Production and characterization of Phanerochaete chrysosporium lignin peroxidases for pulp bleaching

The production of lignin peroxidase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium was studied using immobilized mycelia in nylon-web cubes in semicontinuous fermentation using glucose pulses or ammonium tartrate pulses. Consistent enzyme production was achieved when glucose pulses were used, leading to an average activity of 253 U/L. The crude enzyme was added to eucalyptus kraft pulp before conventional and ECF bleaching sequences. Optimization of the enzymatic pretreatment led to the following operational conditions: enzyme load of 2 U/g of pulp, hydrogen peroxide addition rate of 10 ppm/h, and reaction time of 60 min. Pulp final characteristics were dependent on the chemical treatment sequence that followed enzymatic pretreatment. The chief advantage of enzymatic pretreatment was pulp viscosity preservation, which was observed in most of the experiments carried out with seven different chemical treatment sequences.