic material each having a particle size capable of being processed in a hydrothermal pressure vessel;
- (b) drying the material in moving air until the moisture content is between 11% to 25% of the gross mass of the lignocellulosic material;
- (c) packing the dried material from step (b) into a hydrothermal pressure vessel;
- said dried material being packed into said hydrothermal pressure vessel in such a mariner that the mass of the packed material in said hydrothermal pressure vessel is not more than two times the mass of the material which would fill said hydrothermal pressure vessel if said material were free flowed into said hydrothermal pressure vessel;
- (d) subjecting the packed material with steam in the pressure vessel at a pressure below 65 bar for up to 10 minutes to effect chemical changes in the lignocellulosic material;
- (e) returning the temperature and pressure to ambient;
- and
- (f) drying the material from step (e) until said material has a moisture content up to 10% by weight.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.