Membrane Operations in the Pulp and Paper Industry for the Recovery of Constituents: A State-of-the-Art Review
Keywords:
Membrane operations, pulp and paper industry, lignin, hemicelluloses, wood extractives, carboxylic acids, biorefinery, integrated biorefineryAbstract
The pulp and paper industry is one of the biggest industry sectors worldwide and its market growth is expected to reach 370.12 billion USD by 2028. However, as a water-intensive process, pulp and paper production generates huge volumes of contaminated effluents, some of which contain dissolved high-value chemical compounds, such as lignin, hemicellulose, or carboxylic acids, which can be recovered using membrane operations. Therefore, membrane operations represent a method to valorize effluents and byproducts from this industry sector and could narrow the gap between biorefinery models and pulp and paper production as an integrated biorefinery. The present review discusses the state-of-the-art research and the state-of-the-art applications of membrane operations in the pulp and paper industry for the recovery of constituents.
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