Environmental Friendly Pulping of Kenaf Using

Monoethanolamine: Influence of the Process Variables

on the Strength Properties

MASOUD GHAHREMANI HABASHI

Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

SAHAB HEDJAZI
Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

ALIREZA ASHORI
Department of Chemical Technologies, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST), Tehran, Iran

ALI ABDULKHANI
Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran
Correspondence to: Alireza Ashori; e-mail: ashori@irost.org.
Received: March 29, 2014
Accepted: June 30, 2014

ABSTRACT: In this work, monoethanolamine (MEA), an organosolv material, was used as an environmentally friendly process
for kenaf whole-stem pulping. The pulping trials were carried out using MEA and MEA-anthraquinone (MEA-AQ) methods and the
soda-AQ process as reference. The operating conditions such as the composition of the cooking liquor, the maximum cooking
temperature and the cooking time, and a solid/liquor ratio during the pulping process were investigated systematically to establish
optimal pulping conditions. The optimum cooking conditions for MEA pulping were 75% MEA concentration, 90-min cooking time,
160°C cooking temperature, 0.1% AQ, and liquor/kenaf ratio of 4/1. The laboratory-scale experimental results indicated that this
pulping process is particularly well suited for the pulping of kenaf, where the whole stem was delignified to a low kappa number
value of 19.8 and the pulp yield of 55.1%. This newly developed pulping process provided a high tensile, tear, and burst indices of
19.8 N·m/g, 5.9 mN·m2 /g, and 1.43 kPa·m2 /g, respectively. In addition, MEA-AQ kenaf whole-stem pulp showed superior
mechanical properties in comparison with MEA and soda-AQ pulp. MEA-AQ pulping is a good alternative to soda-AQ pulping to
produce high yield pulp with high strength from kenaf whole stem. C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Technol 2014, 00,
21456; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/adv.21456

KEY WORDS: Bast fibers, Kenaf, Monoethanolamine, Organosolv, Whole stem

part of the process should leave the material as unaltered as

Introduction
I n recent years, new legislative regulations enacted in re-
sponse to the demand of environmentalists, Greenpeace
groups, and NGOs in various countries are restricting the clas-
sical pulping processes, which use sulfur-containing reagents.
One of the promising approaches is the development of green
pulping processes using less polluting chemicals, e.g., organo-
solv processes.1 Organosolv methods use organic compounds
of relatively low molecular weight as delignification agents and
are a good alternative to soda due to the elimination of the sulfur
compounds in cooking.2 An important aspect of all organosolv
processes is the investigation of quantitative fractionation or the
breaking down of the main components of the plant tissue. This
possible so that it can be incorporated into further processes of
transformation and revalorization.3 Organosolv pulping proce-
dures provide a number of advantages including the following:4
– They can be used with any type of woody and nonwoody
raw materials.
– The properties of the resulting pulps are similar to those
of classical pulps, but the yield obtained is higher and the
lignin content is lower.
– The pulp is brighter and more readily bleached than clas-
sical pulps, which saves bleaching reagents.
– The process uses no sulfur-containing reagents, so it is less
contaminant than traditional alternatives.

Advances in Polymer Technology, Vol. 00, No. 00, 2014, DOI 10.1002/adv.21456

C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 21456 (1 of 6)
 RESEARCH ARTICLE
– The process uses less water, energy, and reagents than
traditional alternatives.
The number of organosolv systems, which has been evalu-
ated, is very large, owing to the fact that each different organic
solvent capable of dissolving lignin-type compounds may be
considered determinative in a procedure that leads to a more
or less efficient delignification.2 However, only a small number
of organosolv processes show high selectivity and efficiency,
among other properties. This has led to intensive investiga-
tion by many research groups. The most widely researched
organosolv processes use alcohols, organic acids, acetone, phe-
nol, formaldehyde, ethanolamine, or ethylene glycol; the latter
two possess a high boiling point and can thus be used at pressure
levels similar to those of classical processes.1,5
Kenaf, a word of Persian origin that is used to describe the
plant, Hibiscus cannabinus L. is a warm season, short-day, annual
herbaceous plant, which originated in West Africa. Kenaf grows
quickly, rising to a height of 3.7–5.5 m, in as little as 4–5 months
in suitable temperature, soil, and rainfall conditions.6 The kenaf
yield has ranged from 14 to 22 t/ha or more. The kenaf yield is
5–10 times higher than the growth rate of Japanese cedar, one
of the most popular plantation trees for papermaking in Japan.
It is a fibrous plant, consisting of an inner core fiber (75–60%),
which produces low-quality pulp, and an outer bast fiber (25–
40%), which produces high-quality pulp, in the stem.7 Kenaf
is being explored as a useful raw material for papermaking in
developing and developed countries.8
In this study, the potential of Iranian-cultivated kenaf fibers
for pulp and paper production with organosolv material was
investigated. First, the chemical compositions and morphologi-
cal properties of different fractions (bast and core fibers) of kenaf
were examined. Second, the effects of monoethanolamine (MEA)
and MEA-anthraquinone (MEA-AQ) on pulping and strength
properties of whole-stem fibers were evaluated and finally com-
pared with a classical pulping method (soda-AQ). It is to be
noted that the common pulping process for the nonwood plant
fiber including kenaf has been soda-AQ pulping.9
Materials and Methods
RAW MATERIAL
Stalks of kenaf (H. cannabinus) were collected from an exper-
imental field in Varamin, Iran (latitude: 35° 19 27 N, longitude:
51° 38 44 E, altitude: 903 m). Fully matured (150-day-old) plants
were harvested in January 2012. Stalks were predominantly 6 cm
in diameter at the base and about 220 cm in length. The raw mate-
rial used in this study was whole stem and separated kenaf bast
and core fibers. The average composition for the whole stem was
64.5% core and 35.5% bast on an oven-dried (o.d.) weight basis.
The large bast pieces were cut into 25–30 mm lengths. The whole
stem and core were cut into 25 mm lengths by a guillotine cutter
and the pith was also removed. The raw materials were air dried
and then stored in bags for future use.
CHARACTERISTICS OF KENAF FRACTIONS
Before conducting pulping trials, a completely randomized
designed experiment (with three replications) was run to quan-
21456 (2 of 6)
tify the main chemical components for each fraction of kenaf.
Thus, some samples of bast and core fractions were separately
ground into a fine “meal” using a Wiley mill. The ground meals
were screened, and the particles that passed through BS 40 mesh
(425 μm) and were retained at BS 60 mesh (250 μm) sieve screens
were used for determining the chemical components, as de-
scribed in the TAPPI Standard T 257 cm-02 and T 204 cm-97.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS
The chemical compositions of kenaf were determined fol-
lowing the standards outlined in the TAPPI test methods, and
the other published procedures were indicated. Holocellulose
was determined following the procedure of Wise et al.10 and α-
cellulose base by T 203 cm-9. The acid-insoluble (Klason) lignin
content was determined by hydrolyzing the carbohydrates with
72% sulfuric acid as per T 222 om-02. The procedure for the
ethanol–benzene (E–B) solubility followed T 204 cm-97 for 6 h.
The procedure for the ethanol–benzene solubility and hot water
solubility was determined by T 204 cm-97 and T 207 cm-99, re-
spectively. To determine the ash content, the procedure outlined
in T 211 om-93 was followed.
FIBER MORPHOLOGY DETERMINATION
The samples for fiber measurements were obtained from the
middle sections of the stems. The bast and core fibers were man-
ually separated by slicing and macerated separately. Core and
bast fibers were boiled in separate beakers containing water to
remove all the air from the raw material. The boiling contin-
ued until the core and bast sank to the bottom of the water. As
per the modified Franklin method,11 pieces of the air-free bast
and core were placed in separate test tubes containing an equal
amount of glacial acetic acid and 35% hydrogen peroxide. The
test tubes were then placed in a boiling water bath until core
and bast pieces were uniformly white. The pieces of bast and
core were washed thoroughly with distilled water, then placed
in separate test tubes and shakened in an ethanol and distilled
water mixture.
For this study, one hundred (100) undamaged/unbroken
fibers were measured in terms of their length (L), fiber width
(d), lumen diameter (l), and cell wall thickness (w) directly from
the magnified image. The calculations of Runkel ratio (2w/l), co-
efficient of suppleness or flexibility ratio (l/d), and felting factor
(L/d) were carried out using the measured data.
PULPING
A 5-L rotating digester was used for pulping. The rate of
heating (time to reach cooking temperature) during all the ex-
periments was kept constant at 160°C/h. Liquor for cooking was
prepared from fresh analytical grade chemicals. MEA with 99%
purity was obtained from Arak Petrochemical (Arak, Iran). The
objective of the cooking experiments was to make cooks over
a wide range to determine the optimum cooking conditions for
maximizing the yield of screened pulp. The MEA, MEA-AQ, and
soda-AQ cooking conditions are given in Table I.
After cooking, the pulps were thoroughly washed with fresh
water on a fine filter, and then disintegrated in a laboratory-
scale defibrator. Disintegrated pulps were screened with vibra-
tory flat screen to determine gravimetrically the screened yield.
 RESEARCH ARTICLE

TABLE I TABLE II
Pulping Process Conditions and Their Abbreviations Chemical Compositions of Different Fractions of Kenaf
Cooking Bast Core
Sample Time Temperature MEA Soda AQ
Code (min) (ºC) (%) (%) (%) W/L From From From From
Ref. Ref. Present Ref. Ref. Present
MEA1 90 160 100 – 0 1/4 Component (%) 12 6 Study 12 6 Study
MEA2 90 160 75 – 0 1/4
MEA3 90 160 50 – 0 1/4 Holocellulose 79.6 82.6 77.8 76.6 75.5 73.2
MEA4 90 160 37 – 0 1/4 α-Cellulose 69.8 56.4 54.2 45.3 46.1 42.8
MEA5 90 160 25 – 0 1/4 Hemicellulose 15.3 26.2 22.5 24.8 29.7 16.5
MEA-AQ1 90 160 100 – 0.1 1/4 Lignin 9.2 14.7 9.9 19.0 22.1 18.7
MEA-AQ2 90 160 75 – 0.1 1/4 E–B extractive 3.4 2.7 2.3 3.0 2.2 3.5
MEA-AQ3 90 160 50 – 0.1 1/4 Hot water extract 15.9 3.4 4.4 7.5 3.9 4.9
MEA-AQ4 90 160 37 – 0.1 1/4 Ash 1.1 2.2 5.4 1.4 1.6 4.8
MEA-AQ5 90 160 25 – 0.1 1/4
S-AQ1 90 165 – 22 0.1 1/6
S-AQ2 90 165 – 20 0.1 1/6
of kenaf. The chemical components are important in determin-
S-AQ3 90 165 – 18 0.1 1/6
S-AQ4 120 165 – 22 0.1 1/6 ing how the material will perform in the end products as well
S-AQ5 120 165 – 20 0.1 1/6 as in their production. They also help in understanding what
S-AQ6 120 165 – 18 0.1 1/6 kind of toxic compounds might be formed, or what types of re-
actions various kenaf-based papers might undergo while being
subjected to high temperatures, or natural decomposition with
Residual material remaining on the screen after screening of the time.
pulp slurry for 15 min was collected and oven dried. The screen Table II summarizes the chemical compositions of different
accepts were collected on a linen cloth to retain all the fines. kenaf fractions used in this work and those reported in the liter-
The screened pulp was kept in the cold room (4°C) for further atures. The mean values of holocellulose of bast and core fibers
analysis and processing. Kappa numbers for all samples were are 77.8% and 73.2%, respectively. The difference between holo-
determined according to T 236 om-99. cellulose contents of bast and core fibers are statistically signifi-
cant. Higher content of holocellulose for bast fiber provide more
pulp yield and probably strength property compared with core
HANDSHEETS FORMATION AND TESTING
and whole stem.7 The holocellulose content for fractions of ke-
For evaluation of various pulps, handsheets were made in naf used in this study agrees well with the figures 79.6% and
a British handsheet former as per T 205 sp-02. For each set, 12 76.6%, reported by Ohtani et al.12 for bast and core, respectively.
handsheets, each having an area of 200 cm2 and basis weight Ashori et al.6 determined holocellulose of kenaf bast and core to
of 60 g/m2 , were made by taking 1000 mL of pulp slurry at be 82.6% and 75.5%, respectively.
0.12% consistency. The handsheets were conditioned at 50 ± 2% In this investigation, the α-cellulose content in bast and core
relative humidity and 23 ± 1°C temperature according to T 402 fibers was determined to be 54.2% and 42.8%, respectively. The
sp-98 for at least 4 h before various tests for each pulp were application of DMRT for the mean values of these α-cellulose
carried out on them. Ten handsheets (those closest to 1.22 g o.d. contents showed that the variations among different fractions
weight) were chosen and tested for mechanical properties in of kenaf are significant at the 99% confidence level. In addition,
terms of tear index (T 414 om-98), tensile index (T 494 om-01), the ratios of α-cellulose to lignin for bast and core were found
burst index (T 403 om-97), and breaking length (T 231 cm-96). to be 5.4 and 2.3, respectively. For all papermaking processes, a
high α-cellulose to lignin ratio is preferred.13 It is expected that
the bast fibers with high α-cellulose contents exhibit a number of
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS properties that fulfill the requirements of a good raw material for
papermaking, such as high tensile strength, suppleness, water
Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS programming
insolubility, hydrophilicity, and ability to absorb additives.8
(version 16) method in conjunction with analysis of variance.
Table II shows that there is a significant variation in the hemi-
Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) was used to determine
cellulose contents of the fractions of kenaf. Hemicellulose of bast
the statistical differences among the variables investigated at
fiber is higher compared to core (22.5% and 16.5%, respectively).
the 99% confidence level.
The higher mean value for the hemicellulose content in bast fiber
found, in this study, is in good agreement with that reported by
Ashori et al.6 Like cellulose, hemicelluloses function as a sup-
porting material in the cell walls. Hemicelluloses are beneficial
Results and Discussion to many pulp and paper properties, although the reasons are not
well understood. For example, tensile strength generally corre-
lates positively with the hemicellulose content.13
CHEMICAL COMPONENTS OF KENAF FRACTIONS
The Klason (acid-insoluble) lignin content was found to be
The purpose of this section is to provide basic information 9.9% and 18.7% for bast and core fibers, respectively. These
with respect to the chemical components of different fractions data indicate that removal of lignin from core or whole-stem

21456 (3 of 6)
 RESEARCH ARTICLE
TABLE III
Fiber Characteristics of Kenaf Fractions
Bast
Characteristics Average Minimum and Maximum
Fiber length (mm) 2.6 1.8–3.6
Fiber width (μm) 16.5 14.3–18.9
Wall thickness (μm) 4.4 3.8–4.9
Lumen width (μm) 8.0 7.5–9.0
Runkel ratio 110.3 101.2–125.1
Felting factor 160.7 125.9–190.4
Flexibility ratio 53.3 47.2–59.4
material will consume more chemicals during chemical pulping
than delignification of decorticated bast material. As can be seen
from Table II, ethanol–benzene solubles and hot water in core
fibers are slightly higher than those in bast fibers.
The amounts of ash in bast and core fibers were determined to
be 5.4% and 4.8%, respectively. Although the ash content of bast
and core is low in comparison to most nonwoods (e.g., rice straw
can have ash levels as high as 20%), they are still rather high com-
pared to the conventional woods used to produce most commer-
cial pulps (most of these materials have as contents below 1%).7
The high ash content should increase alkali consumption and
may cause problems with recovery of chemicals because of the
build up of nonprocess elements (such as silica, potassium, and
magnesium) in the liquor cycle of a chemical pulp mill.6
MORPHOLOGY OF KENAF FIBERS
The fiber dimensions and their derived indices are shown in
Table III. The observations made in this investigation and the
results of statistical analysis indicated that there are significant
differences in the morphological characteristics of bast and core
fibers. There was a big difference in lengths of fibers coming
from the bast and core tissues. The bast fiber’s average length
(2.6 mm) is in the range of softwoods and bamboo, whereas the
core fiber length (0.8 mm) is like that of hardwoods. The mean
fiber width for core fibers was greater (19.6 μm) than bast fibers
(16.5 μm). Both types of fiber have almost the same cell wall
thickness (4.4 and 4.8 μm, respectively, for bast and core).
The derived values (indices) for the kenaf fibers are summa-
rized in Table III; the figures are comparable with those reported
in the literature.6,14 From these data, it can be seen that there are
considerable differences in the various morphological indices of
bast and core fibers. In contrast to the core fibers, those from
the bast have a large (160.7) felting factor resulting in flexible
fibers that are good for fiber bonding and entanglement giving
greater sheet strength during the wet stages of papermaking.
In coniferous trees, this ratio is 60:100 and for deciduous trees
this is 20–60.6 On the other hand, the long bast fibers may be
expected to give relatively porous paper with good tear and ten-
sile strengths, which might compensate for the low flexibility
ratio (65.6) and low felting factor (38.7) of the core fibers when
papers are formed from whole-stem pulps. The high flexibility
ratio and felting factor of the bast fibers are consistent with the
results of previous studies.14
21456 (4 of 6)
Core
SD Average Minimum and Maximum SD
0.3 0.8 0.3–1.2 0.2
2.1 19.6 15.7–22.4 2.3
0.2 4.8 4.2–5.4 0.2
0.5 12.9 11.3–13.8 1.2
6.6 75.1 74.3–78.4 4.2
18.8 38.7 19.1–53.6 8.7
6.4 65.6 61.6–82.8 5.5
In reality, paper is seldom made with a single type of fiber or
homogenous pulp. It is made from a mixture of different species
for both economic and product quality reasons. As mentioned
earlier, the chemical and morphological properties of bast and
core fibers are in the range of softwoods and hardwoods. Whole
stem behaves similarly to a mixture of hardwood (65%) and soft-
wood (35% by weight) fibers in many aspects. On the other hand,
in order for kenaf to compare with wood as a source of paper-
making raw materials, the cost of fiber supply and processing
must be minimized.14 Using the whole stem, rather than sepa-
rating the kenaf into bast and core fractions, may reduce fiber
supply costs for kenaf significantly. The extra processing steps
involved in separation and the extra cost of two pulping lines
keep kenaf from competing effectively with wood.8 Therefore,
for further experiments (pulping and sheet formation), whole-
stem fibers were used.
LABORATORY-SCALE PULPING OF KENAF
The results of studies on different pulping processes con-
ducted during this investigation are given in Fig. 1. For MEA
pulping, the cooks at 20% charge and less gave pulps that had
high kappa number and contained too much uncooked mate-
rial that was difficult to disintegrate into fibers, so it was not
possible to make handsheets from them. Hence, the minimum
amount of MEA charge chosen was 25%. The analysis of pulps
prepared using 25% MEA showed that either lignin precipita-
tion had occurred and/or lignin within the fiber walls had not
been sufficiently removed, as indicated by the high kappa num-
ber. To obtain bleachable-grade kenaf pulps, the charge of MEA
used had to be increased. With increasing MEA charges between
25% and 100%, kappa number decreased and screened yield
increased considerably. As shown in Fig. 1, an increase in the
MEA charge above 75% generally led to limited improvements
in screened pulp yield and the kappa number. MEA pulping
with level of 75% MEA and 1% AQ was sufficient to ensure
almost complete elimination of noncellulosic matter. Therefore,
any further increase in the chemicals concentration above this
value was found to be unnecessary for whole stem. Owing to
the much higher lignin content of the kenaf core, this material is
more difficult to pulp than kenaf whole stem and bast and the
kappa number–yield relationship is less favorable.
The use of DMRT in this study indicated that the differences
between the mean values of the percentage yields and kappa
numbers of whole-stem fibers at various MEA charges and
 RESEARCH ARTICLE
60
55
Pulp yield (%)
50
45
40
1
EA 1
EA 2
EA 3
EA 4
EA
EA
EA
EA
EA
-A
-A
-A
-A
-A
M
EA
M
M
Sample code
FIGURE 1. Laboratory pulping results of whole stem using MEA, MEA-AQ, and soda-AQ processes.
within each of the groups compared are significant. A compari-
son of the pulping results provided by the MEA, MEA-AQ, and
soda-AQ processes reveals that the MEA-AQ2 sample among
those investigated presents the highest pulp yield (55.3%) and
the lowest kappa number (19.8). As mentioned previously, it was
expected that the whole-stem fiber can easily pulp and provide
more pulp yield using the MEA process. Figure 1 shows that the
soda-AQ pulping process gives the lowest yield and the lowest
kappa number of all the pulps prepared. However, the use of
higher alkali charge (22%) moderately increased the pulp yield.
HANDSHEET EVALUATIONS
The ideal paper sheet for the laboratory study of fundamental
fiber interactions would be machine-made paper that is made
without filler and internal and surface size. The only practical
approach for this study was to use laboratory handsheets made
from kenaf pulps prepared in the laboratory by the MEA, MEA-
AQ, and soda-AQ processes.
The use of DMRT indicates that the differences in the mean
values of tensile strength within and among the compared
groups are significant. Tensile strength for MEA-AQ pulps is
generally higher than that for MEA and soda-AQ pulps. As
shown in Fig. 2a, the handsheet made using MEA-AQ2 has the
highest tensile index value (19.8 N·m/g) among the handsheets
evaluated in this investigation. The tensile index of the whole-
stem fibers in kenaf is independent of chemical properties and
is very much dependent on the bonding ability of the fibers in
the network.15
Soda-AQ pulps exhibit a distinct difference from whole-stem
pulps using MEA and MEA-AQ processes. The whole-stem
pulp made using soda-AQ process has the strongest tear index
(7.2 mN·m2 /g) of any of the kenaf pulps studied in this investi-
gation (Fig. 2a). According to Van den Akker’s strength theory,
tearing work is composed of two different phenomena: breaking
of the fibers and pulling them from the undamaged network.15
The mean values of tear index within and among the compared
groups are significant at the 95% confidence level.
The whole-stem pulp types MEA-AQ1 and MEA-AQ2 had
1.43 and 1.42 kPa·m2 /g burst index, respectively, which was the
highest among the pulps measured. At a given MEA charge,
the burst index for the pulps prepared with AQ is higher than
21456 (5 of 6)
Pulp yield Kappa number 35
Kappa number
30
25
20
15
6
AQ
AQ
AQ
AQ
AQ
AQ
S-
S-
S-
S-
S-
S-
that for those without AQ (Fig. 2b). Pande15 conducted a very
comprehensive study on kenaf fibers. He studied the effect of
the morphological and chemical factors on the various strength
properties of paper for bast and core fibers. He stated that the
burst strength for the bast and core fibers is a function of fines,
sheet bulk, freeness, and hemicellulose content.
The fiber breaking length differs from tensile strength, as the
name suggests, by being measured in an apparatus that applies
the tensile force to the smallest practical length of paper (less
than one fiber length and typically less than 50 μm). The in-
trinsic fiber strength can be derived from the breaking load by
employing the coarseness value to obtain the number of fibers in
the breaking zone. Pande15 found that the zero span is positively
related to the breaking length, tear, burst, and stretch. DMRT in-
dicates that the differences in the mean values of breaking length
within and among compared groups are significant at the 99%
confidence level. The pulps made using MEA-AQ and soda-AQ
processes have 2.02 and 1.99 km breaking length, respectively,
which are the highest values among the pulps examined in this
study (Fig. 2b). Breaking lengths for the pulps made with soda-
AQ are comparable to those of the MEA-AQ.
Conclusions
The present study not only realized an environmentally
friendly method of cleanly pulping kenaf fibers under mild con-
ditions, but also provided a new approach for utilizing biomass
resources. Based on the results of this study, the following con-
clusions can be drawn:
(1) Results based on morphology and chemical analysis in-
dicated that bast and core fiber fractions in the kenaf are
significantly different. The bast material has a higher cel-
lulose content, lower lignin content, and lower hemicellu-
lose content compared with the core fibers.
(2) The use of whole-stem fibers, without separating bast and
core, gives pulp with adequate pulping characteristics
(low kappa number) and a relatively good yield.
(3) Comparison of MEA and MEA-AQ pulping processes
showed that whole-stem fibers were relatively easy to
 RESEARCH ARTICLE

22 Tensile index Tear index 7.6

(a)

Tear index (mN.m 2/g)

Tensile index (N.m/g) 19 6.7

16 5.8

13 4.9

10 4.0
1

EA 1

EA 2

EA 3

EA 4

6
EA

EA

EA

EA

EA

M AQ

M AQ

AQ

AQ

AQ

AQ

AQ

AQ
-A

-A

-A
M

S-

S-

S-

S-

S-

S-
EA
M

M
1.6 2.2
Sample code Burst index Breaking length
(b)
Burst index (kPa.m 2/g)

Breaking length (km)

1.3 1.9

1.0 1.6

0.7 1.3

0.4 1.0
1

EA 1

EA 2

EA 3

EA 4

6
EA

EA

EA

EA

EA

M AQ

M AQ

AQ

AQ

AQ

AQ

AQ

AQ
-A

-A

-A
M

S-

S-

S-

S-

S-

S-
EA
M

Sample code

FIGURE 2. Strength of unbeaten handsheets with various pulping processes.

cook resulting good pulp yields in the range of 52.2–
56.7%, whereas the soda-AQ process gave significantly
lower yields (44.1–49.6%) at a higher kappa number.
(4) The delignification process was improved by using a small
amount (0.1%) of AQ, resulting in a higher pulp yield and
an improved strength compared with the MEA pulping
process.
(5) The MEA-AQ process with 75% dosage of MEA showed
the highest strength in terms of tensile, tear, and burst
indices when compared to the soda-AQ pulps.
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