Kinetic Study of Ozone Treatment on Recycled Pulp, 1998 Pulping Conference Proceedings

The environmental pressure, increased fiber demand and decreased wood resources have stimulated interest for pulp and paper industry on bleached high yield fiber. Unfortunately, the final brightness, strength properties and brightness stability of these pulps is inferior compared to that of kraft pulp. This is mainly because of the presence of mechanical fiber. New chemicals and brightening processes need to be investigated and developed. This paper investigated the possibility of using ozone as a bleaching agent for recycled fiber. This research covers ozone application on brightening recycle fiber. The objective is to use ozone to achieve market brightness and to improve pulp properties. Bleached and unbleached fibers from current mill process were tested as comparison. Fiber physical properties such as tensile, tear, burst, brightness and fiber length distribution were determined. The results here shows that using ozone alone can improve pulp brightness to market pulp brightness with improved fiber bonding characteristics.