Effects of Refining Intensity on Characteristics of Pulp Produced From Bagasse through Neutral Sulfite Semi-Chemical Pulping

This study was directed to characterize effects of refinement intensity on properties of pulp and paper produced from bagasse. Cored bagasse prepared from Pars Paper Company through wet techniques was used for the experiments. Final cooking process of bagasse was done under Neutral Sulfite Semi-Chemical (NSSC) with 20% chemicals, 170°C temperature and 30 min cooking time. This process was followed by refinement using laboratory refiner in three different rotation speeds of 2600, 3800 and 5500 rpm. Eventually, pulp making and measurement of the desired properties such as pulp freeness, tensile strength, tear strength, burst strength and crushing strength were implemented for a ring of paper. The obtained data was then analyzed statistically whose results revealed that the papers which were made from refined pulps at 5500 rpm with 350±25 mL CSF freeness have shown many desirable strength properties. In should be noted that considering factors including minimum standard values and refinement energy, a pulp of 400±25 mL CSF will be advised. In addition to that, tear strength will also be reduced by increasing the refinement intensity, while strength indexes of the paper obtained namely crushing strength in RCT mode, tensile strength and burst strength.

Bagasse % Freeness % Refiner % Ring crush test % Tear strength index % Tensile strength index