Lignosulfonate for Building and Construction Applications,Lignosulfonates are obtained from sulfite pulping processes wherein cellulose is extracted from wood in the pulp industry. The so-called sulfite pulping process involves mixing sulfur dioxide (SO2) with an aqueous solution of base to generate the raw liquor for cooking the wood.
In water, the sulfur dioxide forms sulfurous acid (H2SO3), which degrades and eventually sulfonates the lignin by replacing a hydroxyl group with a sulfonate group, allowing it to be solubilized and separated from the cellulose in nonprecipitated form.
The spent sulfite liquor contains lignosulfonate and sugars, primarily monosaccharides that need to be removed or destroyed so as to permit the lignosulfonate to be used effectively as a water-reducing concrete additive.
Lignosulfonate for Building and Construction Applications ,lignosulfonate is also used as a dispersing agent in materials, such as in the production of brick or tile. Another application is as a starting material in the production of chemically modified lignosulfonate, which is used in oil well drilling fluids and dispersion of pigments.
Lignosulfonate for Building and Construction Applications,Lignosulfonate is also the most common set retarder for oil well cementing . In recent years, the pulp industry has begun to turn away from the spent acid process in favor of another process that does not have a lignosulfonate by-product. Consequently, there have been efforts to find a substitute for lignosulfonates in building and drilling or borehole operations.
Workability and air-entraining admixtures
Incorporating a workability agent or plasticiser reduces the chance of large voids and the lower water requirement offsets bleed. Salts of lignosulfonic acids are commonly used, often in combination with a particulate mineral filler. Incorporation of lignosulfonates may give rise to a finer pore system which, whilst causing high capillary absorption and absorptivity actually increases resistance to the passage of water and hence its hydraulic permeability. Air-entraining agents act in a manner similar to lignosulfonates by imparting improved workability to the mix, allowing less water to be used. The cellular network does not give rise to interconnected voids which would otherwise increase the permeability.