Production of Bio-Phenolic Chemicals, Green Diesel Fuels, and Renewable Hydrogen/Methane Gases from Kraft Lignin and “Black Liquor”

The long-term economic viability of the Canadian forestry sector has been threatened for several years
now due to many reasons such as high energy and fibers costs, and the falling demand for key products
(such as newsprint). At the same time, the country’s chemical processing industry has also suffered a
major downturn from the lack of competitive feedstocks due to depleting resources and fluctuating
prices of petroleum. Forestry residues and wastes (such as harvesting residues, sawdust, woodwaste
and bark) and pulp/paper by-products (such as ?black liquor? and lignin) can be a promising renewable
source for energy utilities and chemical feedstocks if novel economically viable processes are
developed. The objectives of these multi-internship projects are to (1) develop a cost effective process
to produce bio-phenolic compounds and bio-crude oils directly by the catalytic hydrolysis of black
liquor or crude lignin; (2) upgrade bio-crude oils derived from lignin or pyrolysis oils from forestry…

Faculty Supervisor:

Charles Xu

Student:

Partner:

Western University;CENNATEK Bioanalytical Services Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

Western University

Program: