Extraction of Scots Pine with Non-polar Solvents

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to understand wood structure and its chemical distribution so that the method that extractives are separated from woods was gained. In addition, the separation process of extractives and how to compare the results of gas chromatography were also studied in this thesis work. The study was commissioned and supervised by Päivi Riikonen.

The experiment was carried out in Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, Imatra, Finland. The raw materials used in the study were Scots pine stem chips, extracted and separated with a non-polar solvent hexane in different time periods, and finally identified by gas chromatography.

The results of the study show that the extraction time is not necessarily advantageous, it is possible it would make some extractives decompose or react to other compounds when the time of extraction exceeds a certain time. And some results from GC analysis and theoretical analysis will be got. Further study is required to identify the components of extractives.