Kraft Pulping and Oxygen Delignification of Bamboo, 1991 Pulping Conference Proceedings

Bamboo was analyzed as a long fibered raw material for the manufacture of high quality bleached kraft pulp using a medium consistency oxygen delignification stage (MCOD) prior to bleaching. Bamboo fibers were compared to Pinus and Eucalyptus fibers. Kraft pulping studies demonstrated that delignification of bamboo chips is much easier to accomplish and results in higher pulp viscosity and lower yield than that of pine wood. The main MCOD variables (alkali charge, oxygen pressure, temperature, reaction time, and magnesium addition) were optimized. Bamboo and pine kraft pulps were bleached using a C/DEoDED sequence after the MCOD stage. Both pulps presented the same high brightness after bleaching (89.1° ISO). The bamboo pulp bleaching effluent presented a higher pollution load (color, COD and BOD) but a pH closer to the neutral point than the pine pulp effluent. After bleaching bamboo pulp presented superior physical-mechanical properties than pine pulp.