Carbon adsorbents from industrial hydrolysis lignin: The USSR/Eastern European experience and its importance for modern biorefineries

This paper reviews the origin, distribution and composition of hydrolysis lignin, a large-scale by-product of the hydrolysis industry that operated in the Soviet Union and several eastern European countries from 1930s to the end of 1990s. The fundamental and industrial aspects of the production of various types of powdered and granular carbon adsorbents from hydrolysis lignin are considered through the prism of future large-scale production of biofuels and platform chemicals from renewable lignocellulosic resources. The advantages and drawbacks of hydrolysis lignin as a feedstock for the production of carbon adsorbents are compared with other types of feedstock, and the application of lignin-based carbons is discussed.