Quality Requirements of Wood and Bark of Biorefineries and Future Products

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2021) | Viewed by 10543

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Natural Resources Institute Finland, Tietotie 2, 02150 Espoo, Finland
Interests: structure and properties of wood; bark; side streams of forest- and agrobiomass; bioactive compounds

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Co-Guest Editor
Forest Products Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, Madison, WI 53726, USA
Interests: nondestructive testing and evaluation of wood; wood quality assessment; measuring wood properties; heat treatment for invasive species; structural condition assessment
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bioenergy and biomass-based products diversify business opportunities in the forest cluster. In particular, biorefineries, which could be integrated into the sawmills and pulp and paper mills, seem to have immense future potential. The raw material quality requirements of wood and bark for future wood processing industries may differ from those for the current industries. For traditional products, like solid wood and engineered wood, high density and strength is appreciated. Pulp and paper products have different quality requirements, including fiber length and low lignin content.

 This Special Issue welcomes research papers related to the structure and properties of wood biomass that are relevant to a range of wood manufacturing processes, with a focus on bioenergy and biomass utilization. Transportation and storing properties of the feedstock for biorefineries are also included.

Dr. Pekka Saranpää
Guest Editor
Dr. Xiping Wang
Co-Guest Editor 

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Keywords

  • Wood
  • biomass
  • bark
  • bio-based products
  • fiber quality
  • structure
  • properties
  • chemistry
  • storage
  • transport
  • biorefinery

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

34 pages, 6808 KiB  
Article
Effect of Seasonal Storage on Single-Stem Bark Extractives of Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
by Eelis S. Halmemies, Hanna E. Brännström, Juha Nurmi, Otto Läspä and Raimo Alén
Forests 2021, 12(6), 736; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12060736 - 4 Jun 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3328
Abstract
Increasing the net value of forestry side-streams has both ecological as well as economic benefits for emerging biorefining industries. Spruce bark represents one of the nature’s abundant sources of valuable extractives. In this study, the impact of storage on the quality and quantity [...] Read more.
Increasing the net value of forestry side-streams has both ecological as well as economic benefits for emerging biorefining industries. Spruce bark represents one of the nature’s abundant sources of valuable extractives. In this study, the impact of storage on the quality and quantity of Norway spruce (Picea abies) extractives was examined as a function of storage time, environmental conditions and season (i.e., winter or summer). The bark from stored spruce saw logs was extracted with an accelerated solvent extractor (ASE) at 120 °C with hexane and water. The produced extracts were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively by gas chromatography with a flame ionisation detector (GC-FID) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. The total amount of phenolics in the water extracts was evaluated by the Folin–Ciocalteu method, while the carbohydrate and lignin content of the extractive-free bark was estimated by acidic hydrolysis and acidic methanolysis. According to the results, storage season and temperature dramatically influenced both the chemical composition and degradation rate of bark extractives. After a storage period of 24 weeks, the winter-stored saw log bark retained 22% more hydrophilic extractives than the summer-stored bark. Lipophilic extractives, however, were 14% higher during the summer. Notably, the average amount of monomeric stilbenoids was 61% higher during the winter storage period. The initial total phenolic content in the water extracts was significantly higher during winter, but the degradation rate was about equal during winter and summer. The amount of cellulose in dry bark decreased from 17% to 11% and from 13% to 6% during winter and summer, respectively. By contrast, hemicelluloses increased from 17% to 26% and 15% to 30% during winter and summer, respectively. Overall, it was demonstrated that the seasonal factors of storage greatly affected the degradation rate of valuable spruce bark extractives, which should be considered in the planning stages of the raw materials procurement chain. Full article
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24 pages, 2731 KiB  
Article
Extractives of Stemwood and Sawmill Residues of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) for Biorefining in Four Climatic Regions in Finland—Phenolic and Resin Acid Compounds
by Erkki Verkasalo, Veikko Möttönen, Marja Roitto, Jouko Vepsäläinen, Anuj Kumar, Hannu Ilvesniemi, Workson Siwale, Riitta Julkunen-Tiitto, Olavi Raatikainen and Lauri Sikanen
Forests 2021, 12(2), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12020192 - 7 Feb 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2576
Abstract
This study aimed to identify and quantify phenolic and resin acid extractive compounds in Scots pine stemwood and sawmill residues in four climatic regions of Finland to evaluate their most optimal sources for bio-based chemical biorefining and bioenergy products. The sample consisted of [...] Read more.
This study aimed to identify and quantify phenolic and resin acid extractive compounds in Scots pine stemwood and sawmill residues in four climatic regions of Finland to evaluate their most optimal sources for bio-based chemical biorefining and bioenergy products. The sample consisted of 140 trees from 28 stands, and sawdust lots from 11 log stands. NMR for the overall extractive analysis and HPLC for the quantitative estimation of phenolic and resin acid compounds were employed. Correlation analysis, multivariate factor analysis, principle component analysis and multiple linear regression modelling were applied for statistical analysis. HPLC identified 12 extractive compounds and NMR five more resin acids. Pinosylvin (PS), pinosylvin monomethyl ether (PSMME), and partly neolignans/lignans occurred in the largest concentrations. Wood type caused the most variation, heartwood having larger concentrations than sapwood (sawdust between them). Regional differences in the concentrations were smaller, but factor analysis distinguished the northern and the southern regions into their own groups. The results indicated higher concentrations of PS, PSMME, and vanillic acid in southern regions and those of, e.g., PSMME glycoside, lignan 2, and neolignan 1 in northern regions. The rather low concentrations of extractives in stemwood and sawdust imply value-added products, efficient sorting and/or large raw material volumes. Full article
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16 pages, 8105 KiB  
Article
Genetic Parameters of Stem and Wood Traits in Full-Sib Silver Birch Families
by Grace Jones, Mateusz Liziniewicz, Stergios Adamopoulos and Johan Lindeberg
Forests 2021, 12(2), 159; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12020159 - 28 Jan 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3942
Abstract
This study investigated heritability of stem and wood traits to improve Swedish silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) through breeding. Birch is 12% of Sweden’s forest area but mainly used for low value pulp or firewood. This paper applied non-destructive test (NDT) methods, [...] Read more.
This study investigated heritability of stem and wood traits to improve Swedish silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) through breeding. Birch is 12% of Sweden’s forest area but mainly used for low value pulp or firewood. This paper applied non-destructive test (NDT) methods, and estimated traits’ heritability (h2), to help breed birch for high value solid wood products. Two trials of 22 families were assessed at age 19 for stem diameter (DBH), stem straightness, rough brown bark height (BH), grain angle (GA), Pilodyn penetration depth (Pilo) and acoustic velocity (AV). X-ray densitometry was performed on a subsample of radial cores taken at 1.3 m from the ground to get an average benchmark density. The h2 values were moderate for GA (0.20 and 0.21) and Pilo (0.53 and 0.48) at the two sites, but the h2 values for AV were low (0.05 and 0.30). There were moderate genotypic correlations between BH and DBH (0.51–0.54). There were low genotypic and phenotypic correlations between NDT measurements and other traits so including NDT in birch breeding efforts should not inadvertently reduce size, stem or wood quality. The high genetic correlations between sites suggest that GA, Pilo and AV values were determined more by genotype than by environment. Full article
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