Dissolving pulp from jute stick

Abstract

Jute stick is woody portion of jute plant, which remain as leftover after extracting bast fibre. Presently, it is being used for fencing in the rural area. In this investigation, biorefinery concept was initiated in producing dissolving pulp from jute stick by pre-hydrolysis kraft process. At 170°C for 1h of pre-hydrolysis, 70% of hemicelluloses was dissolved with negligible loss of α-cellulose. At this condition, 75% of dissolved sugars in the pre-hydrolysis liquor were in the oligomeric form. The pre-hydrolysed jute stick was subsequently pulped by kraft process with the variation of active alkali. The pulp yield was 36.2% with kappa number 18.5 at the conditions of 16% active alkali for 2h of cooking at 170°C. Final pulp was produced with 92% α-cellulose and 89% brightness after D0EpD1EpD1 bleaching. The produced dissolving pulp can be used in rayon production.

Keywords: Biorefinery; Cellulose; Dissolving pulp; Hemicelluloses; Jute stick; Pre-hydrolysis liquor.