Improved Wet Bulk Storage of Bagasse for Newsprint Pulp Production - Part I, 1993 Pulping Conference Proceedings

The quality parameters for the newsprint after 2000 AD will be lower basis weight, faster machine speeds with acceptable brightness and opacity. It becomes increasingly important to present the bagasse to pulp mill in its best possible conserved condition.

Bagasse deteriorates during storage due to the action of undesirable micro-organisms. It appears certain that if proper storage procedure is not used, as fermentation proceeds, the bagasse becomes very dark and may lose twenty or more points in brightness. Technically as well as economically efficient utilization of bagasse for mechanical pulping process depends on the way of storing the bagasse during off seasons.

This paper examines the causes of bagasse deterioration in storage and the methods to prevent fiber degradations. This paper also gives the impact of quality of bagasse on chemical and mechanical pulp properties. The analysis shows a need for an improved wet bulk storage system to produce acceptable quality bagasse mechanical or chemi-mechanical pulps.