Dissolving pulp from jute wastes

Abstract

Bangladesh Government is interested to produce rayon from jute fiber. But jute fiber is an expensive raw material. Jute cuttings (JC) and jute caddis (CD) are generated as wastes in the jute mill. In this investigation dissolving pulp was produced from low grade jute (LGJ), JC and CD with 90% formic acid (FA) treatment at the boiling temperature for 4 h. JC showed the highest pulp yield (62.3%) and CD showed the lowest pulp yield (58.0%). In this process 12–13% lignin and 25–27% hemicelluloses were also separated from the spent liquor, which can integrate biorefinery. FA pulps were further alkali extracted by varying amount of alkali charge at 25 and 90 °C for 120 min. Alkali extraction reduced kappa number and residual pentosan content in pulp. In the D0EpD1 bleaching sequence, brightness of LGJ and JC pulps reached to 83–86% and pulp purity to 96% with fock reactivity of 61–67%.