Beetle-killed pine wood (BKPW) has emerged as a promising biomass resource due to the widespread devastation caused by bark beetle infestations, which creates massive amounts of deadwood that pose environmental and economic challenges. This project aims to valorize this underutilized feedstock by first isolating cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in nearly pure fractions via the acetosolv process. The fractionation process is performed in a stirred reactor using aqueous acetic acid and either sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid as a catalyst at ambient pressure. Preliminary results reveal a lignin recovery of 15 wt.% of the initial BKPW. This value is roughly half of the intrinsic lignin content reported for BKPW, suggesting the presence of mass transfer limitations. Investigation of optimal operating conditions aimed at maximizing lignin yield will be presented. The resulting cellulose and lignin fractions are characterized using NMR (1H, 13C, and 13C-1H HSQC), FTIR, and elemental analyses to gain insights into the physicochemical properties, including the presence of terpenes in lignin. Characterization of lignin using Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) will also be presented.
