Technological Evaluation of Pinus maximinoi Wood for Industrial Use in Kraft Pulp Production, 2018 PEERS

The purpose of this study was to characterize Pinus maximinoi wood and evaluate its performance for pulp kraft production. Samples of Pinus taeda wood were used as the reference material. Wood chips of P. maximinoi and P. taeda from 14-year-old plantations were used for technological characterization, pulping, bleaching process analysis and pulp properties. A modified kraft pulping process was carried out to obtain a kappa number of 28±5 for the brownstock. The bleaching sequence was applied to reach a final brightness at 87% ISO. The refinability and air flow resistance properties were measured in the bleached pulp. P. maximinoi had wood basic density of 0.399 g/cm³; it was composed of 64.49% holocellulose, 31.06% total lignin and 4.45% extractives content. The tracheids of P. maximinoi species had 4.19 mm length, 56.95 µm width, 44.11 µm lumen width and 6.42 µm wall thickness. P. maximinoi wood required an active alkali charge of 24.4% (NaOH on wood) in the modified pulp process and resulted in pulps with 47.5% screened yield. The specific wood consumption was 5.281 m³/o.d.ton and the black liquor solids (ss) generated was 1.613 tss/odt pulp for Pinus maximinoi wood. P. maximinoi resulted in final brightness of 87.2% ISO, with the same chemical consumptions. The unrefined pulp showed 15 to 20% lower values for air resistance properties; on the other hand, the refined pulp had similar results compared to P. taeda. The bulk property was 10% higher than P. taeda. The results obtained in this study showed that the P. maximinoi represents an alternative raw-material for softwood pulp production in Brazil, given that its characteristics are very similar to P. taeda, besides the lower wood specific consumption observed in the former.

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