Use of electron beam irradiation for improving reactivity of dissolving pulp in viscose process

Abstract

Viscose staple fibres are produced by multi-stage chemical intensive unit operations. Low pulp reactivity is the main reason for higher consumption of chemicals, especially CS2 and NaOH. Electron beam irradiation (EBI) is one potential way to reduce chemical consumption by improving the pulp reactivity. In the present study, pulp reactivity improves from 28.73 to 33.87 and 39.85 for pulp irradiated at 2 kGy and 5 kGy, respectively, as compared to non-irradiated pulp. The viscose dope prepared from the irradiated pulp shows improvement in filterability (kw) and ripening index. This indicates improved mass transfer through EBI treatment by providing pulp accessibility towards NaOH and CS2.