Valorizzazione catalitica delle fibre cellulosiche presenti nei fanghi provenienti dagli impianti di depurazione dei processi di produzione di carta tissue.

Progetto finanziato dall’azienda cartaria LUCART S.p.A.

The GREENFIBER project deals with the exploitation of different cellulose-rich paper mill sludges to give levulinic acid or alkyl levulinates, both high added-value platform chemicals and intermediates of great interest for the next synthesis of surfactants, green solvents, herbicides, biofuels, and plasticizers. Actually, these industrial streams are considered by the manufacturing company (LUCART S.p.A.) as wastes, thus landfilled, revealing negative economic and environmental repercussions for the same company and the local area. Instead, our proposal aims to exploit the cellulosic fraction of these wastes, converting them by suitable thermochemical treatments, occurring in the presence of water (e.g., to give levulinic acid), or alcohol (e.g., to give alkyl levulinate), both as solvents, and preferring a mild acid catalysis approach. The study of the direct alcoholysis of the paper mill sludges to ethyl and butyl levulinates will be studied and optimized, given the great interest of these bio-products as biofuels, solvents, biosurfactants and plasticizers. In this context, the alcoholysis reaction, which has never studied on these kinds of wastes, has undoubted potential, given its versatility and robustness, that is resulting poorly sensitive to the presence of impurities. In this context, the preliminary characterization of the waste streams of the papermaking Company will be fundamental to better interpret the results of the catalytic tests, and to support the company's activities. On a wider perspective, the final and ambitious goal is to produce bio-products of great industrial interest for the same papermaking process, in full compliance with the principle of the circular economy.

Main expected outcomes of the GREENFIBER project
- Sampling and physicochemical characterization of the starting paper mill sludges, to support both the next experimental activity (hydrothermal and alcoholysis pathways) and the company.
- Exploitation of cellulose-rich papermaking wastes to give levulinic acid or alkyl levulinates (ethyl or butyl levulinate) as the target platform chemicals.
- Characterization of the reaction by-products.
- Final evaluations and possible impacts of this proposal on the Lucca area.

Involved Research Units:
- Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale.

Partners:
LUCART
CONFINDUSTRIA TOSCANA NORD
LUCENSE