Chemical mechanical pulping of kenaf and jute for value-added paper grades

This present paper begins with a brief discussion on some of the advantages of chemical mechanical pulping versus traditional chemical pulping process for non-wood fibers. These include: 1) lower capital/mvestment cost; 2) small to medium size capacity (50 to 500 admt/d), which means less problems with material collection, transportation and storage; and 3) higher degree of flexibility in pulp property development by using different combinaticns of chemical treatments and refining processes. In this study, a last chemical mechanical pulping technology, P-RC APMP, was used, P-RC APMP pulps from kenaf and jute were investigated and compared against aspen, a popular hardwood used widely nowadays in the industry. The results showed that the jute and kenaf pulps had: 1) a better tensile, burst, stretch and T.E.A. at a given density or bulk than aspen; and 2) a significantly higher light scattering than aspen. Between jute and kenaf, they were similar in light scattering property development, but jute had a better tensile/density property. They both were relatively easy to bleach using P-RC APMP process, reaching 70% ISO or higher without post bleaching.