Global Lignin Products Market - Segmented By Product Type, Source, Application, And Geography - Trends And Forecasts (2015-2020) - Reportlinker Review

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Sep 17, 2015, 07:46 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Lignin is an attractive raw material for value-added product development. It is a polyaromatic macromolecule thought to be a petroleum progenitor with a reported worldwide production of approximately 100 million tons/year. A byproduct of ?wood free? papermaking, lignin is predominately burnt in a chemical recovery process where it is an integral part of the paper and board manufacturing industries. As a result, less than 2% of the available lignin is isolated and sold, primarily in the formulation of dispersants, adhesives and surfactants. However, lignin-based product development is essential under the biorefinery concept; i) aging pulp and paper mills need to diversify their products portfolio to maintain existence; and ii) emerging biofuel/bioenergy technologies need to develop value-added co-products from lignin and bio-oil as a means of making the processes more cost effective.

There is an estimated 50 million tonnes of lignin available from pulping processes worldwide, but much of this is not isolated but burned onsite to provide steam for heat and power production. The global production of isolated lignin for lignosulphonate production is currently around 1.1 million tonnes. The market is mature and growing slowly. 1 million tonnes is derived from the acid sulphite pulping process. The remaining 100,000 tonnes is derived from the kraft pulping process.

Demand for lignosulphonate has been growing at around 1.4% per year, and generally varies in line with overall economic growth. The largest markets for lignosulphonate worldwide are USA, Western Europe, China and Central and Eastern Europe. The latter is expected to become the largest market for lignosulphonate in 2013, accounting for 20% of world consumption.

Isolated lignin is currently used in a wide range of low volume, niche applications where the form but not the quality is important. Solubility of the lignin in water is an important requirement for these applications and when chemically modified to become water soluble, the lignin product is known as a lignosulphonate. Around 67.5% of world consumption of lignosulphonate in 2008 was for dispersant applications followed by binder and adhesive applications at 32.5%. Major end-use markets include construction, mining, animal feeds and agriculture. The principal markets for lignosulphonate are summarised below.

Current Production Route from Biomass: The acid sulphite pulping process uses various salts of sulphurous acid and results in the production of suiphonated lignin which is water soluble (lignosulphonate). The kraft pulping process uses sodium sulphate and sodium carbonate to breakdown the lignin and some hemicelluloses. The lignin is isolated through acid precipitation of black liquor which produces unsulphonated lignin. If required, kraft lignin can be sulphonated using the suiphomethylation process to make lignosulphonate and improve water solubility.

Future Production Routes: The lignocellulosic biofuels sector could result in an increase in lignin availability. The quality and amount of lignin will vary depending on the technologies adopted. Lignin from steam explosion pre-treatment and from pyrolysis is reportedly lower in molecular weight than kraft lignin, whilst lignin derived from acid hydrolysis pre-treatments is reportedly unsuitable for chemical use unless non-standard technologies are used, Biomass fractionation technologies (such as the organsolv pulping process) produce three discrete fractions of lignin, cellulose and hemicell uloses, Fractionation processes recover 95% of lignin with 5% or less contamination, no sulphur contamination and is low in ash and contaminants4. Lignin from fractionation could be used as a feedstock for high value macromolecule and bulk chemical markets.

Potential Market Developments

The use of lignin for chemical production has so far been limited due to contamination from salts, sugars, particulates, volatiles and the molecular weight distribution in lignosulphonate. The production of most value added chemicals from lignin is viewed as a longer term opportunity which may be realized if higher quality lignin can be obtained. Any use for chemicals or value added products would need to be competitive against using the lignin for energy. Potential applications for lignin are shown in the figure below.

Companies profiled in the Lignin products market report include Borregaard Lignotech, Temmbec, among others.

What the report contains

The report elucidates the situation of Lignin products around the world and studies its markets by application which include Animal Feed Additives, Agriculture, Construction, Dyestuff, Dispersants, Industrial Cleaners & Water Treatment, Oil Field Chemicals, Industrial Binders, Emulsions, Carbon Black Dispersions, Battery Additives, Road & Soil Dust Control and Others; by source ? Kraft pulping, Sulfite pulping and cellulosic Ethanol; and by Product Type ? Ligno-sulphonates, Low-purity lignin, Kraft lignin and others.
Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03281928-summary/view-report.html

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