StExCell: novel steam-explosion-based biorefinery concept for dissolving pulp production

StExCell, a novel sulfur-free and chlorine-free biorefinery concept, based on mild steam explosion followed by mild caustic extraction, oxygen delignification and bleaching, is introduced to produce dissolving pulp for textile application. Steam explosion of Betula pendula at 210 °C for 7 isothermal min (equivalent to a P-factor of ca. 1,250), combined with a total-chlorine-free purification sequence resulted in a fully bleached pulp with only 3.6 % xylan, a slightly wider cellulose molar mass distribution and a higher pulp yield, while consuming only about half of the chemicals, in reference to a prehydrolysis-kraft process. The chemical recovery and valorization of the extracted wood component were not covered by the scope of this work but speculated to be simpler than in a kraft process.