Integration of non-woody biorefining at pulp and paper plants

Abstract

In some variations, a process is provided for producing a pulp product at a biorefinery site, comprising: converting a woody cellulosic material to a first pulp stream; converting a non-woody cellulosic material to a second pulp stream; blending the second pulp stream into the first pulp stream; and recovering or further processing the blended pulp stream as a pulp product. Biorefinery site infrastructure may be shared between the woody and non-woody lines. Also, the process may include process integration of mass and/or energy between the woody and non-woody lines. The process may be a retrofit addition to a pulp plant, or a greenfield biorefinery site. The non-woody line also can generate fermentable sugars, for fermentation to ethanol (or other products). Through allocation of carbon credits from the ethanol to the pulp, the final pulp product life-cycle profile can be improved.