Generation method

Abstract

This disclosure generally relates to methods for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Cross-reference of related applications This application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2023902101, filed on 30 June 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0002] This disclosure generally relates to methods for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production. [Background technology]

[0003] One of the most pressing challenges for future generations is the development of a sustainable society. Fossil fuels, currently used for both energy production, have finite availability. Therefore, there is a growing need to maximize the production and use of sustainable and renewable energy sources. Biomass fuels are renewable resources and, advantageously, do not emit net CO2 into the atmosphere. However, biomass fuels can still contribute to potential environmental problems through the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Typically, monoterpenes are the main components of these emissions during the biomass fuel production process.

[0004] Therefore, improved methods are needed for sustainable biomass fuel production. [Overview of the Initiative]

[0005] This disclosure is based in part on the identification of sustainable methods for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production. In particular, these methods provide responsible use of biomass to reduce waste from biomass and efficiently utilize the energy produced from these methods.

[0006] This disclosure relates to a method for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production using wood containing a large amount of resin, wherein the method is (i) A step of treating resin-rich wood with a chemical agent containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes, thereby extracting a rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction from the resin-rich wood, (ii) A method is provided which includes the step of processing wood containing a large amount of treated resin to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0007] The time between the step of treating the resin-rich wood with a chemical and the step of processing the treated resin-rich wood may be approximately 15 minutes or less, approximately 10 minutes or less, or approximately 5 minutes or less.

[0008] Processing wood containing a high proportion of treated resin may include the step of crushing and / or shredding the wood containing a high proportion of treated resin to form a granular morphology.

[0009] The granular form of the treated resin-containing wood may have dimensions of approximately 0.1 cm to approximately 0.6 cm.

[0010] The grinding step may include dry grinding and / or wet grinding.

[0011] Processing wood containing a high concentration of treated resin may further include the step of drying the granular form of the wood containing a high concentration of treated resin.

[0012] The drying step may reduce the moisture content of the granular form of the treated resin-rich wood to less than approximately 30% by weight, less than approximately 20% by weight, or less than approximately 10% by weight.

[0013] Processing wood containing a high proportion of treated resin may further include the step of compressing the granular form of the wood containing a high proportion of treated resin to form a compressed form.

[0014] The compressed form of wood containing a high proportion of treated resin may be pellets or briquettes, or may contain them.

[0015] Processing wood containing a high proportion of treated resin may further include the step of heat-treating the compressed form of the wood containing a high proportion of treated resin at a temperature of approximately 100°C to approximately 200°C or approximately 200°C to approximately 350°C.

[0016] Processing wood containing a high proportion of treated resin may further include the step of heat-treating the granular form of the wood containing a high proportion of treated resin at a temperature of approximately 100°C to approximately 200°C or approximately 200°C to approximately 350°C.

[0017] Processing wood containing a high proportion of treated resin may further include the step of compressing the granular form of the wood containing a high proportion of treated resin to form a compressed form.

[0018] The biomass fuel may be in the form of white pellets, white briquettes, torrefied pellets, or torrefied briquettes.

[0019] Biomass fuel does not need to contain substantially no impurities.

[0020] Processing the treated resin-rich wood, or the processing step (i), may further include, for example, an initial step prior to step (i), of subdividing or reducing the size of the resin-rich wood at least partially.

[0021] The processing step in (i) may further include a step of separating the rosin fraction and the terpene fraction extracted from the resin-rich wood.

[0022] Processing treated resin-rich wood may further include an initial step of at least partially removing the bark and / or root portions from the resin-rich wood.

[0023] The bark portion and / or the root portion may be at least partially utilized to generate energy for use in one or both of the processing steps and the processing steps of (i) and (ii).

[0024] Processing the wood rich in the treated resin may further include an initial step of separating the wood source into wood rich in resin and the residual wood portion.

[0025] The residual wood portion may not be treated with a chemical agent.

[0026] Preferably, the method further includes a step of treating the residual wood portion to extract a further terpene fraction from the residual wood portion. The treatment step may include heat-treating the residual wood portion or the wood substrate under conditions to generate a gas stream containing the further terpene fraction. Further, the treatment step may include heat-treating the residual wood portion at a temperature of about 155°C to about 300°C, about 180°C to about 280°C or about 200°C to about 260°C.

[0027] Processing the residual wood portion may further include at least partially subdividing or reducing the size of the residual wood portion.

[0028] Processing the residual wood portion may further include grinding and / or crushing the residual wood portion to form its granular form.

[0029] Processing the residual wood portion may further include drying the granular form of the residual wood portion.

[0030] Processing the residual wood portion may further include compressing the granular form of the residual wood portion to form its compressed form.

[0031] Processing the residual wood portion may further include heat-treating the compressed form or the granular form of the residual wood portion at a temperature of about 100°C to about 200°C or about 200°C to about 350°C.

[0032] Processing the remaining wood portion may further include compressing the heat-treated granular form of the remaining wood portion to form the compressed form.

[0033] The granular form of the remaining wood portion may have dimensions ranging from approximately 0.1 cm to approximately 0.6 cm.

[0034] The grinding step may include dry grinding and / or wet grinding.

[0035] The drying step may reduce the moisture content of the granular form of the remaining wood to less than approximately 30% by weight, less than approximately 20% by weight, or less than approximately 10% by weight.

[0036] The volatile fractions released from the resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions during the grinding and / or drying steps may be transferred to a condenser.

[0037] In another form, the present disclosure relates to a method for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production using a wood substrate, wherein the method is (i) A step of processing a wood substrate and thereby extracting a terpene fraction from the wood substrate, (ii) A method is provided which includes the step of processing a treated wood substrate to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0038] In some examples, the processing step involves heat-treating the wood substrate under conditions that generate a gaseous flow containing terpene fractions.

[0039] In other examples, the processing step includes heat-treating the wood substrate at temperatures of approximately 155°C to 300°C, approximately 180°C to 280°C, or approximately 200°C to 250°C.

[0040] In certain cases, the method further includes the step of subdividing or reducing the size of the wood substrate at least partially.

[0041] According to various examples, the method further includes the step of crushing and / or shredding a wood substrate to form its granular form.

[0042] In some cases, the method further includes a step of drying the granular form of the wood substrate.

[0043] In certain examples, the method further includes the step of compressing the granular form of a wood substrate to form a compressed form.

[0044] See other examples, the method further includes the step of heat-treating the compressed form of the wood substrate at a temperature of approximately 100°C to approximately 200°C or approximately 200°C to approximately 350°C.

[0045] According to some examples, the method further includes the step of heat-treating the granular form of the wood substrate at a temperature of about 100°C to about 200°C or about 200°C to about 350°C.

[0046] In various examples, the method further includes the step of compressing a heat-treated granular form of a wood substrate to form a compressed form.

[0047] The granular form of the wood substrate may have dimensions ranging from approximately 0.1 cm to approximately 0.6 cm.

[0048] The grinding step may include dry grinding and / or wet grinding.

[0049] The drying step may reduce the moisture content of the granular form of the wood substrate to less than approximately 30% by weight, less than approximately 20% by weight, or less than approximately 10% by weight.

[0050] Preferably, the biomass fuel is white pellets, white briquettes, torrefied pellets, or torrefied briquettes.

[0051] In some cases, biomass fuels contain virtually no impurities.

[0052] In this method, the period between the step of treating the wood substrate and the step of processing the treated wood substrate may be approximately 15 minutes or less, approximately 10 minutes or less, or approximately 5 minutes or less.

[0053] In certain examples, the method further includes an initial step of at least partially removing waste material (e.g., bark and / or roots) from a wood substrate. The waste material may be at least partially utilized to generate energy for use in one or both of the processing and manufacturing steps (i) and (ii).

[0054] This disclosure provides biomass fuels produced according to the methods described herein.

[0055] This disclosure provides terpene and / or rosin fractions produced according to the methods described herein.

[0056] This disclosure provides a system for chemical extraction from resin-rich wood and biomass fuel production, comprising: a processing chamber for treating resin-rich wood with an agent containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes; and a processing unit for processing the treated resin-rich wood to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0057] The disclosure also provides a system for chemical extraction from wood substrates and biomass fuel production, comprising a processing chamber for processing wood substrates and a processing device for processing the processed wood substrates and thereby producing biomass fuel.

[0058] The processing chamber of the system described above may be in communication with the processing machine.

[0059] The processing equipment in the above-described system may include a compression chamber that communicates with the heating chamber.

[0060] This disclosure provides a system described herein for use in the method described herein.

[0061] Particularly preferred embodiments, including independent claims, are described herein.

[0062] The following drawings form part of this specification and are included to further illustrate certain embodiments of the present disclosure. This disclosure may be better understood by referring to one or more of these drawings in conjunction with the detailed descriptions of the specific embodiments presented herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that numerous variations and / or modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad and comprehensive scope of this disclosure. Thus, these embodiments should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not limiting. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0063] [Figure 1-1] A schematic diagram of an apparatus or system according to a specific embodiment of this disclosure. [Figure 1-2] Same as above. [Figure 1-3] Same as above. [Figure 1-4] Same as above. [Figure 1-5] Same as above. [Figure 2-1] A schematic diagram of an apparatus or system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2-2] Same as above. [Figure 2-3] Same as above. [Figure 2-4] Same as above. [Figure 2-5] Same as above. [Figure 2-6] Same as above. [Figure 2-7] Same as above. [Figure 3-1] A schematic diagram of an apparatus or system according to a further embodiment of the processing step (i). [Figure 3-2] Same as above. [Figure 4-1]A schematic diagram of a further embodiment of the apparatus or system according to this disclosure. [Figure 4-2] Same as above. [Figure 5-1] A schematic diagram of a further embodiment of the apparatus or system according to this disclosure. [Figure 5-2] Same as above. [Figure 5-3] Same as above. [Figure 5-4] Same as above. [Figure 5-5] Same as above. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0064] Those skilled in the art will understand that this disclosure is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It should be understood that this disclosure includes all such variations and modifications. This disclosure also includes, individually or collectively, all of the steps, features, compositions, and compounds referred to or indicated herein, as well as any and all combinations of any two or more of such steps or features. Therefore, each feature of any particular example or embodiment of this disclosure may be applied to any other example or embodiment of this disclosure with the necessary modifications.

[0065] This disclosure is intended for illustrative purposes only and should not be limited in scope by the specific embodiments described herein. Functionally equivalent products, compositions, and methods are clearly within the scope of this disclosure as described herein.

[0066] Throughout this specification, unless otherwise specifically stated or the context requires, any reference to a single step, composition of a substance, group of steps, or group of compositions of a substance shall be construed as encompassing one or more (i.e., one or more) of those steps, compositions of a substance, groups of steps, or groups of compositions of a substance.

[0067] As used herein, the singular forms of “a,” “and,” and “the” include their plural forms unless the context explicitly indicates otherwise.

[0068] The terms "and / or," for example, "X and / or Y," are understood to mean either "X and Y" or "X or Y," and are interpreted as providing explicit support for both meanings or either meaning.

[0069] Throughout this specification, the word “comprise,” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising,” will be understood to mean that they include the element, item, or step, or group of elements, items, or steps described, but not that they exclude any other element, item, or step, or group of elements, items, or steps.

[0070] Conversely, the terms "consist," "consists," and "consisting" are used exclusively to indicate that the listed item or group of items is necessary or essential, and that no other items can exist. The phrase "essentially consists of" indicates that the listed item or group of items is necessary or essential, but other elements that do not interfere with or contribute to the activity or function of the listed item or group of items are optional.

[0071] The term "approximately" in relation to a number x is arbitrary and can mean any number within 1, 5, or 10% of the referenced number, for example. The term "approximately" can also encompass the exact number listed.

[0072] Methods for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production This disclosure arises, in part, from the identification of sustainable methods for the chemical extraction and production of biomass fuels. In particular, these methods integrate the chemical extraction and production of biomass fuel processes to reduce waste and efficiently utilize energy from the methods.

[0073] Advantageously, the method described herein involves treating a wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood) with heat and / or chemicals to extract terpene and / or rosin fractions from the biomass, and using the treated wood substrate or resin-rich wood to produce biomass fuel. Thus, the method described herein may produce little to no biomass waste. Furthermore, due to the associated chemical extraction process, the biomass fuel produced by the method described herein may be substantially free of impurities and / or chemicals, and / or may have reduced emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Thus, the method described herein may be even more suitable for environmentally friendly downstream uses, such as energy generation by combustion. The chemical removal process and the production of wood chips with high uniformity further ensure processing consistency and reduce fluctuations and flow variability in plant production.

[0074] In addition, due to the energy-efficient use of the method and the little to no biomass waste produced, the methods described herein typically have lower capital and operating costs, and / or may be more efficient, and / or may exhibit improved yields, and / or may be more environmentally friendly than those previously described in the art. For example, the methods described herein may use the excess heat from the heating step of the processing step described herein to produce the biomass fuel of the processing step described herein. For this purpose, wood chips of wood substrates immediately after or recently after leaving the processing step or processing chamber (e.g., desolvator) described herein can enter the processing step and / or drying step of the method described herein to produce biomass fuel at high temperatures (e.g., at least about 20°C to about 140°C). This arrangement requires less energy to dry the wood chips and produce biomass fuel between the processing step and the processing step. The methods described herein may also use biomass "waste" products to generate heat and / or electricity that may be utilized in the method.

[0075] The methods described herein also enable the use of stumps as a wood substrate for producing wood pellets and / or torrefaction. Typically, stumps have higher levels of impurities (e.g., soil and debris) that may render them unsuitable as raw materials for wood pelletizing and / or torrefaction processes. However, the methods described herein advantageously produce a wood substrate that is substantially free of impurities from stumps that would normally be unsuitable for downstream processing into biomass fuels.

[0076] In one broad form, the present disclosure relates to a method for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production using a wood substrate, wherein the method is (i) a step of treating a wood substrate with an agent containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes, thereby extracting a rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction from the wood substrate, (ii) A method is provided which includes the step of processing a treated wood substrate to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0077] Therefore, this disclosure relates to a method for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production using wood containing a large amount of resin, wherein the method is (i) A step of treating resin-rich wood with a chemical agent containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes, thereby extracting a rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction from the resin-rich wood, (ii) A method is provided which includes the step of processing wood containing a large amount of treated resin to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0078] In addition, this disclosure relates to a method for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production using a wood substrate, wherein the method is (i) A step of processing a wood substrate and thereby extracting a terpene fraction from the wood substrate, (ii) A method is provided which includes the step of processing a treated wood substrate to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0079] Furthermore, this disclosure relates to a method for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production using a wood substrate, wherein the method is (i) A step of treating a first portion of a wood substrate (for example, a resin-rich portion of wood) with a chemical agent containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes, thereby extracting a rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction from the first portion of the wood substrate, (ii) A step of processing a second portion of the wood substrate (e.g., residual wood portion) to thereby extract further terpene fractions from the second portion, (iii) A method is provided which includes the step of processing a treated first and / or second portion of a wood substrate to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0080] chemical extraction As used herein, the term “rosin” broadly refers to resins obtained from different species of resin-rich trees, such as conifers or softwoods. The composition of rosin can vary to some extent depending on their source, but typically rosin contains resin acids (including their components or derivatives), such as unsaturated monocarboxylic acids, as its main component. In this regard, the proportion of different resin acids in rosin can vary depending on the softwood or conifer species from which the rosin was obtained. For example, rosin may contain 85–95% resin acids. Generally, rosin mainly contains abietic acid (e.g., 50–80%), and to less extent dihydroabietic acid (e.g., 5–30%) and pimalic acid (e.g., 5–30%). Rosin may also contain isopromic acid, pulsed toruic acid, and neoabietic acid.

[0081] The terms “terpene” and “turpentine” are used interchangeably herein and refer to a wide variety of organic compounds produced by various plants, particularly conifers. As is understood, the main components of terpenes or turpentine are unsaturated hydrocarbon monoterpenes such as α-pinene, β-pinene, and 3-carene.

[0082] The term “wood substrate” refers to any cellulose / lignin-based material derived, for example, from the hard, fibrous structural tissue of the stems, branches, trunks, stumps, and roots of trees or other woody plants. Wood includes, for example, hardwood and softwood cut directly from trees. Specific examples of wood species may include radiata pine, Scotch pine, red pine, yellow pine, maple, alder, birch, aspen, balsa wood, and beech. Wood substrates may be of any geometric shape and size and include wood sheets, wood fibers, undried wood, pre-dried wood, beams, planks, veneers, chips, logs, chunks, and wood particles.

[0083] In certain examples, the wood substrate includes wood or wood parts that are rich in resin (for example, as described herein).

[0084] In other examples, the wood substrate contains a portion or fraction of a terpene (e.g., as described herein). In such examples, the wood substrate may or may not contain a portion or fraction of a resin, or may be substantially resin-free (e.g., containing resin at a concentration of about 3% by weight, about 2% by weight, or less than about 1% by weight of the wood substrate). Furthermore, in such examples, the wood substrate may be substantially derived from bark, roots, stems, trunks and / or logs.

[0085] Broadly speaking, “resin-rich wood” refers to wood that contains resin. Resin-rich wood generally relates to softwood species such as pine, which secrete resin as a protective mechanism against parasites and diseases, but may also include resin-rich hardwood species such as teak, agarwood, and acacia. Resin-rich wood may contain terpene fractions. Resin-rich wood may contain rosin fractions. Resin-rich wood may contain both terpene and rosin fractions. Resin-rich wood may be substantially derived from stumps. Generally, the term “stump” refers to the remaining part of a felled or logged tree (e.g., the base of the tree), which extends underground, at least within the root region. Stumps may be substantially debarked, or some or substantially all of the bark may remain. Similarly, stumps may have some or substantially all of their roots removed before use in the methods of this disclosure. Preferably, the resin-rich wood contains resin in a concentration of more than about 3% by weight of the wood substrate, or at least about 3% by weight (for example, about 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 11%, 12%, 13%, 14%, 15%, or any range of resins therein), for example, about 4%, 5%, 7.5%, or 10% by weight.

[0086] Generally, residual wood portions are parts of a wood source or wood substrate that contain resin at a relatively lower concentration than that of resin-rich wood (e.g., containing resin at a concentration of less than about 5% by weight, less than about 4% by weight, less than about 3% by weight, less than about 2% by weight, less than about 1% by weight, or less than 0.5% by weight of the wood). For this purpose, residual wood portions may also be referred to as non-resinous wood, in particular with respect to wood substrates that contain little, substantially no, or no resin (e.g., having a resin content or resin concentration of less than 3% by weight, less than 2% by weight, less than 1% by weight, less than 0.5% by weight, or less than 0.1% by weight of the wood substrate). Residual wood portions may substantially originate from bark, roots, stems, trunks and / or logs. Preferably, residual wood portions do not contain stumps or substantially originate from stumps. As those skilled in the art will understand, the term “log” should be used in a broad sense, typically referring to a unit of felled tree, which may have at least partially or substantially removed bark, or may have all or substantially all of its bark remaining.

[0087] Preferably, the wood substrate, and more specifically, the resin-rich wood portion and residual wood portion, may contain some terpenes that are suitable for extraction therefrom. Preferably, the resin-rich wood contains resin in a concentration of more than about 0.5% by weight of the wood substrate, or at least about 0.5% by weight (for example, about 0.5% by weight, 1% by weight, 1.5% by weight, 2% by weight, 2.5% by weight, 3% by weight, 4% by weight, 5% by weight, 6% by weight, 7% by weight, 8% by weight, 9% by weight, 10% by weight, 11% by weight, 12% by weight, 13% by weight, 14% by weight, 15% by weight, or any range of resin therein), more than about 1% by weight, about 2% by weight, about 3% by weight, about 4% by weight, about 5% by weight, about 7.5% by weight, or about 10% by weight, or at least about 1% by weight, about 2% by weight, about 3% by weight, about 4% by weight, about 5% by weight, about 7.5% by weight, or about 10% by weight. As will be described in more detail herein, the residual wood portion may or may not be subjected to a treatment step (e.g., a heat treatment step) to remove the terpene fraction from the residual wood portion before being subjected to the processing steps described herein. Preferably, such a treatment step does not involve contact of the residual wood portion with a chemical. Thus, unless otherwise expressly indicated, references to the residual wood portion herein may include its treated and / or untreated forms.

[0088] The wood substrates or wood sources described herein (including resinous wood and residual wood portions) may include, consist of, or essentially consist of coniferous wood. As commonly used herein, the term “coniferous wood” refers to, for example, the wood of coniferous trees (i.e., gymnosperms), such as fibrous materials obtained from varieties of fir, larch, spruce, cedar, cypress, yew, and pine. Non-limiting examples include Caribbean pine, slash pine, Colorado spruce, balsam fir, Douglas fir, incense pine, Elliot pine, prickly spruce, Banks pine, radiata pine, white spruce, broadly twisted pine, and redwood. The wood substrate or wood source (e.g., resinous wood and / or residual wood portion) may be derived at least partially or substantially from or obtained from radiata pine.

[0089] The wood substrate, or more specifically, the resinous wood and / or residual wood portion, may be derived from a single type or species of tree or conifer, or a combination thereof (e.g., one, two, three, four, five, etc., types or species), and / or may be unmodified and / or modified. The wood substrate (e.g., the resinous wood) may also be transgenic (i.e., genetically modified) and may be derived from any part of a tree or plant, such as branches, logs, roots, trunks, stems, and stumps.

[0090] The wood substrate, or more specifically, the resin-rich wood, may be processed by a processing device, such as a tree felling or stump removal operation, prior to the processing step of the method described herein.

[0091] In some examples, the method may include an earlier or initial step of separating or dividing a wood substrate into a resin-rich wood portion and a residual wood portion. The resin-rich wood portion may then be subjected to the processing methods described herein for producing a rosin fraction and / or a terpene fraction therefrom, while the residual wood portion may be subjected to the processing methods described herein for producing a terpene fraction therefrom (and preferably without producing a rosin fraction). Then, one or both of the processed resin-rich wood portion and the processed residual wood portion may be processed by the method described herein to produce biomass fuel.

[0092] The method may further include an initial step of collecting wood substrates (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions) from, for example, a plantation. The period between collecting the wood substrates (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions) and the processing steps described herein may be about 12 weeks or less (e.g., about 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 week, or any range therein), about 4 weeks or less, about 2 weeks or less, or about 1 week or less. For this purpose, the inventors have found that this time frame is advantageous in that it minimizes the loss of the terpene fraction due to evaporation, thereby maximizing its yield and minimizing any effects of oxidation of the rosin fraction in the wood substrates or resin-rich wood that may adversely affect its color and reactivity. Preferably, the wood substrate, or more specifically, the resin-rich wood, undergoes little to no further processing or treatment after collection and prior to the processing steps of the methods described herein (i.e., the wood substrate or resin-rich wood is essentially in its natural state).

[0093] As used herein, “processing” or “processing” may mean, for example, contacting, immersing, steam impregnation, spraying, suspending, submerging, saturating, soaking, wetting, rinsing, mechanically refining by air, impregnation, washing, immersing in liquid, and / or any variation and / or combination thereof.

[0094] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the step of treating a wood substrate, and more specifically, resin-rich wood, may simply involve passing it through a bath containing the agent. The step of treating a wood substrate, for example, resin-rich wood, may also involve passing it through a batch container, which recirculates the agent.

[0095] Wood substrates, and more specifically, resin-rich wood, may be brought into contact with or treated with chemicals in a counter-current or counter-flow manner. The terms “counter-flow” or “counter-current” are understood to mean that the wood substrate being treated in a processing chamber, etc. (e.g., resin-rich wood) flows or is carried uniformly in one direction, while the terpene / rosin fraction extracted by the chemicals and / or processing process flows in the opposite direction. For example, a processing step may include passing the wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood) through a rotary extractor, a loop extractor, a drag chain extractor, and / or a continuous belt extractor.

[0096] In other examples, the step of processing a wood substrate, and more specifically, residual wood portion, may simply include passing it through a heating chamber (e.g., a desolvator or desolvator-burner), as is known in the art. The step of heat-treating a wood substrate (e.g., residual wood portion) may include passing it through a heating chamber, in which heat may be applied therein, directly by steam, and / or indirectly by one or more heating elements or trays therein. The elements or trays may be heated, for example, by recirculating steam, water, or oil therein.

[0097] The processing steps of the methods described herein may be carried out over a period of time under conditions sufficient or suitable for extracting rosin and / or terpene fractions from a wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions).

[0098] For this purpose, the processing step of the method described herein may be performed at least partially at a temperature of about 60°C to about 155°C, or any range within that, for example, but not limited to, about 70°C to about 140°C or about 75°C to about 130°C, when, for example, when extracting both terpene and rosin fractions from a wood substrate using a chemical agent. The processing temperature may be higher than the melting point of the rosin fraction at the pressure under which the processing step of (i) is performed (e.g., higher than about 73°C at atmospheric pressure). Similarly, the processing temperature may be lower than the boiling point of the terpene fraction (e.g., pinene) at the pressure under which the processing step of (i) is performed (e.g., lower than about 155 to 156°C at atmospheric pressure).

[0099] The processing steps of the method described herein are approximately 60°C, 61°C, 62°C, 63°C, 64°C, 65°C, 66°C, 67°C, 68°C, 69°C, 70°C, 71°C, 72°C, 73°C, 74°C, 75°C, 76°C, 77°C, 78°C, 79°C, 80°C, 81°C, 82°C, 83°C, 84°C, 85°C, 86°C, 87°C, 88°C, 89°C, 90°C, 91°C, 92°C, 93°C, 94°C, 95°C, 96°C, 97°C, 98°C, 99°C, 100°C, 101°C, 102°C, 103°C, 104°C, 105°C, 106°C, 107°C, 108°C, 109°C, 110°C, 111°C, 1 It may be performed at 12°C, 113°C, 114°C, 115°C, 116°C, 117°C, 118°C, 119°C, 120°C, 121°C, 122°C, 123°C, 124°C, 125°C, 126°C, 127°C, 128°C, 129°C, 130°C, 131°C, 132°C, 133°C, 134°C, 135°C, 136°C, 137°C, 138°C, 139°C, 140°C, 141°C, 142°C, 143°C, 144°C, 145°C, 146°C, 147°C, 148°C, 149°C, 150°C, 151°C, 152°C, 153°C, 154°C, 155°C, or any range within that range. The processing step (i) may be performed at a temperature of approximately 75°C to approximately 155°C.

[0100] Furthermore, the processing steps of the methods described herein may be carried out or performed over a period of time of about 5 minutes to about 240 minutes, or any range within that period, for example, but not limited to, about 5 minutes to about 100 minutes, or about 10 minutes to about 90 minutes. The processing steps of (i) may be carried out over a period of about 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 10 1, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138 The process may be carried out over a period of 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, 235, 240 minutes, or any range within that period. The processing step in (i) may be carried out over a period of about 15 minutes to about 120 minutes. More specifically, the processing step of the method described herein may be carried out over a period of about 30 minutes to about 90 minutes. Even more specifically, the processing step may be carried out over a period of about 45 minutes to about 75 minutes.

[0101] For the processing steps of the methods described herein, the agent may be present in an amount of about 10% to about 200% by weight of the resin-rich wood, or any range within that, for example, but not limited to, about 20% to about 150% by weight, about 30% to about 100% by weight, or about 50% to about 70% by weight (i.e., the ratio of the agent to the resin-rich wood). The chemicals are applied to wood containing a lot of resin at approximately 10%, 11%, 12%, 13%, 14%, 15%, 16%, 17%, 18%, 19%, 20%, 21%, 22%, 23%, 24%, 25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%, 40%, 41%, and 4%. 2% by weight, 43% by weight, 44% by weight, 45% by weight, 46% by weight, 47% by weight, 48% by weight, 49% by weight, 50% by weight, 51% by weight, 52% by weight, 53% by weight, 54% by weight, 55% by weight, 56% by weight, 57% by weight, 58% by weight, 59% by weight Amount%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77% by weight, 78% by weight, 79% by weight, 80% by weight, 81% by weight, 82% by weight, 83% by weight, 84% by weight, 85% by weight, 86% by weight, 87% by weight, 88% by weight, 89% by weight, 90% by weight, 91% by weight, 92% by weight, 93% by weight, 94 Weight%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 100%, 101%, 102%, 103%, 104%, 105%, 106%, 107%, 108%, 109%, 1 10% by weight, 111% by weight, 112% by weight, 113% by weight, 114% by weight, 115% by weight, 116% by weight, 117% by weight, 118% by weight, 119% by weight, 120% by weight, 121% by weight, 122% by weight, 123% by weight, 124% by weight, 125% by weight, 126% by weight, 127% by weight, 128% by weight, 129% by weight, 130% by weight, 131% by weight, 132% by weight, 133% by weight, 134% by weight, 135% by weight, 136% by weight, 137% by weight, 138% by weight, 139% by weight,140 weight%, 141 weight%, 142 weight%, 143 weight%, 144 weight%, 145 weight%, 146 weight%, 147 weight%, 148 weight%, 149 weight%, 150 weight%, 151 weight%, 152 weight%, 153 weight%, 154 weight%, 155 weight%, 156% by weight, 157% by weight, 158% by weight, 159% by weight, 160% by weight, 161% by weight, 162% by weight, 163% by weight, 164% by weight, 165% by weight, 166% by weight, 167% by weight, 168% by weight, 169% by weight, 170% by weight, 171% by weight, It may exist in any range within the following quantities: 172% by weight, 173% by weight, 174% by weight, 175% by weight, 176% by weight, 177% by weight, 178% by weight, 179% by weight, 180% by weight, 181% by weight, 182% by weight, 183% by weight, 184% by weight, 185% by weight, 186% by weight, 187% by weight, 188% by weight, 189% by weight, 190% by weight, 191% by weight, 192% by weight, 193% by weight, 194% by weight, 195% by weight, 196% by weight, 197% by weight, 198% by weight, 199% by weight, 200% by weight, or any range within these quantities.

[0102] Wood substrates, and more specifically, resinous wood, may be treated with agents containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes. In this regard, the agent may be considered a terpene solvent. Terpenes (including those described herein and mixtures thereof) may be present in the agent in amounts of about 50% to about 100% by weight of the agent, or any range within that range, for example, but not limited to, about 60% to about 80% by weight, about 70% to about 90% by weight, or about 80% to about 100% by weight of the agent. Terpenes make up approximately 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, and 7% of the drug weight. Terpenes may be present in amounts of 6% by weight, 77% by weight, 78% by weight, 79% by weight, 80% by weight, 81% by weight, 82% by weight, 83% by weight, 84% by weight, 85% by weight, 86% by weight, 87% by weight, 88% by weight, 89% by weight, 90% by weight, 91% by weight, 92% by weight, 93% by weight, 94% by weight, 95% by weight, 96% by weight, 97% by weight, 98% by weight, 99% by weight, 100% by weight, or any range within that range. Terpenes may be present in amounts of approximately 90% to approximately 100% by weight of the drug.

[0103] The terpenes in the agent may, at least in part, be recovered, recycled, or derived from terpene fractions previously extracted from resin-rich wood, residual wood portions, and / or from agents previously used to treat wood substrates (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions). In this regard, the recovered, recycled, or derived terpenes may be in a partially or completely purified or refined form. In this regard, the method may include a further step of recycling terpene fractions extracted from wood substrates (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions) and / or agents for use in the treatment step, or from agents used as agents in the treatment step. Thus, the agent may contain the same or similar terpene composition as the terpene fraction extracted therefrom. In addition, the recovered or recycled terpenes described herein may be subjected to one or more processes, such as purification or filtration, to make them more suitable and / or advantageous for use in this disclosure without being converted to “pure” or technical grade / refined (e.g., of greater than 97% purity) terpenes or turpentine oils.

[0104] The method of this disclosure may extract at least partially rosin and / or terpene fractions present in a wood substrate, and more specifically, in resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions. For this purpose, the method may extract exactly 100% or less of the rosin and / or terpene fractions present in the wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions). This method may result in the extraction and / or recovery of approximately 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 100%, or any range thereof of the rosin and / or terpene fraction present in the wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portion) before treatment by the method described herein.

[0105] Wood substrates (including resin-rich wood and / or residual wood) may be reduced in size, subdivided, fragmented, or reduced (e.g., pulverized, crushed, flakened, chopped, or pulverized) prior to the processing steps described herein and / or prior to the processing steps described herein. In this regard, solid wood such as logs and stumps may be subdivided into smaller pieces or fragments, e.g., strands, fibers, flakes, and / or chips, prior to the processing steps described herein, to aid in the extraction of rosin and / or terpene fractions therefrom. Wood substrates (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood) may be subjected to a step to reduce their size to achieve a target particle size as described herein. Thus, wood substrates, and more specifically, resin-rich wood and / or residual wood, may include wood chips or flakes derived from one or more resin-rich trees as described herein. It is further assumed that the wood substrate may be subdivided by any suitable means known in the art, such as conventional wood chippers, slow or low-speed shredders, hammer mills and / or wet grinders.

[0106] In certain cases, the wood substrate is reduced in size or fragmented at least partially by a low-speed shredder. A benefit of low-speed shredders is that they reduce frictional heat, thereby preventing or minimizing the evaporation of some of the terpene fractions within them. Low-speed shredders may also offer advantages such as reduced maintenance requirements, extended equipment life, and effective removal of debris and contaminants from the wood substrate before further processing.

[0107] Considering the above, wood substrates (e.g., wood containing a lot of resin and / or residual wood) are approximately 0.01 cm 3 ~about 1cm 3(For example, approximately 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.5, 0.55, 0.6, 0.65, 0.7, 0.75, 0.8, 0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 1cm) 3 It may include a wood portion or piece having a volume of, or any range within that volume.

[0108] Furthermore, wood substrates that are treated with chemicals or heat-treated (e.g., wood and / or residual wood containing a high amount of resin) are approximately 0.03 cm 2 ~about 0.5cm 2 (For example, approximately 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.5 cm) 2 It may include a wood portion or piece having a surface area of, or any range thereof.

[0109] Furthermore, wood substrates (e.g., wood containing a lot of resin and / or residual wood) are approximately 0.01 cm to approximately 1.5 cm (e.g., approximately 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.5, 0.55, 0.6, 0.65, It may include a wooden piece having dimensions (e.g., maximum dimension, average dimension, or median dimension) of 0.7, 0.75, 0.8, 0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 1, 1.05, 1.1, 1.15, 1.2, 1.25, 1.3, 1.35, 1.4, 1.45, 1.5 cm or any range therein), such as length, width, or diameter (e.g., average diameter). The dimensions of the wooden piece may be about 0.1 to about 0.6 cm. The dimensions of the wooden piece may be about 0.2 to about 0.5 cm. The dimensions of the wooden piece may be about 0.3 to about 0.6 cm. The dimensions of the wooden piece may be about 0.3 to about 0.5 cm. The dimensions of the wooden piece may be about 0.2 to about 0.6 cm.

[0110] The processing steps of the methods described herein may include a step of sieving the wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions) to ensure its appropriate size and / or surface area. The wood substrate removed or separated by this sieving step, or more specifically, a portion of the resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions, may then be subjected to further subdivision steps until a size or surface area suitable for treatment by chemical or heat treatment is achieved. Thus, the wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portions) may be sieved before the processing steps to remove wood portions having a volume, surface area, and / or dimensions larger than any of the aforementioned values. The wood substrate (including wood containing a large amount of resin and / or residual wood portions) may be sieved before the processing step to remove wood portions having dimensions (e.g., length, width, or diameter) greater than approximately 0.15 cm, 0.20 cm, 0.25 cm, 0.30 cm, 0.35 cm, 0.40 cm, 0.45 cm, 0.50 cm, 0.60 cm, 0.70 cm, 0.80 cm, 0.90 cm, or 1.0 cm.

[0111] In general, the time between the initial step of subdividing the wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portion) and the processing step may be about 12 hours or less (e.g., about 12 hours, 11 hours, 10 hours, 9 hours, 8 hours, 7 hours, 6 hours, 5 hours, 4 hours, 3 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour, 0.5 hours, 0.25 hours, 0.1 hours, or any range within that range), about 8 hours or less, about 4 hours or less, about 2 hours or less, about 1 hour or less, about 30 minutes or less, about 15 minutes or less, or about 5 minutes or less. In this regard, those skilled in the art will understand that the step of processing the wood substrate, or more specifically, the resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portion, may be performed almost immediately after the subdivision step of the present invention. Again, this ensures that the terpene fraction and / or rosin fraction are retained in the log or wood core for as long as possible without loss of the terpene portion due to evaporation and / or adverse effects on the quality of the rosin fraction due to oxidation. In certain cases, the wood substrate after the subdivision step is stored in a storage unit, more specifically, under vacuum or negative pressure to minimize evaporation of the terpene fraction from it.

[0112] The method may further include a step of separating a rosin fraction from a terpene fraction extracted from a wood substrate, or more specifically from resin-rich wood. As used herein, the term “separating a rosin fraction from a terpene fraction” means separating a mixture of molecules containing rosin and terpenes into a first fraction of molecules having a higher concentration of rosin or substantially containing rosin, and a second fraction of molecules having a higher concentration of terpenes (including terpenes from pharmaceuticals) or substantially containing terpenes. In this regard, it will be understood that the terpene fraction may be separated from the rosin fraction together with the pharmaceutical, since the pharmaceutical also contains terpenes and preferably originates from a terpene fraction previously extracted from a wood substrate, or more preferably from resin-rich wood, as described herein. Such separation may be carried out by any method or means known in the art, such as distillation, fractionation, chromatographic separation, crystallization, or extraction.

[0113] Each rosin and terpene fraction may be separated, at least partially, by distillation. The term “distillation” refers to the process of physically separating chemical components into a vapor phase or vapor stream and a liquid phase or liquid stream based on the difference in boiling points and vapor pressures of each component at a specific temperature and pressure. Distillation typically takes place in a distillation column or chamber, usually comprising a series of vertically spaced plates. The feed stream enters the distillation column at an intermediate point that divides the distillation column into two sections. The upper section may also be called the straightening section, and the bottom section may be called the stripping section. In each plate, condensation and vaporization occur, with low-boiling-point components, such as the terpene fraction, rising to the top of the distillation column, and high-boiling-point components, such as the rosin fraction, falling to the bottom. A reboiler is located at the base of the distillation column and adds thermal energy. As those skilled in the art will understand, energy recovery and process flow recycling can be applied to improve the efficiency of the plant. A “bottom” product or liquid flow, preferably containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of, a rosin fraction, can then be removed directly from the base of the distillation column. Generally, the flow in the straight section of the distillation column is maintained by using a reflux pump to pressurize and return a portion of the distillate to the distillation column.

[0114] A condenser may be located above the distillation column and operably connected to the distillation column to condense the vapor or gaseous flow released from the top of the distillation column to produce a distillate. The associated condenser and liquid separation vessel, which may be used with the distillation column, may be of any conventional design. In relation to this disclosure, the distillate may include a terpene fraction, an agent used to extract the terpene fraction, and a water fraction, if vapor is optionally used in the distillation process. Thus, the method may further include a step of separating the terpene fraction and / or agent from the distillate, particularly if the distillate includes, for example, a water fraction.

[0115] Distillation conditions such as feed rate, feed pressure, feed temperature, column pressure, column temperature, reflux rate, and distillation time are appropriate for the efficient separation of the rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction (including pharmaceuticals) within the distillation column.

[0116] During the distillation step, the mixture of the terpene fraction, rosin fraction, and pharmaceuticals may be heated to approximately 150°C to approximately 250°C or approximately 150°C to approximately 300°C (for example, approximately 150°C, 155°C, 160°C, 165°C, 170°C, 175°C, 180°C, 185°C, 190°C, 195°C, 200°C, 205°C, 210°C, 215°C, 220°C, 225°C, 230°C, 235°C, 240°C, 245°C, 250°C, 255°C, 260°C, 265°C, 270°C, 275°C, 280°C, 285°C, 290°C, 295°C, 300°C, or any range within that range).

[0117] The method may further include a subsequent step of heating or heat-treating the resin-rich wood treated with the chemical to remove at least partially any residual chemical and / or terpene fraction therefrom. Such heating may be carried out by any method or means known in the art to thermally evaporate any residual chemical and terpene fraction from the treated resin-rich wood. Wood containing a high proportion of the treated resin may be heat-treated at a temperature of approximately 150°C to approximately 300°C (for example, approximately 150°C, 155°C, 160°C, 165°C, 170°C, 175°C, 180°C, 185°C, 190°C, 195°C, 200°C, 205°C, 210°C, 215°C, 220°C, 225°C, 230°C, 235°C, 240°C, 245°C, 250°C, 255°C, 260°C, 265°C, 270°C, 275°C, 280°C, 285°C, 290°C, 295°C, 300°C, or any range within that range). This heat treatment step may also be carried out over a period of approximately 5 minutes to approximately 30 minutes (for example, approximately 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 minutes, or any range within that range).

[0118] A wood substrate, or more specifically, wood containing a high percentage of resin, may be treated with a chemical and then steam-treated in, for example, a desolvator or desolvator-burner to generate a further gas flow. This further gas flow may be brought into contact with a further separator (e.g., a further condenser) to facilitate the separation of further portions of the chemical and terpene fractions from the water fraction derived from the vapor. Considering the density difference between the chemical / terpene fraction and the water fraction, gravity separation can be used to separate the less dense chemical / terpene fraction by floating it above the denser water fraction. The remaining portions of the chemical and terpene fractions may then be removed from the further separator or condenser and transferred to a central storage container, if necessary.

[0119] The processing steps of the methods described herein may include a final scrubbing step of the residual gas stream. In this regard, the residual gas stream from one or more separators or condensers may be brought into contact with a scrubbing device (e.g., a wet scrubber or other scrubbing device known in the art) to remove any further residual terpene fractions and / or agents therefrom. These further residual terpene fractions and / or agents may then be separated by yet another separator or condenser or decanting and transferred to a central storage container for the terpene fractions and agents.

[0120] For these processing steps of the methods described herein, which are designed or configured to simply extract a terpene fraction from a wood substrate (e.g., the residual wood portion thereof) (and preferably configured to extract only the terpene fraction and not the rosin fraction), the processing step is preferably a heat treatment step or includes a heat treatment step. In this regard, the wood substrate, or more specifically, the residual wood portion which contains little to no rosin, does not need to be brought into contact with the agents described herein, because it is not necessary to remove the rosin fraction from the residual wood portion.

[0121] Such heat treatment steps may be performed at least partially at temperatures of about 160°C to about 300°C (e.g., 160°C, 165°C, 170°C, 175°C, 180°C, 185°C, 190°C, 195°C, 200°C, 205°C, 210°C, 215°C, 220°C, 225°C, 230°C, 235°C, 240°C, 245°C, 250°C, 255°C, 260°C, 265°C, 270°C, 275°C, 280°C, 285°C, 290°C, 295°C, 300°C, or any range within that range), for example, but not limited to, about 170°C to about 270°C, about 180°C to about 250°C, about 190°C to about 230°C or about 200°C to about 260°C. Preferably, the treatment temperature is higher than the boiling point of the terpene fraction (e.g., pinene) at the pressure at which the treatment step (i) is performed (e.g., higher than about 155–156°C at atmospheric pressure) to “flash off” or convert the terpene fraction from the wood source to be heat-treated into a gaseous form (e.g., a gaseous stream containing the terpene fraction). In such examples, the heat treatment step may include heating or contacting the wood substrate with steam (e.g., saturated steam) at temperatures such as about 170°C–270°C, more specifically about 180°C–250°C, or even more specifically about 190°C–230°C. In some examples, the heat treatment step includes heating or contacting a wood substrate with one or more heating elements or trays (e.g., heating internally by recirculating steam, water, or oil) at temperatures such as about 170°C to about 270°C, more specifically about 180°C to about 250°C, or even more specifically about 190°C to about 230°C. Such a treatment step may be carried out in any suitable treatment vessel (e.g., a desolvator or desolvator-burner) known in the art and including those described herein.

[0122] Furthermore, it is conceivable that the above processing or heat treatment step may be carried out or performed over a period of approximately 5 minutes to approximately 240 minutes, or any range within that period, for example, not limited to, approximately 15 minutes to approximately 100 minutes, or approximately 30 minutes to approximately 120 minutes. The heat treatment step may be carried out over a period of approximately 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 , 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101 ,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138, The process may be carried out over a period of 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, 235, 240 minutes, or any range within that period. The heat treatment step may be carried out over a period of approximately 15 minutes to approximately 120 minutes. More specifically, the heat treatment step may be carried out over a period of approximately 30 minutes to approximately 90 minutes. Even more specifically, the heat treatment step may be carried out over a period of approximately 45 minutes to approximately 75 minutes.

[0123] Preferably, the aforementioned processing or heat treatment step generates a gaseous stream containing a terpene fraction and a water fraction at least partially derived from vapor. This gaseous stream may then be separated into its component fractions by any separation means or method known in the art, such as those described herein. In certain examples, the terpene fraction is separated from the water fraction at least partially by distillation and condensation, as described herein. The terpene fraction may then be removed from the separator or condenser and, if necessary, transferred to a central storage container.

[0124] Methods for chemical extraction may be described in PCT / AU2021 / 050622, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0125] Biomass fuel As used herein, the term “biomass” broadly refers to organic materials, meaning materials derived from living organisms such as plants and animals. The most common biomass materials used for energy are plants, wood, and waste. Biomass energy can also be used as a renewable energy source.

[0126] As used herein, the term “biomass fuel” refers to a renewable energy source derived from biomass of wood substrates (e.g., resinous wood and / or residual wood parts) that can be burned to generate heat or electricity.

[0127] The time between the processing step and the machining step in the method described herein may be about 120 minutes or less, about 90 minutes or less, about 60 minutes or less, about 45 minutes or less, about 40 minutes or less, about 35 minutes or less, about 30 minutes or less, about 25 minutes or less, about 20 minutes or less, about 15 minutes or less, about 10 minutes or less (e.g., 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 minute, or any range therein), about 5 minutes or less, or about 1 minute or less. In this regard, those skilled in the art will understand that the machining step may be performed almost immediately after the processing step in the method described herein. This makes it possible to use the heat or thermal energy generated from the processing step to assist the machining step.

[0128] Furthermore, the processing steps of the methods described herein may be carried out or performed over a period of time of approximately 5 minutes to approximately 240 minutes, or any range within that period, for example, but not limited to, approximately 5 minutes to approximately 100 minutes, or approximately 10 minutes to approximately 90 minutes. The processing steps of the methods described herein may be carried out over a period of approximately 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 10 0, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 13 The process may be carried out over a period of 8, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 155, 160, 165, 170, 175, 180, 185, 190, 195, 200, 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, 235, 240 minutes, or any range within that period. The processing steps of the method described herein may be carried out over a period of about 15 minutes to about 120 minutes.

[0129] The wood substrate (e.g., wood containing a large amount of treated resin and / or treated residual wood parts) may be in a granular form for the processing steps of the methods described herein. Thus, the processing steps of the method may include a step of grinding and / or crushing the wood substrate (including wood containing a large amount of treated resin, untreated residual wood parts and / or treated residual wood parts) to form its granular form. The grinding step may include dry grinding. Alternatively, the grinding step may include wet grinding. The grinding and / or crushing step may be performed by any suitable means known in the art.

[0130] As used herein, the term "granular form" refers to particles of a wood substrate (e.g., wood containing a large amount of resin and / or residual wood parts) decomposed as a result of grinding and / or crushing. The granular form of the wood substrate, and more specifically, the wood containing a large amount of resin and / or residual wood parts, may also include droplets such as water, thereby generating a slurry.

[0131] The wood substrate (e.g., wood containing a large amount of treated resin and / or residual wood parts) in its granular form may have a volume of about 0.01 cm 3 to about 1 cm 3 (e.g., about 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.5, 0.55, 0.6, 0.65, 0.7, 0.75, 0.8, 0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 1 cm 3 [[ID=ID=14]]The wood substrate (e.g., wood containing a large amount of treated resin and / or residual wood parts) in its granular form may have a volume of about 0.03 cm 2 to about 0.5 cm 2 (e.g., about 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.5 cm 2The wood substrate (e.g., wood and / or residual wood) may have a surface area of ​​approximately 0.01 cm to approximately 0.8 cm (e.g., approximately 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, 0.45, 0.5, 0.55, 0.6, 0.65, 0.7, 0.75, 0.8, or any range therein) in its granular form, e.g., length, width or diameter. The dimensions of the wood substrate (e.g., wood and / or residual wood) may be approximately 0.1 to approximately 0.35 cm in its granular form.

[0132] The processing steps of the methods described herein may include drying the granular form of the wood substrate (e.g., treated resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portion) to at least partially reduce the moisture content of the granular form. In an alternative example, the processing steps of the methods disclosed herein may include drying the wood substrate (e.g., the processed form of resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portion) before the step of crushing and / or shredding the treated wood substrate (i.e., before generating its granular form).

[0133] Such drying may be carried out by any method or means known in the art for evaporating water from a wood substrate (e.g., in its granular form), and more specifically by heat. A wood substrate (e.g., wood and / or residual wood containing a large amount of treated resin, including its granular or non-granular form) may be dried to reduce its moisture content to less than about 30% by weight, less than about 20% by weight, or less than about 10% by weight (e.g., less than about 30% by weight, less than 29% by weight, less than 28% by weight, less than 27% by weight, less than 26% by weight, less than 25% by weight, less than 24% by weight, less than 23% by weight, less than 22% by weight, less than 21% by weight, less than 20% by weight, less than 19% by weight, less than 18% by weight, less than 17% by weight, less than 16% by weight, less than 15% by weight, less than 14% by weight, less than 13% by weight, less than 12% by weight, less than 11% by weight, less than 10% by weight, less than 9% by weight, less than 8% by weight, less than 7% by weight, less than 6% by weight, less than 5% by weight, less than 4% by weight, less than 3% by weight, less than 2% by weight, or less than 1% by weight). The drying step may be performed at approximately 50°C, 60°C, 70°C, 80°C, 90°C, 100°C, 101°C, 102°C, 103°C, 104°C, 105°C, 106°C, 107°C, 108°C, 109°C, 110°C, 111°C, 112°C, 113°C, 114°C, 115°C, 116°C, 117°C, 118°C, 119°C, 120°C, 121°C, 122°C, 123°C, 124°C, 125°C, 126°C, 127°C, 128°C, 129°C, 130°C, 131°C, 132°C, 133°C, 134°C, 135°C, 136°C, 137°C, 138°C, 139°C, 140°C, or any range within that range. This drying step may be carried out over a period of about 5 to about 60 minutes (for example, about 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 minutes, or any range therein). The drying step of the present invention for a wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood in granular or non-granular form) may be carried out over a period of time that is sufficient or suitable to at least partially reduce its moisture content. The drying step may be carried out by any means known in the art, for example, by a belt dryer or a horizontal dryer.

[0134] The processing step of the method described herein may include a step of sieving the granular form of the wood substrate (e.g., treated resin-rich wood and / or residual wood) after the processing step of the method of the present invention in order to ensure its appropriate size and / or surface area. The wood substrate removed or separated by this sieving step, e.g., a portion of the resin-rich wood and / or residual wood, may then be subjected to further crushing and / or grinding steps until a suitable size or surface area is achieved. Alternatively, the wood substrate removed or separated by this sieving step, e.g., a portion of the resin-rich wood and / or residual wood, may be recycled and used to generate heat or electricity by combustion or the like.

[0135] The wood substrate (including wood containing a high proportion of treated resin and residual wood portions) may be sieved in its granular form to remove wood portions having a volume, surface area, and / or dimensions greater than any of the aforementioned values. In some examples, the wood substrate (e.g., wood containing a high proportion of treated resin and / or residual wood portions) may be sieved in its granular form to remove wood portions having dimensions (e.g., maximum dimension, average dimension, or median dimension) greater than approximately 0.15 cm, approximately 0.20 cm, approximately 0.25 cm, approximately 0.30 cm, approximately 0.35 cm, approximately 0.40 cm, approximately 0.45 cm, or approximately 0.50 cm, such as length, width, or diameter.

[0136] The processing steps of the methods described herein may include a step of compressing a granular form of a wood substrate (e.g., wood and / or residual wood portion containing a high concentration of treated resin) to form a compressed form. Alternatively, the processing steps of the methods may include a step of compressing a heat-treated granular form of wood containing a high concentration of treated resin. For this purpose, it is assumed that the heat treatment step and the compression step may be performed in any order (i.e., the heat treatment step is performed first, followed by the compression step, or the compression step is performed first, followed by the heat treatment step). In certain examples, the granular form of a wood substrate is brought into contact with or treated with steam (e.g., saturated steam) so that the granular form can be heated and molded or compressed into a compressed form.

[0137] The term “compressed form” as used herein refers to biomass that has been pressed, compressed, or compacted. Compressed forms of biomass may form larger granules, press-formed products, pellets, briquettes, discs, cubes, or press-formed products. Any shape may be intended using any compression equipment that forms the biomass fuel into a desired shape. For example, the shape of the compressed form of biomass may depend on how and in what device the biomass fuel will be burned. Biomass fuel in the form of press-formed products, pellets, or briquettes may be suitable for heating in private homes. When using biomass fuel in large-scale energy power plants such as biomass power plants, larger volume products may be used. Compressed forms of granular wood substrates (including wood and residual wood parts with high levels of treated resin) may be pellets. Alternatively, compressed forms of wood with high levels of treated resin may be briquettes. The step of compressing a resin-rich granular form of wood may be carried out over a period of time under conditions sufficient or suitable to produce a biomass fuel that is pressed, compressed, and / or compacted.

[0138] The processing step of the method of the present invention may include a step of heat-treating a compressed form of a wood substrate (e.g., wood and / or residual wood portion containing a large amount of treated resin). Alternatively, the processing step of the method disclosed herein may include a step of heat-treating a granular form of a wood substrate (e.g., wood and / or residual wood portion containing a large amount of treated resin).

[0139] According to some examples, the heat treatment step of a compressed or granular form of a wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood portion) is performed at approximately 20°C, 21°C, 22°C, 23°C, 24°C, 25°C, 26°C, 27°C, 28°C, 29°C, 30°C, 31°C, 32°C, 33°C, 34°C, 35°C, 36°C, 37°C, 38°C, 39°C, 40°C, 41°C, 42°C, 43°C, 44°C, 45°C, 46°C, 47°C, 48°C, 49°C, 50°C, 51°C, 52°C, 53°C, 54°C, 55°C, 56°C, 57°C, 58°C, 59°C, and 60°C. , 61℃, 62℃, 63℃, 64℃, 65℃, 66℃, 67℃, 68℃, 69℃, 70℃, 71℃, 72℃, 73℃, 74℃, 75℃, 76℃, 77℃, 78℃, 79℃, 80℃, 81℃, 82℃, 83℃, 84℃, 85℃, 86℃, 87℃, 88℃, 89℃, 90℃, 91℃, 92℃, 93℃, 94℃, 95℃, 96℃, 97℃, 98℃, 99℃, 100℃, 101℃, 102℃, 103℃, 104℃, 105℃, 106℃, 107℃, 108℃, 109℃, 110℃, 111℃, 112℃, 113℃, 11 4℃, 115℃, 116℃, 117℃, 118℃, 119℃, 120℃, 121℃, 122℃, 123℃, 124℃, 125℃, 126℃, 127℃, 128℃, 129℃, 130℃, 131℃, 132℃, 133℃, 134℃, 135℃, 136℃, 137℃, 138℃, 139℃, 140℃, 141℃, 142℃, 143℃, 144℃, 145℃, 146℃, 147℃, 148℃, 149℃, 150℃, 151℃, 152℃, 153℃, 154℃, 155℃, 156℃, 157℃, 158℃, 159℃, 1 The process may be carried out at 60°C, 161°C, 162°C, 163°C, 164°C, 165°C, 166°C, 167°C, 168°C, 169°C, 170°C, 171°C, 172°C, 173°C, 174°C, 175°C, 176°C, 177°C, 178°C, 179°C, 180°C, 181°C, 182°C, 183°C, 184°C, 185°C, 186°C, 187°C, 188°C, 189°C, 190°C, 191°C, 192°C, 193°C, 194°C, 195°C, 196°C, 197°C, 198°C, 199°C, 200°C, or any range within that range. In certain examples, the heat treatment step is performed at temperatures of approximately 30°C to 150°C, approximately 35°C to 120°C, approximately 40°C to 100°C, approximately 40°C to 80°C, or approximately 30°C to 100°C.

[0140] More specifically, the heat treatment step may be carried out at temperatures of approximately 20°C, 21°C, 22°C, 23°C, 24°C, 25°C, 26°C, 27°C, 28°C, 29°C, 30°C, 31°C, 32°C, 33°C, 34°C, 35°C, 36°C, 37°C, 38°C, 39°C, 40°C, 41°C, 42°C, 43°C, 44°C, 45°C, 46°C, 47°C, 48°C, 49°C, 50°C, 51°C, 52°C, 53°C, 54°C, 55°C, 56°C, 57°C, 58°C, 59°C, 60°C, 61°C, 62°C, 63°C, 64°C, 65°C, 66°C, 67°C, 68°C, 69°C, 70°C, or any range within that range. In certain examples, the heat treatment step is performed at temperatures of approximately 30°C to 70°C, 35°C to 65°C, 40°C to 60°C, or 45°C to 55°C.

[0141] Alternatively, the heat treatment step can be approximately 200°C, 201°C, 202°C, 203°C, 204°C, 205°C, 206°C, 207°C, 208°C, 209°C, 210°C, 211°C, 212°C, 213°C, 214°C, 215°C, 216°C, 217°C, 218°C, 219°C, 220°C, 221°C, 222°C, 223°C, 224°C, 225°C, 226°C, 227°C, 228°C, 229°C, 230°C, 231°C, 232°C, 233°C, 234°C, 235°C, 236°C. 237℃, 238℃, 239℃, 240℃, 241℃, 242℃, 243℃, 244℃, 245℃, 246℃, 247℃, 248℃, 249℃, 250℃, 251℃, 252℃, 253℃, 254℃, 255℃, 256℃, 257℃, 258℃, 259℃, 260℃, 261℃, 262℃, 263℃, 264℃, 265℃, 266℃, 267℃, 268℃, 269℃, 270℃, 271℃, 272℃, 273℃, 274℃, 275℃, 276℃ 277℃, 278℃, 279℃, 280℃, 281℃, 282℃, 283℃, 284℃, 285℃, 286℃, 287℃, 288℃, 289℃, 290℃, 291℃, 292℃, 293℃, 294℃, 295℃, 296℃, 297℃, 298℃, 299℃, 300℃, 300℃, 301℃, 302℃, 303℃, 304℃, 305℃, 306℃, 307℃, 308℃, 309℃, 310℃, 311℃, 312℃, 313℃, 314℃, 315℃ The process may be carried out at 316°C, 317°C, 318°C, 319°C, 320°C, 321°C, 322°C, 323°C, 324°C, 325°C, 326°C, 327°C, 328°C, 329°C, 330°C, 331°C, 332°C, 333°C, 334°C, 335°C, 336°C, 337°C, 338°C, 339°C, 340°C, 341°C, 342°C, 343°C, 344°C, 345°C, 346°C, 347°C, 348°C, 349°C, 350°C, or any range within that range. In certain examples, the heat treatment step is performed at temperatures of approximately 200°C to 350°C, 210°C to 340°C, 220°C to 330°C, 230°C to 320°C, 235°C to 310°C, or 240°C to 300°C.

[0142] This heat treatment step may be carried out over a period of approximately 5 to 60 minutes (for example, approximately 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 minutes, or any range within that). The step of heating the wood substrate (e.g., granular or compressed form of resin-rich wood and / or residual wood) may be carried out over a period of time under conditions sufficient or suitable for producing biomass fuel. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the timing of the heat treatment step will depend on the size of the granular or compressed form of the wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood), as well as its temperature.

[0143] As those skilled in the art will understand, the step of compressing and heating a granular form of a wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood) may include passing the granular form through a compression chamber to a heat treatment chamber. Alternatively, the step of compressing and heating a granular form of a wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood) may include passing the granular form through a heat treatment chamber to a compression chamber. In another alternative example, the steps of compressing and heating a granular form of a wood substrate (including resin-rich wood) may be performed simultaneously.

[0144] As used herein, the term “pellets” refers to granular biomass that has been heated and compacted to form a high-density biomass fuel in the form of small, round, compressed lumps. In certain examples, pellets have dimensions, e.g., diameter, or more specifically, average diameter, ranging from about 0.5 mm to about 10 mm (e.g., about 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10 mm, or any range within that range). In certain examples, pellets have dimensions, e.g., diameter, or more specifically, average diameter, ranging from about 1 mm to about 5 mm. In other examples, pellets have diameters, e.g., average diameter, ranging from about 6 mm to about 8 mm.

[0145] As used herein, the term “briquette” refers to a granular form of biomass that has been heated and compacted to form a high-density biomass fuel in the form of compressed blocks.

[0146] White biomass fuel may be produced by heat-treating a wood substrate, and more specifically, a granular and / or compressed form of wood containing a high proportion of treated resin, at temperatures of about 20°C to about 200°C, more specifically about 20°C to about 100°C, or even more specifically about 30°C to about 70°C. As used herein, the term “white” refers to biomass such as wood containing a high proportion of treated resin that has been heated to a maximum temperature of 200°C or less. The resulting biomass fuel may be white pellets. The resulting biomass fuel may be white briquettes. The resulting biomass fuel may be white discs. The resulting biomass fuel may be white cubes. The resulting biomass fuel may be white press-formed products.

[0147] Torrefied biomass fuel is produced by treating a wood substrate, and more specifically, a granular and / or compressed form of wood containing a high concentration of treated resin, at temperatures of approximately 200°C to approximately 350°C. For this purpose, the wood substrate (e.g., wood containing a high concentration of treated resin) may be subjected to torrefaction or a torrefaction step. For such temperature conditions, the heat treatment step is preferably carried out in a low-oxygen, anoxial, or oxygen-depleted environment (e.g., an environment containing less than approximately 15%, less than approximately 10%, less than approximately 5%, or less than approximately 1% oxygen). As used herein, the term “torrefied” refers to biomass such as wood containing a high concentration of treated resin that has been heated to a minimum temperature of 200°C (undergoing mild form of pyrolysis). The resulting biomass fuel may be torrefied pellets. The resulting biomass fuel may be torrefied briquettes. The resulting biomass fuel may be torrefied discs. The resulting biomass fuel may be torrefied cubes. The resulting biomass fuel may be a torrefied press molded product. The heat treatment step may be carried out at atmospheric pressure at a temperature of approximately 240°C to approximately 350°C. The heat treatment step may be carried out at atmospheric pressure at a temperature of 260°C to 270°C. The heat treatment step may be carried out at atmospheric pressure at a temperature of approximately 240°C to approximately 300°C. The heat treatment step may be carried out in the absence or substantial absence of oxygen (e.g., less than 1%, 0.5%, or 0.1%).

[0148] Torrefaction treatments may be described in U.S. Patent Nos. 8,252,966, 8,246,788, or 9,359,556, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0149] Those skilled in the art will understand that binders may be used to improve the mechanical strength of pellets, provide lubricity to control the press temperature and enable high throughput, increase the polymerization reaction of natural binders present in the biomass, improve hydrophobic properties, alter the thermoplasticity of natural binders, and / or alter the ash melting temperature of components present in the biomass.

[0150] The biomass fuel may be free of or substantially free of impurities (for example, containing impurities of about 0.5% by weight, 0.2% by weight, 0.1% by weight, or 0.05% by weight or less of the biomass fuel).

[0151] The processing steps of the methods described herein may include steps to reduce, subdivide, fragment, or decrease the size of a wood substrate (e.g., treated resin-rich wood and / or residual wood) beyond the processing steps provided herein (e.g., pulverizing, crushing, flakeping, shredding, and dusting). The wood substrate (e.g., treated resin-rich wood and / or residual wood) may be subdivided into smaller pieces or fragments, such as strands, fibers, flakes, and / or chips, to help produce its compressed form. The wood substrate (e.g., treated resin-rich wood and / or residual wood) may be subjected to steps to reduce its size to achieve a target particle size as described herein.

[0152] The processing steps of the methods described herein may include a sieving step of the wood substrate (including wood rich in treated resin and residual wood) prior to the heat treatment and / or compression step in order to ensure its appropriate size and / or surface area. The wood substrate removed or separated by this sieving step, or more specifically, a portion of the wood rich in treated resin and / or residual wood, may then be subjected to further subdivision steps until a size or surface area suitable for the processing step is achieved. Thus, the wood substrate (e.g., wood rich in treated resin and / or residual wood) may be sieved to remove wood portions having a volume, surface area, and / or dimensions larger than any of the aforementioned values. The wood substrate (including wood and / or residual wood containing a large amount of treated resin) may be sieved before removing wood portions having dimensions exceeding approximately 0.05 cm, 0.1 cm, 0.15 cm, 0.20 cm, 0.25 cm, 0.30 cm, 0.35 cm, 0.40 cm, 0.45 cm, or 0.50 cm, such as length, width, or diameter (e.g., the average or median of length, width, or diameter).

[0153] Processing a wood substrate (e.g., resin-rich wood and / or residual wood) may further include an initial step of at least partially removing therefrom the bark and / or root portions. To at least partially eliminate waste, the bark and / or root portions may be at least partially utilized to generate energy for use in one or both of the processing and manufacturing steps described herein.

[0154] Bark, roots, and / or any fine matter or other biomass waste materials may be recycled at least partially. In this regard, the method may include a further step of recycling the biomass waste materials obtained from the method described herein. Thus, the recycled biomass waste materials may be burned to generate heat and / or electricity. For example, the biomass waste materials may be sieved from the processing and / or processing steps described herein and used to generate heat for a drying step or a steam washing step.

[0155] The methods provided herein may include an initial step of separating a wood substrate or wood source into resin-rich wood and residual wood portions.

[0156] As used herein, the term “separating a wood source into resin-rich wood and residual wood portions” means separating a tree or plant into a first portion of resin-rich wood, which preferably contains a higher concentration of resin, such as a stump, and a second portion of residual wood, which contains a lower concentration of resin or is resin-free, such as branches, logs, bark, trunk and / or roots. Such separation may be carried out by any method or means known in the art, such as felling trees, removing stumps, crushing stumps, cutting, ripping, pruning, and trimming operations.

[0157] The wood substrate or residual wood portion of a wood source does not need to be treated with chemicals. For example, the residual wood portion of a wood source may be directly subjected to the processing steps of the method described herein to produce biomass fuel. Alternatively, the residual wood portion may be subjected to processing steps to remove further terpene fractions therefrom, as described in more detail herein, before being subjected to the processing steps of the method disclosed herein for producing biomass fuel, as described above.

[0158] Processing of the remaining wood portion involves the steps of: subdividing or reducing the size of the remaining wood portion at least partially; crushing or shredding the remaining wood portion to form a granular form (for example, dimensions of about 0.01 cm to about 0.8 cm, more specifically about 0.05 cm to about 0.5 cm, or even more specifically about 0.1 cm to about 0.35 cm, e.g., length, width, or diameter); drying the granular form of the remaining wood portion; compressing the granular form of the remaining wood portion to form a compressed form; and drying the compressed or granular form of the remaining wood portion at about 20°C to about 200°C (for example, about 30°C to about 150°C, approx. The process may include one or more of the following steps: heat treatment at a temperature of 35°C to approximately 120°C, approximately 40°C to approximately 100°C, approximately 40°C to approximately 80°C, approximately 30°C to approximately 100°C, approximately 30°C to approximately 70°C, or approximately 40°C to approximately 80°C; or approximately 200°C to approximately 350°C (for example, approximately 200°C to approximately 350°C, approximately 210°C to approximately 340°C, approximately 220°C to approximately 330°C, approximately 230°C to approximately 320°C, approximately 235°C to approximately 310°C, or approximately 240°C to approximately 300°C); and / or compressing the heat-treated granular form of the remaining wood portion to form a compressed form, for example, in accordance with the method described herein for resin-rich wood.

[0159] The remaining wood portion may be reduced in size, subdivided, fragmented, or reduced (e.g., chopped, crushed, flakened, shredded, or pulverized) before being subjected to one or more of the steps described above. The remaining wood portion may be subjected to the size reduction step to achieve target particle sizes as described herein, e.g., about 0.01 cm to about 1.0 cm, more specifically about 0.1 cm to about 0.6 cm, or even more specifically about 0.3 cm to about 0.5 cm (e.g., dimensions, e.g., length, width, or diameter).

[0160] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, one or more steps or parts thereof of the methods described herein may be carried out under pressure or under vacuum. For example, one or more steps or parts thereof of the methods disclosed herein may be carried out at a pressure of about 0 psi to about 120 psi, or any range within that range, for example, but not limited to, about 25 psi to about 75 psi, or about 40 psi to about 60 psi. One or more steps, or parts thereof, of this method may be approximately 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, It may be done at pressures of 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120 psi, or any range within that range.

[0161] The resin-rich wood may contain volatile fractions that are not released during the processing steps described herein. Alternatively, in addition, in those cases where the remaining wood portion is not subjected to the processing steps, it may still contain volatile fractions. Thus, the grinding and / or crushing step of the processing step may result in the release of volatile fractions from the resin-rich wood and / or the remaining wood portion. The grinding and / or crushing step of the processing step may be performed under vacuum, and the volatile fractions released during the grinding step may be transferred to the condenser described herein.

[0162] Biomass fuel may be produced in accordance with the methods described herein.

[0163] Rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction The rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction may be produced according to the methods of the present disclosure. The rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction may be free of or substantially free of impurities (e.g., having impurities of about 0.5% by weight, 0.2% by weight, 0.1% by weight or less of the fraction), and may be present for other solvents or tapping extraction methods known in the art (e.g., hexane, methyl ethyl ketone, hydrocarbons, petrochemicals, sulfides, sulfates, heavy metals, acids, growth hormones, etc.).

[0164] In some examples, the terpene fraction contains approximately 50% to 100% by weight of pinene (e.g., approximately 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100%, or any range within that range). As used herein, the term “pinene” refers to the bicyclic monoterpene chemical compound of the formula (1S,5S)-2,6,6-trimethylbicyclo[3.1.1]hepta-2-ene. Two structural isomers of pinene, α-pinene and β-pinene, are found in nature, both of which are chiral. As used herein, “pinene” may refer to α-pinene, β-pinene, or a mixture thereof, for example, a 50-50 mixture. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the components of the terpene fraction and / or the percentage of pinene may vary, for example, depending on the type, species, and age of the resin-rich wood.

[0165] A terpene fraction extracted from resinous wood may contain less than about 25% by weight of terpene polymers, such as diterpenes and triterpenes (e.g., less than about 25%, 24%, 23%, 22%, 21%, 20%, 19%, 18%, 17%, 16%, 15%, 14%, 13%, 12%, 11%, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4.5%, 4%, 3.5%, 3%, 2.5%, 2%, 1.5%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.4%, 0.3%, 0.2%, 0.1%, or any range within that range). In this regard, the terpene fraction may be considered to be free of or substantially free of terpene polymers. The term "terpene polymer" is used herein to refer to oligomers or polymers containing one or more structural repeating units derived from terpenes. These may include, for example, homopolymers and copolymers.

[0166] The terpene fraction extracted from resin-rich wood may contain less than 15% by weight of synthetic pine oil, such as terpene alcohols (e.g., less than about 15% by weight, 14% by weight, 13% by weight, 12% by weight, 11% by weight, 10% by weight, 9% by weight, 8% by weight, 7% by weight, 6% by weight, 5% by weight, 4.5% by weight, 4% by weight, 3.5% by weight, 3% by weight, 2.5% by weight, 2% by weight, 1.5% by weight, 1% by weight, 0.5% by weight, 0.4% by weight, 0.3% by weight, 0.2% by weight, 0.1% by weight, or any range within that range). In this regard, the terpene fraction may be considered to contain or substantially contain no synthetic pine oil. For this purpose, the absence of acid from the extraction method of the present invention is advantageous in that it prevents or minimizes the conversion of α-pinene and β-pinene to synthetic pine oil.

[0167] The rosin fraction extracted from resin-rich wood may be nearly colorless or very light in color. The rosin fraction may have a Gardner color number of about 8 or less (e.g., about 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5, 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1.5, 1, or any range within that range). The rosin fraction may have a Gardner color number of about 5 or less. The rosin fraction may have a Gardner color number of about 3 or less. In this regard, the present method is advantageous in that it facilitates the production of rosin fractions that are little to no color, and color is a known drawback of conventional solvent extraction methods (see, for example, US4,906,733).

[0168] As used herein, the term “Gardner color” refers to the visible scale, originally developed to describe the colors of commercially available chemical products such as rosin. A smaller value on the Gardner scale indicates a lighter color of the chemical product. The coloration of the rosin fraction can be determined by any means known in the art, such as by comparison with a Robibond disc. Those skilled in the art will further understand that a color chart defining the color (e.g., a color chart defining the color of rosin from M, N, WG, WW, X, and XA) may also be used to estimate the color of the rosin fraction or as a substitute for the Gardner scale (e.g., X or WW is 5 on the Gardner scale). The rosin fractions described herein may not have been subjected to any further one or more decolorizing steps (e.g., contact with a decolorizing agent) as is known in the art (see, for example, US 4,906,733).

[0169] The rosin fraction may have an acid value of about 160 to about 175 (for example, about 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, and any range within that range). The rosin fraction may have an acid value of about 162 to about 170. The rosin fraction may have an acid value of about 165. Those skilled in the art will understand that the acid value is the mass of potassium hydroxide (KOH) in milligrams required to neutralize one gram of a chemical, or in this case, rosin or a rosin derivative. For this purpose, the acid value is a measure of the amount of carboxylic acid groups present in the rosin fraction. The acid value of the rosin fraction can be determined by any method known in the art, such as titrating a rosin solution in a suitable solvent with KOH using an indicator for determining the endpoint (as described, for example, in ASTM Method D 465-05 (2010)).

[0170] The rosin fraction may contain an abietic acid content or concentration in the range of about 15% to about 35% by weight of the rosin fraction (for example, about 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35% by weight, or any range within that range). The abietic acid content of the rosin fraction may be about 15% to about 25% by weight or about 15% to about 20% by weight. The abietic acid content of the rosin fraction may be about 20%. Those skilled in the art will understand that abietic acid is the main component of rosin and is an abietanediterpenoid, which is abieta-7,13-diene substituted with a carboxyl group at position 18.

[0171] This disclosure also provides terpene fractions produced according to the methods described herein. Thus, the terpene fractions may be those described herein.

[0172] The terpene fraction contains at least about 65% by weight, at least about 70% by weight, at least about 75% by weight, or at least about 80% by weight of pinene (e.g., about 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, It may include 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100% by weight, or any range within those.

[0173] The terpene fraction does not need to contain substantially no impurities.

[0174] The terpene fraction contains terpene polymers, such as diterpenes and triterpenes, in amounts of less than 20% by weight, less than 10% by weight, less than 5% by weight, less than 2.5% by weight, or less than 1% by weight of the terpene fraction.

[0175] The terpene fraction may contain less than approximately 15% by weight, less than approximately 10% by weight, less than approximately 5% by weight, less than approximately 2.5% by weight, less than approximately 1% by weight, or less than approximately 0.5% by weight of synthetic pine oil.

[0176] This disclosure also relates to an isolated terpene fraction characterized by the following: (a) at least about 65% by weight, at least about 70% by weight, at least about 75% by weight, or at least about 80% by weight of pinene in the isolated terpene fraction (b) substantially free of impurities, (c) Terpene polymers in amounts less than approximately 25% by weight, less than approximately 10% by weight, less than approximately 5% by weight, less than approximately 2.5% by weight, or less than approximately 1% by weight of the isolated terpene fraction, and (d) Provide an isolated terpene fraction comprising one or more of the following: less than about 15% by weight, less than about 10% by weight, less than about 5% by weight, less than about 2.5% by weight, less than about 1% by weight, or less than about 0.5% by weight of synthetic pine oil.

[0177] The isolated terpene fraction may contain, or consist of, at least about 75% by weight of pinene, less than about 2.5% by weight of terpene polymers substantially free of impurities, and less than about 2.5% by weight of synthetic pine oil.

[0178] For the purposes of this disclosure, “isolated” means a substance that has been removed from its natural state or otherwise subjected to human manipulation. An isolated substance may substantially or essentially lack components normally associated with it in its natural state, or it may be manipulated to become artificial with components normally associated with it in its natural state. An isolated substance may be in its natural or nearly natural form.

[0179] This disclosure also provides rosin fractions produced according to the methods described herein.

[0180] The rosin fraction may have a Gardner color number of approximately 8 or less.

[0181] The rosin fraction does not need to contain substantially any impurities.

[0182] The rosin fraction may have an acid value of approximately 160 to 175.

[0183] This disclosure also relates to an isolated rosin fraction characterized by the following: (a) Gardner color count of approximately 8 or less, approximately 5 or less, or approximately 3 or less, (b) Free from or substantially free from contaminants (c) Acid values ​​of approximately 160 to approximately 175 (for example, approximately 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, and any range within that range), and (d) Provide an isolated rosin fraction containing one or more of the following: about 15% to about 35% by weight of the isolated rosin fraction (e.g., about 15% by weight, 16% by weight, 17% by weight, 18% by weight, 19% by weight, 20% by weight, 21% by weight, 22% by weight, 23% by weight, 24% by weight, 25% by weight, 26% by weight, 27% by weight, 28% by weight, 29% by weight, 30% by weight, 31% by weight, 32% by weight, 33% by weight, 34% by weight, 35% by weight, and any range therein), about 15% to about 25% by weight, or about 15% to about 20% by weight of abietic acid.

[0184] The isolated rosin fraction may contain, or consist of, a Gardner color number in the range of about 3 to 5, an acid value of about 163 to about 170, free from or substantially free from impurities, and an abietic acid content in the range of about 17% to about 22%.

[0185] The isolated rosin fraction may contain, or consist of, a Gardner color number of about 3, an acid value of about 165, free from or substantially free from impurities, and an abietic acid content of about 20%.

[0186] This disclosure also provides a method for producing a polymer, the method comprising the step of processing (e.g., chemically processing) a rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction produced according to the method herein, thereby producing a polymer. In some examples, the method relates to the production of a rosin polymer, and the method comprises the step of processing a rosin fraction produced according to the method herein, thereby producing a rosin polymer. In other examples, the method relates to the production of a terpene polymer, and the method comprises the step of processing a terpene fraction produced according to the method herein, thereby producing a terpene polymer.

[0187] This disclosure also provides polymers produced according to the method described above.

[0188] The term "polymer" refers to a compound prepared by polymerizing monomer units, such as terpene and rosin monomer units of the same or different types. Therefore, the general term polymer encompasses the terms homopolymer (i.e., a polymer prepared from only one type of monomer) and interpolymer (i.e., a polymer prepared by polymerizing at least two different types of monomers).

[0189] Polymerized rosin compounds typically possess high levels of pigment dispersion ability, compatibility, tackiness and adhesion, and other properties, and are therefore advantageously used as binders or additives in a wide variety of fields, such as printing inks, paints, pressure-sensitive adhesives or glues, and fluxes. Terpene polymers may also be used as bioplastics and biofuels.

[0190] Various methods have been used to produce polymerized rosin compounds and polymerized terpene compounds. These may include, for example, the use of solvents (e.g., organic solvents such as toluene or xylene) and / or acid catalysts (e.g., aliphatic sulfonic acids, formic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, methanesulfonic acid), metal catalysts, and catalysts such as Friedel-Crafts catalysts.

[0191] Device The disclosure also provides an apparatus or system for chemical extraction from resin-rich wood and biomass fuel production, comprising: a processing chamber for treating resin-rich wood with an agent containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes; and a processing unit for processing the treated resin-rich wood to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0192] In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides an apparatus or system for chemical extraction from a wood substrate and biomass fuel production, comprising: a processing chamber for processing the wood substrate to extract, for example, a terpene fraction therefrom; and a processing unit for processing the processed wood substrate to thereby produce biomass fuel.

[0193] The processing apparatus may include a compression chamber that communicates with the heating chamber. The processing chamber may communicate with the processing apparatus.

[0194] The apparatus or system may further include a distillation chamber in communication with the processing chamber, the distillation chamber being for separating rosin and terpene fractions extracted from resin-rich wood.

[0195] The apparatus or system may further include a desolvator communicating with the processing chamber, which can heat (e.g., steam-treat) the chemically treated, resin-rich wood to at least partially remove any residual chemical and / or terpene fractions therefrom. The apparatus or system may further include a separator (e.g., a condenser) communicating with the distillation chamber, which is for separating the terpene fraction from the distillate produced by the distillation chamber.

[0196] In some examples, the apparatus or system may further comprise a further processing chamber or additional processing chamber for processing a wood substrate, or more specifically, residual wood portion, or specifically heat-treating it, thereby extracting a terpene fraction therefrom. For this purpose, the further processing chamber may be or be deemed to comprise a further desolvator, as described herein, which may be in communication with: (a) a distillation chamber or a standalone further distillation chamber, and / or (b) a separator or a standalone further separator to separate a further terpene fraction from the distillate produced by the distillation chamber or further distillation chamber. In this regard, the apparatus or system herein may be designed or configured to subject wood substrates, and more specifically, resin-rich wood and its residual wood portion, to two separate processing streams to produce a rosin fraction and a terpene fraction before processing them into biomass fuel.

[0197] The apparatus or system may further include a scrubbing device, such as a wet scrubber.

[0198] The device or system may be configured to operate in a continuous or semi-continuous manner.

[0199] The apparatus or system described herein may be used in the manner described herein.

[0200] A specific embodiment of the apparatus or system 10 is shown in Figure 1. Referring to Figure 1, the system 10 may include a mill gate 30 for introducing a wood substrate, more specifically a stump 20, into the processing step (i). The stump 20 may be removed from the contaminants, cleaned and / or washed (40), and stored (50) before being placed in the chipper 60 to produce wood chips.

[0201] Energy 44, 74 may be generated using any woody by-products that would be considered waste by any conventional method. The “waste products” may include, for example, soil, branches, leaves, roots, bark 42 and / or fine matter 72. The waste products may be used to power a boiler 52 for steam washing (205) or drying of wood chips (240, 250) in the processing step of method (ii) of the present disclosure.

[0202] The wood chips produced from the chipper 60 may be sieved to a size of 1 cm to 10 cm (70) and then stored before crushing (90) (80). Following crushing (90), the wood chips may be further sieved to a size of 0.1 cm to 1.0 cm (100), any fine particles 105 may be separated from the wood chips, steam washed (205), and then stored for use in the biofuel production process 220 (210).

[0203] Wood chips measuring 0.1 cm to 1.0 cm may be placed in a processing chamber 110 to which a chemical (i.e., solvent) is added. The system 10 further comprises a desolvator 120 to which the wood chips may be transferred after appropriate treatment with the chemical. The desolvator 120 may be designed to heat-treat the wood chips with superheated steam. The desolvator 120 may be in liquid or gas communication with a distillation column 130, which is configured to facilitate the separation of the terpene fraction and the chemical from the rosin fraction. The distillation column 130 may be a continuous vapor distillation column, as is known in the art, and vapor distillation may be carried out by conventional vapor distillation methods. The distillation column 130 may be operated under vacuum 235. A feed stream from the processing chamber 110 containing the chemical, terpene fraction and rosin fraction enters the distillation column 130. Once separated, the rosin fraction and terpene fraction may be stored or sold (140, 150).

[0204] The processed wood chips 125 may then be transported to a storage facility in the biomass fuel production process (210), and then crushed and / or wet-milled (220).

[0205] Referring to Figure 1, system 10 may also include a mill gate 160 for putting the logs 25 into processing step (ii) and thus bypassing processing step (i). The logs 25 may be crushed (200) after the bark has been removed (170), placed in a chipper (180), and stored (190). The bark may be used to power the boiler 52. Once crushed, the wood chips may be steam washed (205) and then stored (210). Any terpene fractions released during this step under vacuum (235) may be transferred to a condenser. Alternatively, the wood chips may not be steam washed and may go directly to the storage container 210. The processed wood chips may be crushed and / or wet-milled (220) and then placed in a storage silo 230. The storage silo 230 may be under vacuum (235) to transfer the volatile fraction of any terpene fraction to the distillation column 130.

[0206] After the processed wood chips are transferred from the storage silo 230 to the drying chambers 240, 250, a further optional crushing step 260 may be performed. After drying and optional crushing, the processed wood chips may be converted into white pellets (e.g., by heat treatment at approximately 100°C to approximately 200°C) (270), stored (280), and then loaded for sale (310). Alternatively, the processed wood chips may be converted into torrefied pellets (e.g., by heat treatment at approximately 200°C to approximately 350°C) (290), stored (300), and then loaded for sale (310).

[0207] Another embodiment of the apparatus or system 10 is shown in Figure 2. Referring to Figure 2, the system 10 may include a mill gate 30 for receiving stumps 20 and / or logs 25. The stumps 20 may be cleaned and / or washed to remove any impurities before being placed in the chipper 60 (40). The logs 25 have their bark removed before being placed in the chipper 60 (170). Following the chipper 60, the stumps 20 and / or logs 25 are placed in a storage bin 62.

[0208] As described above, energy 44, 46 may be generated using any woody by-products that would be considered waste by any method of the prior art. The “waste products” may include, for example, soil, branches, leaves, roots, bark 42, 76 and / or fine matter 72, 105. The waste products may be used to power a boiler 52 for steam scrubbing turbine power generation 54 and / or steam supply 58.

[0209] The stumps 20 and / or logs 25 produced from the chipper 60 may be crushed (65) and then sieved to a size of less than approximately 0.1 cm (70). Any wood chips larger than approximately 0.1 cm may be crushed and sizing again (74). The sieved material may be crushed again (90) and then sieved to a size of approximately 0.3 cm to 0.6 cm (100). Any wood chips over approximately 0.8 cm may be crushed and sizing again (95).

[0210] The wood chips may be stored before being placed in the processing chamber 110 into which the chemical (i.e., solvent) is introduced (108). The system 10 further comprises a desolvator 120 to which the wood chips may be transferred after processing with the chemical. The desolvator 120 may be designed to heat-treat the wood chips with superheated steam. The desolvator may be in liquid or gas communication with a distillation column 130, which is configured to facilitate the separation of the terpene fraction and the chemical from the rosin fraction. The distillation column 130 may be a continuous steam distillation column, as is known in the art, and steam distillation may be performed by conventional steam distillation methods. A feed stream from the processing chamber 110 containing the chemical, terpene fraction and rosin fraction enters the distillation column 130. Once separated, the rosin fraction and terpene fraction may be stored or sold (140, 150).

[0211] After the processed wood chips are transferred to a drying chamber 240, a further optional crushing step 260 may be performed. After drying and optional crushing, the processed wood chips may be converted into white pellets (270) before being sold (275). Alternatively, the processed wood chips may be converted into torrefied pellets (290) before being sold (295).

[0212] Further embodiments of the apparatus or system 1000 of this disclosure are shown in Figure 4.

[0213] The logs 25 may be crushed (200) after the bark has been removed (170), placed in the chipper (180), and stored (190). The bark may be used to supply power to the boiler 52.

[0214] As shown in Figure 4, the system 1000 comprises a debarking device 1055 and a slow shredder or chipper 1060 for initially receiving the wood substrate 1020 (e.g., its remaining wood portion). Optionally, the debarking device 1055 may be designed to substantially remove bark from the wood substrate 1020 as described herein, and may be used to power various components of the system 1000. The wood substrate 1020 may also be cleaned and / or washed to remove any contaminants and stored before being placed in the shredder 1060. The slow shredder 1060 is configured to reduce the size of the wood substrate 1020 to wood chunks from which any contaminants are substantially removed. These wood chunks can then be stored before further processing in the system 1000 (1065). The wood chunks of the wood substrate 1020 may then be sieved (1070) to remove debris and dirt as needed. Oversized wood chunks or “over” may be stored before further size reduction (1080). Any appropriately sized wood chunks removed by sieve 1070 may be transferred directly to storage container 1210 before processing by processing chamber 1110. Any fine particles or small wood chunks or wood chips removed by sieve 1070 may be transferred directly to drying chamber 1240 before the biofuel production process described in more detail herein.

[0215] Next, wood chunks from the wood substrate 1020 are fed to a horizontal grinder attached to the chipper 1090 to produce wood chips. Typically, wood chips having dimensions (e.g., length, width, or diameter) of about 0.1 mm to about 150 mm are produced by the chipper 1090. The wood chips produced from the chipper 1090 may be sieved through a trommel sieve 1100 so that particles of 0.1 cm to about 0.6 cm can pass through. The wood chips of the appropriate size from the wood substrate 1020 are then stored (1210). Oversized wood chips may be reprocessed or crushed in the hammer mill or chipper 1090. After crushing, the wood chips may be sieved again to the aforementioned sizes (1100) and then stored (1210) before being added to the processing chamber 1110, which includes a desolvator 1120. Any fine particles or small wood chips separated from the wood chips can be transferred to the drying chamber 1240 for use, for example, in a biofuel production process.

[0216] The desolvator 1120 is designed to heat-treat wood chips in a horizontal tray heated by superheated steam or saturated steam (e.g., up to 210°C) and recirculated oil (e.g., up to 250°C) to convert any terpene fractions in the wood substrate 1020 into a gaseous flow. The desolvator 1120 is in liquid or gaseous communication with a separator 1130 having a distillation column and a condenser, the separator 1130 is configured to facilitate the separation of the terpene fractions and water from the steam by distillation and gravity separation vessels. The distillation column may be a continuous steam distillation column, as is known in the art, and steam distillation may be performed by conventional steam distillation methods. A feed stream from the processing chamber 1110 containing a gaseous flow enters the separator. Once separated from water, the terpene fractions may be stored or sold.

[0217] The wood chips exit the processing chamber 1110 and are transported to the drying chamber 1240, where they enter at a maximum temperature of 100°C. One or more chemical additives may be added to the wood chips to improve the quality of the pellets and / or subsequent processing steps. The wood chips are dried in a horizontal dryer at a maximum temperature of 120°C until they reach a moisture content suitable for pelletization.

[0218] After drying, the wood chips may be further reduced in size using a grinder or hammer mill as needed (e.g., to a size of approximately 1-2 mm). The wood chips are then transferred to a processing machine 1270 having a heating chamber, where they are heated in place in contact with saturated steam to make them moldable. The processing machine 1270 can use a ring die press to produce white pellets having diameters of, for example, 1 mm to 5 mm and 6 mm to 8 mm. The white pellets can then be stored before sale (1280), or optionally subjected to a torrefaction process in a torrefaction chamber (not shown) located within the processing machine 1270 to produce torrefied pellets.

[0219] As shown in Figure 4, system 1000 is intended to operate in combination with a larger apparatus or system 1010 (e.g., apparatus 10 in Figures 1-3) to produce terpenes, rosin, and biofuels from a wood substrate 1020. Alternatively, system 1000 may operate independently (e.g., without apparatus 1010) to produce terpenes and biofuels from a wood substrate 1020.

[0220] Example 1 This embodiment relates to one embodiment of the method described herein.

[0221] method The process outlined below follows the design of a plant module that extracts and pelletizes 500 tons per day (tpd). To operate the 500 tpd plant at its maximum capacity, approximately 800-900 tpd must be transported to the millgate. The remaining 320 tpd is removed as bark, roots, and non-resinous wood. The 320 tpd is then used in a wood-burning boiler furnace to generate steam for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production.

[0222] Stumps, logs, and upper branches are collected from the forest. Different types of wood (i.e., stumps, logs, and upper and upper branches of trees) are separated and stored before being prepared as a wood source for chipping and / or crushing. Stumps are processed, divided, and presented for chipping using a debarking machine that removes impurities. This process removes approximately 35-40% of the stump roots and residual wood (i.e., substantially non-resinous wood). Logs are processed using a debarking machine to remove up to 10% of the bark. The bark, upper branches, and other forest "waste" are used for combustion in a wood combustion boiler to generate steam for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production.

[0223] The debarked logs and stumps are presented to a chipper and / or shredder, where their size is reduced. The initial wood chipping reduces the logs and stumps to wood chip sizes of 3-6 cm. These wood chips are then sieved, and wood chips smaller than 0.3 cm (i.e., "fine particles") are repurposed for use in a boiler to generate steam for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production. Dirt and other impurities are also removed during this process.

[0224] The wood chips are passed through a first crushing process (e.g., a hammer mill / shredder) to further reduce their size to approximately 1 cm. Subsequently, the wood chips from this first crushing process proceed to a first sieving process, where up to 10% of the wood is removed and repurposed for a boiler for fuel, generating steam for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production.

[0225] The remaining wood chips are fed into a second crushing process (e.g., a hammer mill / shredder), reducing the wood chips to a size or dimension of approximately 0.1 cm to 0.6 cm. These wood chips then proceed to a second sieving process, where up to 10% of the wood is removed and repurposed for a boiler for fuel, generating steam for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production. The remaining wood chips are fed into an extractor for chemical extraction.

[0226] The drug chain extractor processes the wood chips for 60–90 minutes. Following this, the wood chips enter a wood pressing process to remove excess solvent. Next, the wood chips enter a desolvator for up to 60 minutes. The desolvator introduces steam and heat to the wood chips, removing any remaining solvent and drying them before they leave the desolvator. Up to 100% of the solvent is removed from the wood chips within the desolvator.

[0227] The wood chips exit the desolvator at a maximum temperature of 120°C and are moved by conveyor to a dryer. During this transfer process, the temperature of the wood chips drops to approximately 80-90°C. This residual heat from the wood chips benefits the biomass fuel production stage, making this stage considerably easier and more efficient. The wood chips then enter a belt dryer, where up to 50% of the moisture is removed from the wood chips at a temperature of approximately 20-50°C. The wood chips then proceed to the final crushing process, reducing their size from 0.3-0.6 cm to approximately 0.1-0.3 cm.

[0228] Next, the processed wood chips are steam-washed and presented for extrusion and manufacture of wood pellets. The processed wood chips are dried and processed to produce white wood pellets (see Table 1). The moisture content of the pellets is less than 10%. White wood briquettes may also be produced. After the manufacture of white wood pellets and / or briquettes, they can be torrefacted (see Table 1).

[0229] result [Table 1]

[0230] Example 2 This embodiment relates to the system / apparatus shown in Figure 4 and an embodiment of the related method described herein. [Table 2] [Table 3]

[0231] Example 3 This embodiment relates to the system / apparatus shown in Figure 5 and one embodiment of the related method described herein.

[0232] 1. Process breakdown • Stump removal: Stumps are extracted using a specialized collector (T-Rex). • Stump splitting: The T-Rex collector splits stumps into smaller pieces suitable for shredding. • Removal of large contaminants: Quickly drop the divided stump to remove any large rocks and fragments attached to the wood. • Low-speed shredding: Using a low-speed shredder reduces frictional heat and prevents the evaporation of valuable pine chemicals. In addition, a low-speed shredder offers the following advantages: ○ Reduction of maintenance requirements 〇 Extending the lifespan of equipment Effective removal of fragments and contaminants from wood. • Sieving within the forest: Sieving wood chunks removes any remaining contaminants before loading, ensuring that only the desired material is transported. • Direct loading onto trucks: Processed wood chunks are loaded directly onto trucks for efficient transport to our plants.

[0233] 2. Processing of raw timber on site When wood is exposed to the atmosphere, pine chemicals such as rosin can oxidize and discolor, while terpenes can evaporate over time. Current processes follow the principle of "fresh is best," aiming to minimize these losses, strategically supply resin-rich wood, and deliver it to the site as quickly as possible, within 24 hours of processing in the forest.

[0234] This process deals with the following two separate wood flows: 1. Resin-rich wood: Primarily composed of wood chunks from tree stumps that contain a high resin content. 2. Non-resinous wood: Composed of logs and various wood scraps with low resin content.

[0235] 2.1 Wood containing a high amount of resin Wood containing a high amount of resin refers to chunk timber obtained from forests. • Unloading and Storage: Wood chunks are unloaded and temporarily stored in a controlled wood storage area to minimize exposure to elements. • Washing: The loader feeds the chunks to the washing plant to remove dirt and contaminants. This also helps to cool the wood chunks and prevent the evaporation of pine chemicals. • Dehydration: The washed wood chunks are placed on a concrete pad to remove excess water in a controlled manner. The excess water is recycled during the washing process. 〇Dwell time: To be determined during the trial period. Maximum of 12 hours within the production shift. • Fragmentation: Dehydrated wood chunks are broken down into small pieces measuring 3-6 mm. Buffer storage: Smaller pieces of wood, due to their increased surface area, are more susceptible to the evaporation of chemical substances. Therefore, to avoid the loss of pine chemicals, the chips are stored in a dedicated, vacuum-controlled buffer hopper. This is the storage container S02 in Figure 5. Capacity: 581 TPD, which corresponds to two 12-hour shifts. Considering a wood chip density of 267 kg / m³, a silo with a capacity of 2,176 m³ is required. 〇Duration of stay: 12-24 hours.

[0236] 2.2 Non-resinous wood: • Unloading and storage: Logs are unloaded using a gantry crane and stored according to the log management plan. • Bark removal: Remove the bark from the logs and remove the bark and any other impurities. ·Smallization: ○ The logs, with the bark removed, are broken down into small pieces measuring 3-6 mm. Bark removal may be carried out within the forest, and therefore some logs may already have their bark removed, which are then fed directly to the chipper. • Buffer storage: Store non-resinous wood chips in a buffer. This is the storage container S01 shown in Figure 5. Capacity: 859 TPD, which corresponds to two 12-hour shifts. Considering a wood chip density of 313 kg / m3, a silo with a capacity of 2,744 m3 is required. 〇Duration of stay: 12-24 hours.

[0237] 3. Wood sizing and sieving The primary reason for reducing the size of the wood chips is to enhance the chemical extraction process. This is achieved through the following two key factors: 1. Increase the surface area, enabling better heat transfer and solvent permeability. 2. The target chip ensures that process blockages are significantly reduced due to the control of fine particles and the elimination of cross-contamination process flow (liquids or solvents in the wood).

[0238] This embodiment maintains a splitting process having the following two wood flows. 1. Wood with a high resin content: Suitable for chemical extraction processes. 2. Non-resinous wood: After processing, it passes through a "solvent-burner" to remove small amounts of chemicals and reduce moisture content.

[0239] 3.1 Wood containing a high amount of resin • First sieve: The wood chips are fed into "Sieve No. 2" and have the following three outputs: The target chip size is estimated to be 3-6 mm in diameter, representing 80% of the total input volume. ■ The target chips are sent directly to the wood chip storage container (S06 in Figure 5) which contains a high amount of resin. ○Fine particles: Particles smaller than 3 mm and contaminants. Estimated to account for 10% of the input volume. ■Due to the potential high content of contaminants, fine particles will be removed from the process and transferred to container W02. Capacity: 58 TPD. ○ Oversized items: Wood chips larger than 6mm in size. Estimated to account for 10% of the total input. ■ Proceed towards the over-storage unit (S04). ■Capacity: 58TPD. ■These are sent to the mill to reduce their size to 3-6mm. ■Go to "Sieve No. 4" to ensure the chips meet the required size. ■The target chips are then transported to a wood chip storage container (S06) that contains a high amount of resin. ■ The oversized chips that come out of "Sieve No. 4" are recycled back into the mill until they meet the target size. ■Transport the fine particles directly to the S07 silo (wood chip storage in front of the metal detector) to bypass the "extraction process" and avoid system blockage. · S06 Storage container for wood chips containing a high amount of resin: Capacity: 500 TPD, which corresponds to two 12-hour shifts. Considering a wood chip density of 267 kg / m3, a silo with a capacity of 1,873 m3 is required. This will be supplied to the "extraction plant". 〇Duration of stay: 12-24 hours.

[0240] 3.2 Non-resinous wood: • First sieve: The wood chips are fed into "Sieve No. 1" and have the following three outputs: The target chip size is estimated to be 3-6 mm in diameter, representing 70% of the total input volume. ■ The target chips are sent directly to the "non-resin" wood chip storage unit (S05 in Figure 5). ○Fine particles: Particles smaller than 3 mm. Estimated to account for 10% of the input volume. ■Fine particles are transported directly to the S07 silo (wood chip storage in front of the metal detector), bypassing the "desolvation burner process" and avoiding system blockage. ○ Oversized items: Wood chips larger than 6mm in size. Estimated to account for 20% of the total input. ■ Proceed towards the over-production storage unit (S03 in Figure 5). ·Capacity: 172 TPD. ■Next, it is sent to the mill to reduce the size to 3-6 mm. ■ Proceed to "Sieve No. 3" to ensure that the chips meet the required size. ■The target chips are then transported to the "non-resin" wood chip storage unit (S05 in Figure 5). ■ The oversized chips coming out of "Sieve No. 3" are recycled back into the mill until they meet the target size. ■ No significant fine particles are expected to be present in the output of "Sieve No. 3". · S05 Non-resin wood chip storage container: 〇Capacity: 773 TPD, which is equivalent to 2 shifts of 12 hours each. Considering a wood chip density of 313 kg / m3, a silo with a capacity of 2,470 m3 is required. This silo supplies the "desolventizer roaster". 〇Residence time: 12 - 24 hours.

[0241] 4. Process for Extracting Pine Chemicals from Wood Chips Containing a High Amount of Resin In this section, the process for extracting pine chemicals from wood chips containing a high amount of the target resin will be described in detail. A chip size of 3 - 6 mm is selected to maximize the chemical extraction efficiency during the solvent washing process. This size ensures that there is sufficient surface area for optimal solvent contact with the wood chips. · Raw material: Wood chips containing a high amount of resin with a size of 3 - 6 mm are procured from the silo S06 ("Storage for Wood Chips Containing a High Amount of Resin") in Figure 5. · Extraction plant: Supply the wood chips to the extraction plant to recover and separate the pine chemicals. 〇Throughput: 500 TPD. · Product: 〇Terpenes: ■ A yield of 12% can be expected, but we want to extract the maximum amount. ■ The terpenes are stored in 6 containers of 30,000 L each, with a total storage capacity of approximately 180,000 L. 〇Rosin: ■ Hot rosin is produced and stored in a dedicated tank. ■ The rosin remains in the tank for a maximum of 12 hours before packing. ■ Store the bulk drums in the designated area. ■ Store the packed rosin in the logistics warehouse (pallet racking). 〇Used wood chips: ■ After extraction, the wood chips are transported to the silo S07 ("Storage for Wood Chips Before Metal Detector") with a capacity of 1,308 TPD. ■ Then, these chips are supplied to the "metal detector and dispensing bin" for further processing. ■The retention time of used wood chips in S07 is 12 hours.

[0242] 5. Desolvent (DT) and distillation processes for non-resinaceous wood chips This section describes in detail the desolvation and distillation processes for non-resinaceous wood chips. • Raw materials: Non-resin wood chips with a size of 3-6 mm are sourced from silo S05 ("Storage for non-resin wood chips") in Figure 5. 〇Feeding speed: 32 TPH • Desolvent burner: Wood chips are fed into the desolvent burner, heated, and the remaining terpenes are recovered. As part of this process, the moisture content of the wood chips is reduced. Throughput: 773 TPD. 〇Duration: Maximum 50 minutes, TBC. ·Product: ○Terpenes: 1.75% or 14 TPD is expected to be extracted. Used wood chips: ■After DT, the wood chips are transported to silo S07 ("wood chip storage in front of the metal detector") in Figure 5, which has a capacity of 1,308 TPD. ■Then, these chips are supplied to the "metal detector and dispensing bottle" for further processing. ■The retention time of used wood chips in S07 is 12 hours.

[0243] 6. Post-extraction / desolvation process This section outlines the handling of wood chips after the extraction process. The following four separate streams of wood chips are directed to silo S07 ("Wood Chip Storage Unit Before Metal Detector"). 1. Used wood chips (extracted): These chips originated from a pine chemical extraction process and underwent removal of terpenes and rosin. 2. Used wood chips (desolvent burner): These chips are derived from non-resinous wood that has been processed in DT to remove residual solvent and moisture. 3. Non-resinaceous fine particles: Particles smaller than 3 mm from the sieving of non-resinaceous wood (sieve 1) are bypassed by the desolvation oven and transported directly to S07. 4. Resin-rich fine particles: Particles smaller than 3 mm from the sieving of resin-rich wood (sieve #4) are bypassed from the extraction process and transported directly to S07. Although further investigation is needed to determine the usability of these fine particles due to potential contaminants, the calculation process determined that the fine particles are usable.

[0244] Silo S07 in Figure 5 has a capacity of 1,308 TPD, which corresponds to two 12-hour shifts. Considering a wood chip density of 290 kg / m3, a silo with a capacity of 4,514 m3 is required. This density was calculated as the average of resin-rich and non-resin-rich wood.

[0245] Based on the literature, the average moisture content of wood chips is considered to be 55%.

[0246] Next, the entire stream of these wood chips is fed into a "metal detector and dispensing bottle" for further processing.

[0247] 7. Pellet Plant Scope This section details the processes involved in converting wood chips into white wood pellets for storage or further processing. • Metal detection and dispensing: The wood chips coming in from silo S07 are transported to the "metal detector and dispensing bottle" system for collecting the product and dispensing it for drying. ○ Metal detectors ensure that metal contaminants do not enter the process. Dispensing bottle capacity: 3 x 20 m³ • Drying: The wood chips are supplied to three continuous belt dryers. These dryers reduce the moisture content of wood chips to approximately 10%. Intermediate storage: 〇Next, the wood chips are transported to the "Intermediate Storage of Dry Wood Chips" silo S08. 〇Capacity: 750 m3. 〇In order to make the moisture content of the product very homogeneous, it is necessary to have a specific holding time after the dryer. During storage, the entire product comes into contact and the moisture content becomes the average value within the silo. A homogeneous moisture content means a stable pelletization process and high pellet quality. · Crushing and Pelletization: 〇The dry wood chips from S08 in Figure 5 are supplied to three drying and crushing lanes to reduce their size. 〇Next, the crushed wood is processed by three pelletization production lines to produce white pellets. · Storage of White Pellets: 〇The white pellets are transported to the designated storage silos S09 - A, S09 - B, and S09 - C. 〇Capacity: 250 tons per silo, total 750 tons. 〇Retention time of white pellets during storage: maximum 24 hours. · Bagging Plant (Optional): 〇A bagging plant is installed to provide flexibility. This enables Foresta to: ■ Bag the white pellets for separate sale if problems occur in downstream processing. ■ Provide additional storage time for the pellets before transshipment if necessary. 〇For loading pellets into 1 - ton big bags. 〇An automated big - bag filling machine designed for big bags with four loops. 〇It also includes equipment for inflating the big bags before filling, optimizing the filling process.

[0248] 8. Transshipment Plant Scope This section outlines the conversion from white wood pellets to high - value trephied pellets. · Receiving of White Pellets: The three continuous feed hoppers (S10-A, S10-B, and S10-C) receive white wood pellets with a moisture content of approximately 10%. Capacity: Each receiving hopper is designed to hold 5 tons of white wood pellets, ensuring a continuous supply for the torrefaction process. Considering a wood pellet density of 650 kg / m³, this corresponds to a capacity of 7.7 m³ per hopper = 23 m³ total. Next, the pellets are transported to the reaction vessel via a continuous screw feed conveyor. 〇 Torrefaction process: The "R-O2" torrefaction reactor heats the pellets, increasing their heat output in a continuous process. In addition, the pellets become hydrophobic, which means they are suitable for external storage. The "R-O2" technology is designed to operate in low-oxygen environments at temperatures up to 300°C. The "R-O2" system uses superheated steam to create a low-oxygen atmosphere inside the reactor, heating the pellets through a mild thermal decomposition process. The torrefaction process is typically completed within 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the required heat output of the pellets. In the case of torrefied pellets with a calorific value of 22 GJ / T and an input of 10 TPH, the yield is approximately 7.5 TPH of torrefied pellets. • Pellet cooling system: Next, the torrefied pellets are discharged from the reactor and cooled in three separate airtight cooling augers. Capacity: Each cooling system has a capacity of 7.5 tons. This cooling system ensures that the pellets reach a safe handling temperature of approximately 80°C before being discharged. • "Torrefied Pellet Storage" Silo Next, the conveyor system transports the cooled torrefied pellets to three designated storage silos (S11-A, S11-B, and S11-C). Capacity: 1,000 tons per silo, 3,000 tons total. Each silo has a capacity of 1,000 tons, providing ample storage space for the final product. • Loading of torrefied pellets: The silos (S11A, S11B, and S11C in Figure 5) are equipped with loading systems for directly transferring torrefied wood pellets to trucks for transport.

[0249] 9. Boiler • 25MW biomass boiler. The thermal efficiency is estimated to be 80%. • Steam generation: ○ 1.5 tons of steam per hour, per 1 MW. • Use of steam: ○ Chemical extraction process (indirect vapor for solvent heating). ○ Desolvent removal processes (direct and indirect vaporization). ○ Belt dryer (indirect steam). ○ Wood pellet manufacturing. ○ Heating and processing water. ○ Fire suppression system. • Five tons of biomass fuel are needed per hour. The water content of the biomass fuel is estimated to be 55%.

Claims

1. A method for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production using wood containing a large amount of resin, wherein the method is (i) A step of treating wood containing a large amount of the resin with an agent containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes, thereby extracting a rosin fraction and / or terpene fraction from the wood containing a large amount of the resin, (ii) A method comprising the step of processing wood containing a large amount of the treated resin to produce biomass fuel.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the period between the step of treating wood containing a large amount of resin with the chemical agent and the step of processing the treated wood containing a large amount of resin is approximately 15 minutes or less, approximately 10 minutes or less, or approximately 5 minutes or less.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein processing the wood containing a large amount of the treated resin includes the step of crushing and / or shredding the wood containing a large amount of the treated resin to form a granular form.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the granular form of the treated resin-containing wood has dimensions of about 0.1 cm to about 0.6 cm.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the grinding step includes dry grinding and / or wet grinding.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein processing the wood containing a large amount of the treated resin further comprises the step of drying the granular form of the wood containing a large amount of the treated resin.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the drying step reduces the water content of the granular form of the treated resin-rich wood to less than about 30% by weight, less than about 20% by weight, or less than about 10% by weight.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising the step of compressing the granular form of the wood containing a large amount of the treated resin to form a compressed form.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the compressed form of the wood containing a large amount of the treated resin is a pellet or a briquette, or includes the same.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising the step of heat-treating the compressed form of the wood containing a large amount of the treated resin at a temperature of about 100°C to about 200°C or about 200°C to about 350°C.

11. The method according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising the step of heat-treating the granular form of the wood containing a large amount of the treated resin at a temperature of about 100°C to about 200°C or about 200°C to about 350°C.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of compressing the granular form of the treated resin-containing wood to form a compressed form.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the biomass fuel is white pellets, white briquettes, torrefied pellets, or torrefied briquettes.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the biomass fuel substantially contains no impurities.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising an initial step of at least partially subdividing or reducing the size of the resin-rich wood before step (i).

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, further comprising an initial step of partially removing the bark and / or root portion from the resin-rich wood.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the bark portion and / or the root portion are at least partially utilized to generate energy for use in either or both of the processing and processing steps (i) and (ii).

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, further comprising an initial step of separating a wood source into wood containing a large amount of resin and residual wood portion.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the remaining wood portion is not treated with the chemical agent.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, further comprising the step of processing the remaining wood portion to extract further terpene fractions from the remaining wood portion.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the processing step includes heat-treating the remaining wood portion or wood substrate under conditions that generate a gaseous flow containing the further terpene fraction.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the processing step includes heat-treating the remaining wood portion at a temperature of approximately 155°C to approximately 300°C, approximately 180°C to approximately 280°C, or approximately 200°C to approximately 260°C.

23. (a) The step of subdividing the remaining wood portion at least partially or reducing its size, (b) The step of crushing and / or shredding the remaining wood portion to form a granular form, (c) A step of drying the granular form of the remaining wood portion, (d) A step of compressing the granular form of the remaining wood portion to form the compressed form, (e) Heat-treating the compressed or granular form of the remaining wood portion at a temperature of approximately 100°C to approximately 200°C or approximately 200°C to approximately 350°C, and / or The method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, further comprising one or more of the steps of (f) compressing the heat-treated granular form of the remaining wood portion to form a compressed form.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the granular form of the remaining wood portion has dimensions of approximately 0.1 cm to approximately 0.6 cm.

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein the grinding step in (b) includes dry grinding and / or wet grinding.

26. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 25, wherein the drying step in (c) reduces the moisture content of the granular form of the remaining wood portion to less than about 30% by weight, less than about 20% by weight, or less than about 10% by weight.

27. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 26, wherein the volatile fraction released from the resin-rich wood and / or the remaining wood portion during the crushing and / or shredding steps is transferred to a condenser.

28. A method for chemical extraction and biomass fuel production using a wood substrate, wherein the method is (i) A step of processing the wood substrate and thereby extracting a terpene fraction from the wood substrate, (ii) A method comprising the step of processing the treated wood substrate to produce biomass fuel.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the processing step includes heat-treating the wood substrate under conditions that generate a gaseous flow containing the terpene fraction.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein the processing step includes heat-treating the wood substrate at a temperature of about 155°C to about 300°C, about 180°C to about 280°C, or about 200°C to about 250°C.

31. (a) A step of subdividing the wood substrate at least partially or reducing its size, (b) A step of crushing and / or shredding the wood substrate to form a granular form, (c) A step of drying the granular form of the wood substrate, (d) A step of compressing the granular form of the wood substrate to form the compressed form, (e) Heat-treating the compressed or granular form of the wood substrate at a temperature of about 100°C to about 200°C or about 200°C to about 350°C, and / or The method according to any one of claims 28 to 30, further comprising one or more of the steps of (f) compressing the heat-treated granular form of the wood substrate to form a compressed form.

32. A biomass fuel produced according to the method described in any one of claims 1 to 31.

33. A terpene and / or rosin fraction produced according to the method described in any one of claims 1 to 31.

34. A system for chemical extraction from resin-rich wood and biomass fuel production, comprising: a processing chamber for treating the resin-rich wood with a chemical agent containing, consisting of, or essentially consisting of terpenes; and a processing apparatus for processing the treated resin-rich wood to thereby produce biomass fuel.

35. A system for chemical extraction from a wood substrate and biomass fuel production, comprising: a processing chamber for processing the wood substrate; and a processing device for processing the processed wood substrate to thereby produce biomass fuel.

36. The system according to claim 34 or 35, wherein the processing chamber is in communication with the processing machine.

37. The system according to any one of claims 34 to 36, wherein the processing apparatus comprises a compression chamber that communicates with a heating chamber.

38. A system according to any one of claims 34 to 37 for use in the method according to any one of claims 1 to 31.

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