CO2 is becoming increasingly important as a mediating fluid, and simulation studies are indispensable for corresponding developments. In this study, a simulation-based performance investigation of a solar water heating system using CO2 as a mediating fluid under sub-zero temperature condition is performed using the TRNSYS (R) software. The maximum performance is achieved at a solar savings fraction of 0.83 during July. The as lowest solar savingss fraction of 0.41 is obtained during December. The annual heat production of the proposed system under Fargo climate is estimated to be about 2545 kWh. An evacuated glass tube solar collector is designed, fabricated and tested for various climate conditions. Moreover, a detailed comparison of the system's performance at sub/supercritical and supercritical pressures shows that the annual heat transfer efficiency of the modeled system is 10% higher at supercritical pressure than at sub/supercritical pressures. This result can be attributd to the strong convection flow of CO2 caused by density inhomogeneities, especially in the near critical region. This condition resuls in high heat transfer rates.

The integration of commercial onshore large-scale wind farms into a national grid comes with several technical issues that predominately ensure power quality in accordance with respective grid codes. The resulting impacts are complemented with the absorption of larger amounts of reactive power by wind generators. In addition, seasonal variations and inter-farm wake effects further deteriorate the overall system performance and restrict the optimal use of available wind resources. This paper presented an assessment framework to address the power quality issues that have arisen after integrating large-scale wind farms into weak transmission grids, especially considering inter-farm wake effect, seasonal variations, reactive power depletion, and compensation with a variety of voltage-ampere reactive (Var) devices. Herein, we also proposed a recovery of significant active power deficits caused by the wake effect via increasing hub height of wind turbines. For large-scale wind energy penetration, a real case study was considered for three wind farms with a cumulative capacity of 154.4 MW integrated at a Nooriabad Grid in Pakistan to analyze their overall impacts. An actual test system was modeled in MATLAB Simulink for a composite analysis. Simulations were performed for various scenarios to consider wind intermittency, seasonal variations across four seasons, and wake effect. The capacitor banks and various flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS) devices were employed for a comparative analysis with and without considering the inter-farm wake effect. The power system parameters along with active and reactive power deficits were considered for comprehensive analysis. Unified power flow controller (UPFC) was found to be the best compensation device through comparative analysis, as it maintained voltage at nearly 1.002 pu, suppressed frequency transient in a range of 49.88-50.17 Hz, and avoided any resonance while maintaining power factors in an allowable range. Moreover, it also enhanced the power handling capability of the power system. The 20 m increase in hub height assisted the recovery of the active power deficit to 48%, which thus minimized the influence of the wake effect.

Here, we show that lignin-first biorefining of poplar can enable the production of dissolving cellulose pulp that can produce regenerated cellulose, which could substitute cotton. These results in turn indicate that agricultural land dedicated to cotton could be reclaimed for food production by extending poplar plantations to produce textile fibers. Based on climate-adapted poplar clones capable of growth on marginal lands in the Nordic region, we estimate an environmentally sustainable annual biomass production of ∼11 tonnes/ha. At scale, lignin-first biorefining of this poplar could annually generate 2.4 tonnes/ha of dissolving pulp for textiles and 1.1 m3 biofuels. Life cycle assessment indicates that, relative to cotton production, this approach could substantially reduce water consumption and identifies certain areas for further improvement. Overall, this work highlights a new value chain to reduce the environmental footprint of textiles, chemicals, and biofuels while enabling land reclamation and water savings from cotton back to food production.

There is a need to develop more sustainable packaging products in the food packaging industry. An alternative to the common petroleum-based and synthetic barriers in paperboard are biopolymers such as starch, polylactic acid and wax with different modifications. The aim of this study was to study different types of biobased barriers against water and vapor on paperboard for future food packaging. All barriers were rod coated and their water and vapor barrier properties were tested by pinholes, coating weight, Cobb₆₀₀, drop shape analysis (DSA), water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In addition, PLA were heat treated. The heat treatment method was calibrated using air permeance as a guidance of the barriers performance before further testing. Starch had an even coating but were very hydrophilic, resulting in a bad water and vapor barrier. PLA had a high contact angle during drop shape analysis, supposedly caused by the chemically hydrophobic surface of the untreated PLA structure combined with the surface topography shown in SEM. Despite the high contact angle, PLA had high Cobb₆₀₀ and WVTR values. Heat treatment of PLA changed the structure of the barrier as shown during SEM and the barriers performance against water and vapor was improved. Wax had an uneven coating and therefore air drying in room temperature was tested. The result was a more even coating with lower Cobb₆₀₀ and WVTR values. Future studies need to be done regarding the heat treatment of PLA. The dispersion technique needs scaling up and further testing before application on an industrial level.

Due to its large flexibility, low-price, large availability, and properties lignin is seen as an important compound with a wide range of applications. The increasing demand of fossil-based rubber materials is causing a serious threat to the environment and it is contributing to plastic- and marine pollution, ozone depletion and carbon dioxide emission (CO₂) [1,2]. Numerous toxicological researches highlight that Carbon black may act as a universal carrier of wide variety of chemicals of varying toxicity to the human body [3,4]. Consequently, researcher endeavours in finding sustainable and eco-friendlier alternatives. The aim of this thesis was to further investigate the possibilities of replacing carbon black with modified lignin in rubber elastomeric materials- for the development of sustainable tyre technology. The research questions for this thesis were divided in four parts:

• How does lignin (unmodified and modified) structure affect the mechanical properties of the rubber compound?
• How does lignin affect the cross-link and vulcanisation of the rubber compound?
• How does lignin affect the dispersion of the rubber compound?
• Which modification of lignin is more compatible with the rubber compound?

Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer on earth (after cellulose) and is mainly extracted from black liquor, which is obtained as a by-product from the pulp- and paper. In this study, pure lignin was obtained from Lignoboost process (Lignocity) and underwent an esterification process of aldehydes (1. Protonic, 2. Butyric, 3. Isobutyric 4. Methacrylic and 5. Crotonic). LignoCity 2.0 is a project focusing on the development of sustainable products and processes connected to lignin. The structure of the modified lignin was characterized using a FTIR-spectra. Furthermore, seven different rubber compounds were produced at Anva Poly Tech, which is a company that manufactures rubber materials in Sunne, Sweden. The mechanical testing involved: Tensile strength, IRHD, Hardness, Rebound Resilience and Rheometer curve. It was observable that the addition of lignin in rubber compounds did not significantly improve the mechanical properties compared to conventional carbon black. However, the rheometer curves of the lignin samples clearly indicate an increase in scorch time and that lignin takes part in the vulcanization process, thus the delay in crosslinking phase.

 In addition, it was visible that the fully replacement of carbon black with lignin (unmodified and modified) increased the elongation at break. Furthermore, the FTIR spectra indicated a complete and successful modification of lignin. In addition, compared to unmodified lignin, it was visible that the modified lignin significantly improved the mechanical properties. Therefore, it was possible to conclude that the configuration and double bonds of the aldehydes had an impact on the vulcanization process. Butyric and isobutyric lignin were the better choices compared to the other lignin samples.

Oily sludge has the potential to utilize in pyrolysis process effectively because of higher product recovery and lower harmful emissions. Due to the complex nature of reactions, it is necessary to evaluate the thermo-kinetic behavior of the process to make it commercially feasible. This study includes thermal degradation behavior, the kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of dry oily sludge by applying Friedman and Vyazovkin method (model-free approach), and Coats-Redfern method (model-fitting approach) with the help of thermogravimetric analysis TGA at different heating rates (5, 20, 40 °C/min). The active region was from 20 to 60% conversion range because the maximum conversion occurs in this region. The overall activation energy decreases as the conversion increases from a lower range (60%) to a higher range (80%) for all satisfied models. The estimated range of pre-exponential coefficient for each model was to 4.91E+15 to 2.30E-01min−1 in the conversion range of 20–60% and 9.80E+02 to 4.89E-04min−1 in the conversion range 60–80%. The overall value of the change in enthalpy ΔH and change in Gibbs free energy ΔG decrease as the conversion increases from the lower range to the higher range.

This thesis deals with the preparation of chemically and/or enzymatically modified cellulose. This modification can be either irreversible or reversible. Irreversible modification is used to prepare cellulose derivatives as end products, whereas reversible modification is used to enhance solubility in the preparation of regenerated cellulose.

The irreversible modification studied here was the preparation of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) using extended mercerization of a spruce dissolving pulp. More specifically the parameters studied were the effect of mercerization at different proportions of cellulose I and II in the dissolving pulp, the concentration of alkali, the temperature and the reaction time. The parameters evaluated were the degree of substitution, the filterability and the amount of gel obtained when the resulting CMC was dissolved in water. Molecular structures of CMC and its gel fractions were analysed by using NIR FT Raman spectroscopy. It was found that the alkali concentration in the mercerization stage had an extensive influence on the subsequent etherification reaction. FT Raman spectra of CMC samples and their gel fractions prepared with low NaOH concentrations (9%) in the mercerization stage indicated an incomplete transformation of cellulose to Na-cellulose before carboxymethylation to CMC. Low average DS values of the CMC, i.e. between 0.42 and 0.50 were obtained. Such CMC dissolved in water resulted in very thick and semi solid gum-like gels, probably due to an uneven distribution of substituents along the cellulose backbone. FT Raman spectra of CMC samples and their gel fractions mercerized at higher alkaline concentration, i.e. 18.25 and 27.5% in the mercerization stage, indicated on the other hand a complete transformation of cellulose to Na-cellulose before carboxymethylation to CMC. Higher average DS values of the CMC, i.e. between 0.88 and 1.05 were therefore obtained. When dissolved in water such CMC caused gel formation especially when prepared from dissolving pulp with a high fraction of cellulose II.

The reversible modification studied was the dissolution of cellulose in NaOH/ZnO. Here the effect of enzyme pretreatment was investigated by using two mono-component enzymes; namely xylanase and endoglucanase, used in consecutive stages. It was found that although the crystallinity and the specific surface area of the dissolving pulp sustained minimal change during the enzymatic treatment; the solubility of pulp increased in a NaOH/ZnO solution from 29% for untreated pulp up to 81% for enzymatic pretreated pulp.

Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is produced commercially in a two-stage process consisting of a mercerization stage, where the pulp is treated with alkali in a water alcohol solution, followed by an etherification stage in which monochloroacetic acid is added to the pulp slurry. In this thesis an extended mercerization stage of a spruce ether pulp was investigated where the parameters studied were the ratio of cellulose I and II, concentration of alkali, temperature and retention time. The influence of the mercerization stage conditions on the etherification stage, were evaluated as the degree of substitution (DS) of the resulting CMC and the filterability of CMC dissolved in water at a concentration of 1%. The DS results suggested that the NaOH concentration in the mercerization stage was the most important of the parameters studied. When the NaOH concentration in the mercerization step was low (9%), a high cellulose II content in the pulp used was found to have no negative impact on the DS of the resulting CMC compared with pulps with only cellulose I. However, when the NaOH concentration was high (27.5%), pulps with high content of cellulose II showed a lower reactivity than those with only cellulose I with respect to the DS of the CMC obtained after a given charge of NaMCA.

The results obtained from the filtration ability study of CMC water solutions suggested that both the amount of cellulose II in the original pulp and the temperature had a negative influence on the filtration ability whereas the NaOH concentration in the mercerization stage had a positive influence. The filtration ability was assumed to be influenced highly by the presence of poorly reacted cellulose segments. A retention time between 1-48 h in the mercerization stage had no effect on either the DS or the filtration ability of the CMC.

Using NIR FT Raman spectroscopy molecular structures of CMC and its gel fraction were analyzed with respect to the conditions used in the extended mercerization stage. Here it was found that the alkaline concentration had a very strong influence on the following etherification reaction. FT Raman spectra of CMC samples and their gel fractions prepared with low NaOH concentrations (9%) in the mercerization stage indicated an incomplete transformation of cellulose to Na-cellulose before carboxymethylation to CMC. Low average DS values of the CMC, i.e. between 0.42 and 0.50, were yielded. Such CMC dissolved in water caused very thick and semi solid gum-like gels, probably due to an uneven distribution of substituting groups along the cellulose backbone. FT Raman spectra of CMC mercerized with alkaline concentrations at 18.25 and 27.5% in the mercerization stage indicated, however, that all of the cellulose molecules were totally transferred to CMC of high DS, i.e. between 0.88 and 1.05. When dissolved in water such CMC caused gels when they were prepared from ether pulp with a high fraction of cellulose II.

Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is produced commercially in a two stage process consisting of a mercerization stage in which the pulp is treated with alkali in a water alcohol solution and a second etherification stage whereby monochloro-acetic acid is added to the pulp slurry. In this study, the influence of the conditions of an extended mercerization stage was evaluated on the etherification stage concerning the degree of substitution (DS) and the filterability of the resulting CMC. The parameters studied were: (1) the ratio of cellulose I and cellulose II in the original pulp, (2) the concentration of alkali, (3) the temperature and (4) the retention time in the mercerization stage. The DS results indicate that the NaOH concentration in the mercerization stage is the most important among the parameters studied. When the NaOH concentration in the mercerization stage was high (27.5%), cellulose II showed a lower reactivity than cellulose I with respect to the DS obtained in the resulting CMC. The results from the filtration ability of CMC water solutions are interpreted that the amount of cellulose II in the original pulp and the temperature has a negative influence, while the NaOH concentration in the mercerization stage has a positive influence on the filtration ability. Retention time between 1 h–48 h in the mercerization stage had no effect on the DS or the filtration value. The filtration ability was assumed to be highly influenced by the presence of poorly reacted cellulose segments. The CMC samples with the lowest filtration ability at a given DS can be assumed to have the highest degree of unevenly substituted segments.

The purpose with this work is to increase the understanding about the energy consumed in papermaking, by combining existing calculation models and calculations, that gives the outgoing moisture rate and the needed energy for unit operations, vacuum dewatering and wet pressing, as well as a model for frictions that occur when different number of suction boxes are used. The moisture ratio that becomes the best of the first dewatering and then the pressing is then the decisive factor for energy required in the drying section, to dry off the remaining water.

Using the vacuum model, in the wire section, the result showed that the dewatering is not dependent on the temperature, because after the stock has travelled for a time in the wire section, the stock will have close value regardless of the initial stock temperature. Vacuum pressure levels of 30 and 40 kPa do not make a big difference during dewatering, but vacuum pressure levels of 50 and 60 kPa give a significant difference in dewatering, which is summarized by the fact that increased vacuum pressure level gives a smaller initial moisture ratio.

The decreasing permeability model used in this work (press model), shows that increasing pressure results in less outgoing moisture from press section. With increased pressing pressure, vacuum pressure level becomes less important during dewatering system. The stock temperature parameter affects the dewatering in press section, that increasing temperature give less outgoing moisture. The friction energy increases with increased vacuum pressure and increased number of vacuum suction boxes, but the friction energy does not change with increased speed, which means that you can increase paper production without having to apply more energy.

Modified nanocellulose have distinctive qualities and have drawn a lot of interest from a variety of fields. It is a natural, sustainable product that is manufactured from plant-based materials like wood and other renewable resources. It is also biodegradable. It is a possible material for battery separators because of its great mechanical strength, flexibility, and ability to create a stable and consistent membrane. Due to the cost of using it as a membrane, it has been investigated in this work to see if it can be coated onto a substrate and used as battery separator. In this work sulfonated cellulose nanofibrils (SCNF) has been used to be coated on kraft paper and inkjet paper using a rod coater. Parameters like concentration, thickness and substrates have been varied in this experiment. Viscosity was measured using Brookfield instrument to measure the viscosity for 0,5% SCNF and 1,5% SCNF. The coating was carried out using a rod coater and varying between two rods to influence the thickness, the coating used concentrations of 0,5% SCNF and 1,5% SCNF and two different substrates, kraft paper and inkjet paper. Thickness was determined to study the effect of the variation in rod. The mechanical strength was tested on the coated paper substrates and compared the results to the noncoated substrates as reference, the mechanical strength showed an improvement with the coated SCNF substrates. Permeance through the Gurley method was studied in order to understand how the coated substrates behaves compared to the noncoated. Contact angle was determined as well to understand the wettability of the coated substrates and how they would behave as separators in zinc ion batteries. The contact angle decreased with increasing concentration of the SCNF which is a result of the sulfonate groups. Cross sections were analyzed using SEM to study the influence of the coating to the substrates. Ionic conductivity was also tested to evaluate the possibility of the coated substrates as separators.

The objective of this work was to study the addition of fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) for efficient use on pigment coating of paper substrates with low grammage and the goal was to achieve high optical response by using low amount of FWAs. A commercial light-weight coated (LWC) paper grade was provided by Stora Enso Corbehem Mill and isotropic laboratory sheets were produced at Stora Enso Research Centre using PFI sheet former. Optical properties such as brightness, whiteness and L, a* and b* colour space values were evaluated using Minolta spectrophotometer with D65 illuminant for both types of substrate using different types and amounts of FWA while the effect of the addition of dye was evaluated in both isotropic sheets and as well as in the coating. The results showed that brightness and whiteness of double-coated paper increased by increasing the amount of fluorescent whitening agent in the coating layer. Also, higher brightness and whiteness was achieved by introducing a higher amount of fluorescent whitening agent in the top coating rather than in a pre-coating. The addition of a shading colorant in the paper substrate had a positive influence not only on the brightness but also on the whiteness of coated paper.

This study presents the inkjet printing of a novel OLED device with fully solution-processed organic layers that employ TADF material as an emitting layer. The ink was formulated using new TADF material, triazine core carbazole dendrimers with tert-butyl group at the periphery (tBuG2TAZ), dissolved in a mixture of two non-chlorinated solvents. The influence of the print resolution and the substrate temperature on morphology of the printed films was studied and optimized in ambient conditions. The optimized TADF dendrimer layer was then incorporated in the OLEDs as the emitting layer. The best-printed OLEDs exhibited a maximum current efficiency of 18 cd/A and maximum luminance of 6900 cd/m(2). Such values are comparable to the values obtained in spin coated devices made of the same TADF dendrimer. Further, the mobility of charge carriers extracted from transient electroluminescence measurements of printed OLEDs, when compared to reference OLEDs made by spin coating technique, showed similar values. Finally, we have demonstrated the possibility of patterning of emission the area of complex shapes merely by selectively printing the emission layer. These results demonstrate the potential application of the new dendrimer TADF emitters for the fabrication of efficient OLEDs by an inkjet printing technique.

To prevent permeation through food packages, the packaging are often combined with barrier coatings. Many of these coatings are petroleum based and wished to be replaced with renewable materials.

The aim with this study was to produce laboratory barrier films of starch, hemicellulose and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and to examine the structures of these films and investigate how these barriers are affected by plasticizer additions. In this thesis PVA was mostly used as a reference material. In this way more knowledge can be obtained how the structures of the barrier affect the barrier performance. Different amounts of plasticizer, sorbitol, was added to the polymer solutions, different temperatures was used to dry the barriers and the barriers was coated with different thickness. The structure of the barrier was examined by several different analyses; oscillatory tests, scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), permeability with oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and ambient oxygen transmission rate (AOIR).

The results showed that sorbitol will be needed when making a barrier of starch and hemicellulose. This depends on the increasing entanglements in the polymers solutions when the sorbitol concentration is increasing; these entanglements decrease the glass transition temperature. Although, when the films are sticking together an increasing concentration of sorbitol seems to increase the permeability.

There is a big interest in the food packaging industry when it comes to substituting the non- renewable plastics with sustainable biomaterial such as biopolymers. The aim of this study is to create a bio-based barrier coating that contributes to the development for an excellent dispersion barrier against oxygen and grease. The challenge was to create an optimized formula to achieve a barrier material with low permeability and that has enough flexibility to be converted into end-products. Water-based formulations with xylan and additions of polycation PEI, plasticizers of xylitol and glycerol, and clay were made to create an optimized balance to accomplish the desired barrier properties. To evaluate the barrier properties of the material the methods for pinholes and grease resistance, well known traditional KIT method, was used to investigate the potential of the formula. The samples that had the most promising results regarding the quality in terms of occurring cracks or pinholes for example, were further analyzed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR) was measured. It was shown that the coatings that composed of <7 weight-% plasticizer (per dry content) had high grease resistance. Combining polycation and clay showed contributing factors such as a decrease in OTR and high resistance against grease penetration which shows a potential for successful development in barrier packaging applications.

Sulfite cooking was earlier the dominating pulping process but sulfate (kraft) cooking is today the most important process for the production of chemical pulps and high-yield pulps. One important reason for this development of the sulfate process is its ability to efficiently use different wood species, in particular different hardwood species. Another reason is that bleached hardwood sulfate pulps have become a strong competitor to bleached softwood sulfite pulps. The pros and cons of sulfate cooking are discussed in this report and compared with sulfite cooking.

Previous studies have attempted to explain forces holding particles together in densified biomass pellets using theories of forces of attraction between solid particles, forces of adhesion and cohesion, solid bridges and mechanical interlocking bonds including interfacial forces and capillary pressure. This study investigated the bonding mechanism of primary biomass components in densified pellets through the use of advanced analytical instruments able to go beyond what is visible to the naked eye. Data obtained were used to predict how primary biomass components combine to form pellets based on the theory of functional groups and the understanding of structural chemistry. Results showed that hydroxyl and carbonyl functional groups played key roles in helping to identify the type of forces acting between individual particles, at a molecular level. At a microscopic level, morphological examination of the pellet clearly showed solid bridges caused by intermolecular bonding from highly electronegative polar functional groups linked to cellulose and hemicellulose.

Sugarcane bagasse is a residue that results from the crushing of sugarcane in the sugar industry. Among the various agricultural crop residues, sugarcane bagasse is the most abundant lignocellulosic material in tropical and sub-tropical countries including South Africa. Bagasse is a renewable feedstock that can be used for power generation and manufacturing cellulosic ethanol In the sugarcane industries the bagasse is mainly burnt inefficiently in boilers that provide the heating for the industry. This project seeks to investigate the possibility of gasifying sugarcane bagasse as an efficient conversion technology. Proximate and ultimate analysis of sugarcane bagasse was conducted after which the results were used to conduct computer simulation of the mass and energy balance during gasification. This paper presents the proximate and ultimate analysis as well as the computer simulation results.

The anaerobic digestion technology has been in existence for centuries and its underlying theory established for decades. It is considered a useful technology for the generation of renewable energy, and provides means to alleviate problems associated with low access to energy. However, a great deal of current research is targeted towards the optimization of this technology under diverse digestion process conditions. This review presents an in-depth analysis of the chemistry of anaerobic digestion and discusses how process chemistry can be used to optimize system performance through identification of methods that can accelerate syntrophic interactions of different microorganisms for improved methanogenic reactions. Recent advances in addition to old research are discussed in order to offer a general but comprehensive synopsis of accumulated knowledge in the theory of anaerobic digestion, as well as an overview of previous research and future directions and opportunities of the AD technology. Achieving a sustainable energy system requires comprehensive reforms in not just economic, social and policy aspects, but also in all technical aspects, which represents one of the most crucial future investments for anaerobic digestion systems.

Since the beginning of the 20th century plastic has been a widely used material, which has resulted in large quantities of plastic being produced in the last century. The plastics of today are mainly produced from fossil raw materials, which gives it a high climate impact. Plastic also has a long service life, which creates problems with handling after the new period when new plastic is produced at a faster rate than plastic debris can be recycled or incinerated. One possible approach is to switch from plastic from fossil sources to bioplastics, which is produced by renewable sources. This means a reduction in the environmental impact as the amount of fossil CO2 emissions from combustion of plastics would decrease. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are created by short volatile fatty acids (VFAs) added to bio sludge from a wastewater treatment plant at a pulp and paper mill where there is a lot of bacteria and microorganisms. Some of the bacteria in the sludge have the ability to accumulate PHA when VFA is added in excess and then be able to use it as an energy and carbon source in cases of starvation. This means that PHA produced in this way can be degraded by bacteria making it biodegradable while having similar properties as oil-based plastics. Production of PHA is currently expensive as it is often necessary to purchase VFA for production. To make it economically sustainable to replace oil-based plastics with PHA, the cost of PHA production must therefore be reduced. This can be done by using mixed bacterial cultures from, for example, industrial wastewater treatment plants and by creating their own composition of VFA through fermentation. At the paper mill at BillerudKorsnäs Gruvön there are several process streams that today are led to the water treatment plant, one of which is from PM6 (Paper Machine 6). By fermenting that stream, VFA can be formed with a composition of acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid. The current may thus be suitable to use as a substrate in PHA production. Another way to produce VFA is to ferment the residual flow from hydrothermal carbonation (HTC) of bio sludge. According to (Samorì et al., 2019), acetic acid, butyric acid and valeric acid are formed, which means that even this stream may be suitable as a substrate for PHA production. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the effects of the composition of VFA on the production of PHA from forest industrial bio sludge. The study covers two different cases, Case PM6 and Case HTC, where two different types of composition of VFA are added to paper sludge from the paper mill. The experiments were performed in cylindrical tanks on three occasions where the first two experiments had a volume of 30 liters and the last experiment a volume of 10 liters. On the first occasion, the maximum accumulation rate in the growth phase was studied. In the second instance, a high accumulation rate was sought, but also survival after the growth phase. The first two trials were batch trials where the sludge was dosed until saturation was achieved. On the third occasion, the possibility of carrying out PHA production with a continuous sludge exchange was studied. The experiments were analyzed by FTIR which provided information on the absorbance of the sludge which shows how the PHA concentration increased during the course of the experiments. Extractions were then performed to obtain the concentration of PHA that eventually accumulated in the sludge. The results show that biomass from BillerudKorsnäs Gruvön's mills accumulated PHA faster with VFA composition from fermented PM6 effluent compared to VFA composition from fermented HTC condensate. Calculations made with input from the experiments indicate that it is possible to produce a larger amount of PHA per year with Case PM6. The conclusion is therefore that Case PM6 is preferable if as large a PHA production as possible wants to be achieved. Case HTC is instead preferred if reduced PHA production can be tolerated in favor of biocarbon production.

Food packaging plays a crucial role in protecting and storing food to keep the products fresh and reduce waste. There is a need to increase the number of paper packages in the food industry to meet the growing demand. Therefore, barrier coatings are an essential aspect of the paper industry since they have good resistance to grease and moisture, which protects the food. The development and improvement of these barrier coatings have the potential to contribute to the advancement of environmentally friendly food packaging. This work aims to examine the impact of rheological behavior and properties on the runnability and barrier performance of barrier coating formulations containing two different kaolin clays, Speswhite (K1) and Capim NP (K2), with the addition of nanoclay in varying amounts. Different formulations were tested as multilayer barrier coatings on lab- and pilot-scale in order to determine the effect of various nanoclay concentrations on runnability, water retention, and rheology properties. Various measurement techniques have been used to obtain a wide range of information on the rheological properties, including the viscosity, under varied shear rate ranges. Also studied are runnability, grease and moisture barrier performance, water retention, and high shear testing for rheology to determine flow behavior. The results show that the viscosity was higher on the lab scale than on the pilot scale due to the poor nanoclay dispersion at the pilot scale. As expected for this type of barrier coating, the KIT-test revealed that the grease barrier was highly effective. Measurements of water retention were good for the low amounts of nanoclay content. Lastly, the shear testing gave very similar results between all the different barrier coating formulas. It was determined that a low nanoclay content gave a good barrier coating performance. However, a higher nanoclay content resulted in decreased water resistance compared to a coating with a low nanoclay content.

The structure and performance of promoted Ni/Al2O3 with Cu via thermocatalytic decomposition (TCD) of CH4 mixture (2% CH3OH) were studied. Mesoporous Cat-1 and Cat-2 were synthesized by the impregnation method. The corresponding peaks of nickel oxide and copper oxide in the XRD showed the presence of nickel and copper oxides as a mixed alloy in the calcined catalyst. Temperature program reduction (TPR) showed that Cu enhanced the reducibility of the catalyst as the peak of nickel oxide shifted toward a lower temperature due to the interaction strength of the metal particles and support. The impregnation of 10% Cu on Cat-1 drastically improved the catalytic performance and exhibited 68% CH4 conversion, and endured its activity for 6 h compared with Cat-1, which deactivated after 4 h. The investigation of the spent carbon showed that various forms of carbon were obtained as a by-product of TCD, including graphene fiber (GF), carbon nanofiber (CNF), and multi-wall carbon nanofibers (MWCNFs) on the active sites of Cat-2 and Cat-1, following various kinds of growth mechanisms. The presence of the D and G bands in the Raman spectroscopy confirmed the mixture of amorphous and crystalline morphology of the deposited carbon.

Synthetic polymers-based controlled release urea (CRU) leaves non-biodegradable coating shells when applied in soil. Several alternative green materials are used to produce CRU, but most of these studies have issues pertaining to nitrogen release longevity, process viability, and the ease of application of the finished product. In this study, we utilized tapioca starch, modified by polyvinyl alcohol and citric acid, as coating material to produce controlled release coated urea granules in a rotary fluidized bed equipment. Response surface methodology is employed for studying the interactive effect of process parameters on urea release characteristics. Statistical analysis indicates that the fluidizing air temperature and spray rate are the most influential among all five process parameters studied. The optimum values of fluidizing air temperature (80 degrees C), spray rate (0.13 mL/s), atomizing pressure (3.98 bar), process time (110 min), and spray temperature (70 degrees C) were evaluated by multi-objective optimization while using genetic algorithms in MATLAB((R)). Urea coated by modified-starch was double coated by a geopolymer to enhance the controlled release characteristics that produced promising results with respect to the longevity of nitrogen release from the final product. This study provides leads for the design of a fluidized bed for the scaled-up production of CRU.

Microindentation as a method for determining important material properties of paper coating materials is studied experimentally and numerically. The bulk of the investigation is concentrated upon the short-lived elastic part of a spherical indentation test, but determination of the failure stress of the coating is also discussed. The results indicate that microindentation can be a powerful tool for material characterization of these materials, but only if careful efforts are made to account for the influence from plasticity as well as from boundary effects

To achieve a better understanding of the folding properties of coated papers pertinent to the mechanical behaviour, a microscopic investigation was performed. The influence on the damage levels in the coating from such features as delamination, humidity and paper thickness have been studied

Folding of coated paper is examined numerically using the finite element method. Particular emphasis is put on the behaviour of field variables relevant for cracking of the coating layers. In the numerical analysis, the basepaper is modelled as an anisotropic elasticplastic material (both elastic and plastic anisotropy is accounted for) while the constitutive behaviour of the coating layers are approximated by classical (Mises) elastoplasticity. The numerical results suggest, among other things, that particular forms of plastic anisotropy can substantially reduce the maximum strain levels in the coating. It is also shown that delamination buckling, in the present circumstances, will have a very small influence on the strain levels in the coating layer subjected to high tensile loading

A finite element procedure, developed in order to account for the effect of high anisotropy at folding of coated papers, is presented. The anisotropic behaviour (with very low stiffness in the thickness direction) is modelled using stiff structural elements (trusses and beams). The numerical results indicate that high elastic anisotropy leads to lower strain levels at folding than reported in previous analyses where this effect was not accounted for. High plastic anisotropy, on the other hand, will contradict this result

Folding of digital prints has been investigated experimentally in order to determine the influence from different features on the residual strength of the folded paper. In particular, the effect of toner-layer, paper-fibre orientation and pre-creasing is investigated and the experimental results are supplemented with numerical ones based on the finite element method. The results indicate that creasing, and to a less extend also fibre orientation, is the most important factor influencing the residual tensile strength after folding

The printability of paper in flexography is largely dependent on the topographical characteristics of the substrate. Topography imaging instruments make it possible to obtain three-dimensional scans of paper surfaces that can be further used to calculate valuable quality parameters. The primary aim of the work described in this thesis has been to identify and isolate structural properties of the paper surface which significantly influence the ink distribution during printing and limit the subsequently attainable print quality.

OptiTopo is an optical imaging technique which provides precise and fast topographic scans of both printed and unprinted paper surfaces. The potential and limitations of the technique have been evaluated. The optical requirements on the substrate for an accurate and precise topographic scan were determined. Detail-rendering was substantially improved using a custom-designed restoring filter, and a new enhanced spatial resolution range was established. A combination of further algorithm improvements made it possible also to obtain reflectance-factor-calibrated intensity images of scanned printed surfaces.

Serious deficiencies affecting the quality of flexographic prints may appear in the form of local unprinted areas (UCA) in a full-tone print, generally caused by incomplete ink transfer. An algorithm detecting and quantifying local uncovered area was developed, tested and successfully integrated with the OptiTopo instrument. A UCA occurrence frequency distribution, indicating the percentage of the uncovered area at a certain topographical elevation, was calculated for different prints. The topographic characteristics of the uncovered areas clearly indicate that surface depressions are the primary cause of uncovered areas in flexographic printing.

Four different predictive models based on topography thresholding were proposed and tested using two independent quality judgement criteria. These quality indices took into account both the amount and location of the predictions. A deeper understanding of the topographical features governing UCA occurrence was established with a proposed ink bridging effect. The total risk of non-ink-covered areas in flexography printing due to topographical features was estimated.

The overall influence of paper topography on the flexography printability of full-tone areas was studied and its importance for the ink distribution assessed. The impacts of printing plate hardness, printing pressure, anilox cylinder volume and substrate roughness were quantified. Two typical flexography patterns were identified and their origin discussed: sub-millimetre elongated structures and millimetre-scale blotches.