Sappi Saiccor is a pulp mill that produces high-grade chemical cellulose (dissolving pulp) from predominantly hardwood timber and is currently the world's largest manufacturer of this type of pulp. Attempts to isolate pure lignosulphonates were unsuccessful; however, an acid hydrolysis of the aqueous portion of the calcium effluent stream yielded a range of organic compounds. These included lignans, lignin-type precursors as well as small quantities of vanillin and syringaldehyde. The structures of these compounds were determined using NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometric techniques.
Bacterial cellulose (BC) has a basic cellulose structure that gives high purity, high crystalline ability, high mechanical strength, and high water holding capacity. During the last few decades, BC has gained as an important biomaterial because of these unique physical and chemical characteristics. BC is synthesized by Acetobacter xylinum extracellularly in a suitable substrate media. Researchers have produced BC using a synthetic media or using coconut water and inoculating with Acetobacter xylinum in a static fermentation system. In order to eliminate shortcomings in static fermentation and to achieve increased cellulose production, agitated and aerated fermentation systems were experimented. Rotating Biological Fermentor (RBF) is an is aerated and agitated system, which gives continuous oxygen flux to the fermentation medium thereby increasing the yield of biomass and cellulose synthesized. In this study, a mathematical model for the synthesis of BC in a RBF system was developed. The growth of cellulose is considered as a biofilm from a mono culture. Glucose depletion, cellulose production and microbial growth in the fermentation medium were explained using the developed models. It was shown that the simulated and experimental results were in close agreement. In addition, the model was successful in predicting yield of cellulose at different rotational speeds of the RBF unit.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.