Double award for new publication on novel biorefinery concept

After completing his PhD, Huy Quang Lê plans to work in industry.
‘Once I have gathered enough experience, I could very well return to the university as a researcher. My dream for the future would be to be a bridge builder between the Finnish and Vietnamese forest industries.’

Doctoral Candidate Huy Quang Lê from the School of Chemical Technology has received the 2017 Heinzel-Mondi-Sappi Award. The award is given for exceptionally high-quality master’s or doctoral publications which could have a significant positive impact on the future of the paper and chemical pulp industry.

Published in the Green Chemistry periodical, primary author Huy Quang Le and his colleagues present in their article ‘Wood biorefinery based on γ-valerolactone/water fractionation’ a new biorefinery process which separates the most important wood pulp structural components for further processing.

‘From the output flows, products such as textile fibres, sulphur-free lignins and platform chemicals can be refined. The process is simple and is not harmful to the environment. This minimises the environmental costs, which is also beneficial for production scaling,’ he explains.

In addition, both Huy Quang Lê and Yibo Ma, who also works in the School of Chemical Technology, received for the same article the C. J. Jansson prize awarded by Forest Product Engineers. The prize is awarded to the publication that has received the most recommendations for its exceptional quality.

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