Use of Lignin Separated from Bio-oil in Oriented Strand Board Binder Phenol-formaldehyde Resins

Bio-oil produced from fast pyrolysis of biomass has been investigated as a renewable fuel and as a source of industrial chemicals. The lignin fraction of bio-oil produced from wood in our fast pyrolysis reactor was separated by using only water and methanol with a 25% yield based on bio-oil weight. This separation procedure appears to be of lower cost than the reported extraction procedure using ethyl acetate as solvent. The isolated pyrolytic lignin was smoothly incorporated into phenolformaldehyde resins at 30%, 40%, and 50% phenol replacement levels, and the resultant resins were evaluated as oriented strand board corelayer binders. The evaluation results indicated that the pyrolytic lignin is effective for up to about 40% replacement of phenol in synthesizing wood adhesive type PF resins.