The electrolytic oxidation of glycol, glucose and lignosulphonic acids.

There are tremendous quantities of waste from the wood pulping industry. In Canada alone 2,027,532 tons (1) of sulphite pulp were produced in 1947 from which there was approximately 2,500,000 tons of unused solids in the sulphite waste liquor. Although a number of means of utilizing this material have been suggested, the only promising outlet for large quantities at present is as fuel and the economics of even this procedure are not yet proven for conditions as they exist on this continent. Most of the liquor is at present discharged into streams. The absence of a practical use for the great bulk of these spent liquors, and the absence of a recovery cycle for the chemicals therein, have been major reasons why the sulphite pulp industry has lost its position relative to competitive processes. Similarly, this handicap has prevented the development of the neutral sulphite pulping process which otherwise has many virtues. Apart from the absolute waste of half the wood used, there is the additional disadvantage that the sugars and other carbohydrates in the waste liquor, with their high biological oxygen demand, constitute a serious pollution of waterways with an attendant adverse effect upon fish life, upon further industrial development and upon the beauty of the country.[...