Increasing prices for biomass and growing competition generated by the emerging biofuels sector will require drastic changes in current methods used for the transformation of lignocellulosic biomass to achieve profitability. In this work, a methodology known as “feedstock impregnation rapid and sequential steam treatment” (FIRSST) was used for the production of pulp from mixed softwoods. This method allows the isolation of the extractives, hemicelluloses, lignin, and most significantly, the cellulose fiber from the feedstock. The isolation of the cellulosic pulp was done via two successive steam treatments in which only the second required the addition of a catalyst (10 wt % NaOH) for delignification. The macromolecular contents of the residual solids along the different steps of the transformation were evaluated using ASTM and TAPPI standard methods. Carbohydrates were identified and quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography with an anion-exchange stationary phase. The quality of the FIRSST and Kraft pulp produced from the same feedstock was evaluated using standard ATPPC methods.
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