Hot Water Extraction: Short Rotation Willow, Mixed Hardwoods, and Process Considerations

Abstract

Short rotation woody crops (SRWC) like shrub willow are highly productive biomass resources of interest for energy and fuel applications. Hot water extraction (HWE) as an upgrading tool to enable the use of willow biomass in pellet applications has been proposed, and is of increasing interest. This study treats willow and mixes of willow and conventional mixed hardwood feedstock with HWE in a tumbling laboratory reactor to elucidate the effects of time, temperature, feedstock mixes, and other process considerations (water:biomass ratio, presteaming, counter-current processing) on mass removals and other extraction outcomes (e.g., sugar, acetate, and furan yields). Results demonstrated alignment of extraction outcomes with P-factor from 155 °C to 175 °C, with a good compromise of removed mass and co-product potential in the range from 575–800 P-factor. The preferred condition was chosen as 575 P-factor. HWE of mixes of willow and hardwood feedstocks showed a linear response of extraction outcomes to willow:hardwood ratios. Testing of water:biomass ratios demonstrated that this is a significant consideration, with each outcome being affected somewhat differently, and indicating that HWE is more diffusion dependent than expected. Presteaming shows little to no effect on extraction outcomes, while multi-stage cooks simulating counter-current operation indicate a significant potential value in counter-current extraction.