RESUMEN

Black liquor (BL) is the major bioproduct and biomass fuel in pulp mill processes. However, the high viscosity of BL makes it a challenging material to work with, resulting in issues with evaporators and heat exchangers during its transport and processing. The thermal and rheological properties of BLs from Pinus sp. (PBL) and Eucalyptus sp. (EBL) were studied. FTIR spectra revealed the presence of the characteristic functional groups and the chemical composition in liquors. TGA/DTG curves showed three characteristic degradation stages related to evaporation of water, pyrolysis of organic groups, and condensation of char. Rheologically, liquors are classified as non-Newtonian and with comportment pseudoplastic. Their rheological dynamic shear properties included a linear viscoelastic region up to 1% shear strain, while frequency sweeps showed that storage modulus (G') > loss modulus (G''), thus confirming the solid-like behavior of both BLs. The rheological study demonstrated that increasing the temperature and oscillatory deformations of PBL and EBL decreased their degree of viscoelasticity, which could favor their pumping and handling within the pulp mill, as well as the droplet formation and swelling characteristics in the recovery furnace.

Asunto(s)

Eucalyptus , Pinus , Reología , Eucalyptus/química , Pinus/química , Viscosidad , Brasil , Finlandia , Temperatura , Espectroscopía Infrarroja por Transformada de Fourier

RESUMEN

This study investigated the effects of galacomannans (guar gum, tara gum, and locust bean gum) on the rheological properties of buckwheat starch pastes under steady and dynamic shear conditions. The power law and Casson models were applied to describe the flow behavior of the buckwheat starch and galactomannan mixtures. The values of the apparent viscosity (ηa,100), consistency index (K), and yield stress (σoc) for buckwheat starch-galactomannan mixtures were significantly greater than those for the control, indicating that there was a high synergism of the starch with galactomannans. The magnitudes of storage modulus (G') and loss modulus (G″) for the starch-galactomannan mixtures increased with increasing frequency (ω). The dynamic moduli (G', G″), and complex viscosity (η*) for the buckwheat starch-galactomannan mixtures were significantly higher than those for the control.