Pulp Production from Cotton Stalks

Abstract

Deforestation due to the use of wood products for the pulp and paper industry, as things stand right now, poses a serious environmentally unsustainable problem. This study is commenced to study pulp production from the cotton stalk using both Kraft and soda pulping. The produced pulp Yield and Kappa numbers were determined as per the TAPPI standard method. The analytical and research laboratory certified reagents with proper specifications used were sodium hydroxide, distilled water, sodium sulphite, sodium carbonate for both soda and kraft pulping, hydrogen peroxide to bleach the produced pulp, Potassium permanganate, Sulfuric acid, Potassium iodide, Sodium thiosulfate, and starch indicator to determine the kappa number. The maximum pulp yield of 32% - 34.2% for both Kraft and soda pulping was obtained. The Kraft pulping method was found to yield more pulp, and operating parameters of temperature, active alkali and cooking time had a great effect on both kraft and soda pulping. The soda and kraft pulping successfully and efficiently pulped cotton stalks and pulp are developed from the stalks.