Biopulping based on mixed cultures of basidiomycetes on Eucalyptus grandis and Eucalyptus urograndis (E. grandis x E. urophilla hybrids) wood chips

Author(s)

Gina Gabriela Seabra Cunha

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Lorena.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL/ASDI)
• Defense date: 2011-12-02

Examining board members

André Luís Ferraz; Walter de Carvalho; Paulo César Pavan; Arnaldo Márcio Ramalho Prata; Francides Gomes da Silva Junior

• Advisor: André Luís Ferraz

Abstract

Biopulping involves the wood biotreatment by selected white-rot fungi as a pretreatment step of conventional pulping processes. In general, the biotreated wood facilitates the subsequent pulping processes. However, previous studies on pilot scale showed that the process is susceptible to contamination by molds when the inoculation and biodegradation steps are carried out under non-aseptic conditions. To contribute with the biopulping progress this study evaluated the use of mixed cultures of Ceriporiopsis subvermispora and Phanerochaete chrysosporium acting on Eucalyptus grandis and Eucalyptus urograndis wood under non aseptic conditions where incubation was performed at varied temperatures. The simple strategy of initiating the incubation at 37°C for 3 days followed by a non-controlled step where the temperature could oscillate in the range of 27°C to 37°C proved to be efficient to inhibit the growth of contaminants. To evaluate the wood biotreatment effect in a subsequent step of chemithermomechanical pulping (CTMP), a preliminary study to adjust pulping variables was performed. Wood chips were predigested with alkaline-sulfite liquor, fibrillated and refined in a disk refiner. It was possible to simulate the yield and physico-mechanical properties of industrial CTMP pulps using a pre-digestion stage with 6% of Na2SO3 and 3% of NaOH at 120°C for 2 h. The refing curves in the CTMP process showed that the biotreated chips required less energy to reach 300 mL of Freeness (CSF) in the pulps than energy required to refine the control wood chips. Energy savings reached 60% in some cases, but were not maximized by the eventual synergic effect of the mixed cultures of the two basidiomycetes. Additional experiments were developed using the fungal species Trametes versicolor and Pycnoporus sanguineus that were efficient to compete with contaminants even at 27°C. In this case, the energy savings in the subsequent CTMP process were obtained only after long biotreatment times (30 days) and these values were lower than those obtained with the biotreated wood by C. subvermispora and P. chrysosporium. The combination C. subvermispora and Pleurotus ostreatus was also evaluated. In this case, previous literature information indicated some synergic effect of the two species regarding secretion of manganese peroxidase (MnP) and lignin degradation. The results corroborated that the mixed cultures of C. subvermispora and P.ostreatus provided an increased production of MnP compared to the individual cultivation of each species. On the other hand, P.ostreatus was not efficient to promote energy savings in the subsequent CTMP process. The mixed cultures did not provide increased energy savings as compared with the individual biotreatment with C. subvermispora. (AU)