2025

Melin Kristian; Sermyagina Ekaterina; Saari Jussi; Lahti Jussi; Vakkilainen Esa; Mänttäri Mika; Kallioinen-Mänttäri Mari

The forest industry strives to change its business model by adopting greater flexibility and additional revenue. One avenue is the development of novel biomaterials derived from various compounds in wood residues. One of the highly attractive choices is the production of hemicellulose, which is a widely abundant lignocellulosic polymer with a wide range of potential market applications. However, efficient utilisation of hemicelluloses on a commercial scale is lacking due to the technical limitations of isolation processes currently available. The present work investigates techno-economic aspects of hydrothermal extraction of hemicellulose from spruce via a novel method. Capital investments, operating costs and hemicellulose selling price are determined. Integration with extracted wood pelletising is additionally evaluated. A sensitivity analysis is performed evaluating which parameters have the highest influence on profitability. Hemicellulose extraction combined with pellet production from residue was found to be more techno-economically feasible than just pellet production when the hemicellulose sales price was > €1/kg for a plant scale using 62,000 bulk m3 tonne of sawdust per year. The production cost of hemicelluloses was between €0.6–1.9/kg depending on by-product, production scale, etc. Especially when integrated with an existing pulp mill, the production of hemicelluloses seems an attractive route for additional revenue.