Forest Biorefinery

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2019)

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Forest Science, University of Eastern Finland, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland
Interests: industrial forest biotechnology and biorefining; fungal biotechnology; sustainable exploitation of forests

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Forest Science, University of Eastern Finland, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland
Interests: lignocellulosic industrial side streams and their valorization; industrial forest biotechnology; sustainable bioeconomy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forest biorefineries are industrial concepts that add value to forest biomass-based products. Biorefineries are based on refining processes which produce the combination of fuels, energy, and chemicals in a way that can be recognized as sustainable production.

“Forest Biorefineries” is the title of this Special Issue of the international journal Forests, and it will consist of topics on the technology-driven biorefinery processes, process design, and products from biorefinery systems. Topics will also cover controlled biomass fractionation either through chemical or thermochemical processes. The production of chemicals from the fractionation products, hemicellulose, lignin, and advanced fibre products are the core of forest biorefineries.

Additionally, the issue will also include topics such as added-value products from forest-based industry side streams and the recovery of maximal exploitation of the entire feedstock/resource/raw material.

We anticipate selecting articles that reflect not only integrated pulp biorefineries, but also diverse biorefining approaches outside of pulp and paper production. We are particularly interested in articles that show the complex nature of biorefineries based on sustainable production.

Please feel free to contact us if you are interested and would like to have further details.

Prof. Dr. Ari Pappinen
Dr. Suvi Kuittinen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 2125 KiB  
Article
Chemical Composition and Thermal Behavior of Kraft Lignins
by Aleš Ház, Michal Jablonský, Igor Šurina, František Kačík, Tatiana Bubeníková and Jaroslav Ďurkovič
Forests 2019, 10(6), 483; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10060483 - 03 Jun 2019
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 3435
Abstract
Lignin has great potential for utilization as a green raw material or as an additive in various industrial applications, such as energy, valuable chemicals, or cost-effective materials. In this study, we assessed a commercial form of lignin isolated using LignoBoost technology (LB lignin) [...] Read more.
Lignin has great potential for utilization as a green raw material or as an additive in various industrial applications, such as energy, valuable chemicals, or cost-effective materials. In this study, we assessed a commercial form of lignin isolated using LignoBoost technology (LB lignin) as well as three other types of lignin (two samples of non-wood lignins and one hardwood kraft lignin) isolated from the waste liquors produced during the pulping process. Measurements were taken for elemental analysis, methoxyl and ash content, higher heating values, thermogravimetric analysis, and molecular weight determination. We found that the elemental composition of the isolated lignins affected their thermal stability, activation energies, and higher heating values. The lignin samples examined showed varying amounts of functional groups, inorganic component compositions, and molecular weight distributions. Mean activation energies ranged from 93 to 281 kJ/mol. Lignins with bimodal molecular weight distribution were thermally decomposed in two stages, whereas the LB lignin showing a unimodal molecular weight distribution was decomposed in a single thermal stage. Based on its thermal properties, the LB lignin may find direct applications in biocomposites where a higher thermal resistance is required. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forest Biorefinery)
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