ARBOK-BIOCELL: Nitrocellulose from Winery, Farm and Marine Biowaste with On-Site Reagents

Nitrocellulose is the film-forming base of lacquers, coatings and printing inks, and nearly all of it is made from cotton cellulose that is grown, cleaned and shipped in at USD 2–3 per kilogram. At the same time, three waste streams that contain cellulose are a cost for their owners: grape pomace from wineries, dry organic chips (DOC) from livestock manure, and marine and forest biomass such as sargassum and fallen leaves. ARBOK-BIOCELL converts these streams into nitrocellulose with 11–14% nitrogen, the range required by coatings, using alkaline digestion, acetic washing, hypochlorite bleaching and standard nitration. All process reagents (caustic soda, chlorine, acetic and nitric acid) are produced on site from ARBOK desalination and brine processing, and the line operates at atmospheric pressure. The estimated nitrocellulose cost is USD 1.0–1.5 per kilogram, about half of the cotton-based price. The technology is at TRL 4. This preprint describes the process, the parameters of the two main feedstocks and the economics of a local waste-based route. Keywords: nitrocellulose; biowaste; grape pomace; manure; cellulose purification; on-site reagents; circular economy; coatings