Prospects for Biodiesel as a Byproduct of Wood Pulping – a Review

Effective utilization of byproducts can affect the profitability of kraft pulping to produce cellulosic fibers from wood. This review considers opportunities to use tall oil components, obtained from kraft pulping, as a source of raw material for biodiesel fuel, or as a source of additives for petrodiesel. Considerable progress has been achieved with respect to converting vegetable oils to diesel fuel, and some of what has been learned appears to have potential application for processing of wood-derived fatty acids and related compounds. Alkaline-catalyzed transesterification strategies, while seemingly well adapted for relatively pure vegetable oil source materials, may not be the best fit for the processing of tall oil fractions. The promising strategies to consider include acid-catalyzed esterification, enzymatic processes, hydrogenation, and the use of supercritical methanol.