| Abstract | Of the 17 million m3 of forestry barks, approximately 40% is used as a source of energy in Canadian pulp and paper mills. In recent years, due to their high fraction of tannin, lignin and cellulose, forestry barks have attracted growing interest as feedstock for development and commercialization of industrial biochemicals and biomaterials. The purpose of this work is to develop a cost-effective process to extract the key components of barks and convert them into high value-added polymers to contribute in replacing the products made from materials with a more intensive carbon footprint. Tannin and lignin constitute 50% of bark components. With a growing interest in greener water-soluble polyphenols, bark-based tannins are opening up new potential markets such as wood adhesives and rigid foams for building insulation. Global tannin market is expected to witness substantial growth over the next ten years. In this poster presentation, we focus on the cost-effective method for the extraction of tannins from Canadian yellow birch barks. The aim is to maximize tannin yield while minimizing energy and water consumptions and extraction cost. Mechanical preprocessing of the fresh-cut barks was carried out to facilitate the extraction of tannins. Extraction was taken place in hot water with the presence and absence of ultrasound energy, as well as in near-supercritical CO2-H2O system. Different extraction parameters, such as temperature, pressure, time, liquid/solid ratios, pH, CO2/H2O ratios, were used to optimize the technical performance of the tannins extraction processes. Water and energy consumptions for every step in the process were evaluated and minimized. |
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