Dec 17, 2015. /Lesprom Network/.
Oji Holdings Corporation manufactures dissolving pulp from wood chips at
its Oji Paper Yonago Mill via a continuous process, and engages in the sale of
the pulp. Oji Holdings has established technology for the manufacture of
furfural from the hemicellulose that is continually separated during the
manufacture of dissolving pulp, and has thereby made commercial production of
furfural possible, as the company said in the press release received by Lesprom
Network.
Furfural, used mainly as a solvent in the refining of petroleum and
lubricants, is a chemical substance that is currently attracting wide
attention. Amid rising global expectations for a switch from fossil to biomass
feedstocks, research in Japan and overseas is pursuing the use of furfural to
manufacture bioplastics or general chemical products (polyurethane, PET, etc.)
that are currently manufactured from fossil feedstock.