Modified Cellulose Pulp Transport via Segmented Fibrillation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing nanofibrillar cellulose result in a highly viscous gel with low concentration, making transportation costly and energy-intensive, and excessive drying can alter the product's rheological characteristics, affecting its usability.
Innovation Solution
A method involving chemical modification of cellulose pulp to increase fiber susceptibility to disintegration, followed by washing and drying to achieve a suitable dry matter content for transport, allowing on-site fibrillation at the location of use, thereby managing the production and transport chain effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If nanofibrillar cellulose is produced at low consistency to maintain rheological properties, then the product forms a highly viscous gel with good functional characteristics, but the concentration remains below 5 wt-% making transportation costly and energy-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The production process is divided into two separate locations: manufacturing at the pulp mill and fibrillation at the location of use. This segmentation allows the product to be transported in a different physical state (fibers at higher consistency) than its final processed form (nanofibrillar cellulose), resolving the contradiction between transportation efficiency and rheological property preservation
Solution Approach 2:
Chemical modification (anionization or cationization) is performed preliminarily at the manufacturing location to increase fiber susceptibility to disintegration. This preliminary action enables efficient fibrillation at the location of use while allowing transportation at higher consistency, thus reducing transportation energy while preserving the ability to produce high-quality nanofibrillar cellulose
2Loss of energy
If excessive drying is applied to reduce water content and transportation costs, then energy efficiency improves, but the rheological characteristics of the nanofibrillar cellulose are altered making it unusable
Solution Approach 1:
The fibrillation process is extracted from the manufacturing location and performed at the location of use. This allows the product to be transported in a stable fiber form without requiring excessive drying, and the final nanofibrillar product is produced only when needed, preserving its rheological characteristics while minimizing energy consumption for water removal
Solution Approach 2:
The consistency parameter is changed between transportation and final processing stages. The modified cellulose pulp is transported at 20-60 wt-% dry matter content, then diluted to 2-4% consistency at the location of use before fibrillation. This parameter change allows efficient transportation without excessive drying while ensuring optimal conditions for producing nanofibrillar cellulose with correct rheological properties
Data Source
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AI summary
Method for making modified cellulose products comprises - processing cellulose pulp to modified cellulose pulp at a manufacturing location to increase the susceptibility of fibers to disintegration, - setting the modified cellulose pulp to a suitable dry matter content, and - transporting the modified cellulose pulp at set dry matter content to a location of use, where the modified cellulose pulp is disintegrated to nanofibrillar cellulose.