A Comparison of Soda and Soda-ethanol Pulps of Thaumatococcus daniellii Benth (Miraculous Berry) Stalks

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the pulp and papermaking characteristics of Thaumatococcus daniellii stalks using soda and soda-ethanol pulping methods. Study Design: A completely randomized design was used. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Chemical Engineering, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Canada, between June 2010 and July 2011. Methodology: The stalks of T. daniellii were pulped with both sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and soda-ethanol (NaOH-C2H5OH) liquors in a 10-litre electrically heated stainless steel digester. Cooking temperature was varied at 140, 150 and 160 C while the concentration of the cooking liquor was kept constant at 12% NaOH and 12:40% by volume of NaOHC2H5OH and cooked for 60 minutes. The bleachability of the pulp was assessed using DEDD elemental chlorine free bleaching sequence. The bleached pulp was beaten in a PFI mill at revolution of 0, 1600 and 3200 followed by formation of handsheet in a Original Research Article British Journal of Applied Science & Technology, 4(15): 2181-2193, 2014 2182 standard sheet former. Lastly, the elrepho brightness, bulk, apparent sheet density, tear index, burst index, tensile index and the breaking length of the handsheets produced from the two pulp types were evaluated using standard tappi methods. Results: The temperature and pulping method had marked effects on the yield, kappa number and brightness of the pulps. Also, beating revolutions had significant effect on the physical and strength properties of the handsheets produced from both pulps (P = 0.05). The yield and bleaching properties of soda-ethanol pulps are superior to those of soda pulps. Handsheets produced from soda-ethanol pulps also had significantly higher strength, particularly in unbeaten and when beaten at 1600 revolution (P = 0.05). Beyond 1600 revolution, the tear index, tensile index and breaking length of soda-ethanol handsheet were not significantly higher than those from soda pulp (P ≥ 0.05). Conclusion: Handsheets produced from T. daniellii stalks had physical and strength characteristics that are comparable to those from notable non-wood fibre source. It is therefore expected that the stalk can play a big role in complementing wood fibres in pulp and papermaking.