Pulping and Bleaching of Plantation Fast-growing Acacias (Part 1)

Chemical Composition and Pulpability

Abstract

Three species of plantation fast-growing Acacia woods of different ages were subjected to kraft cooking and bleaching by the use of CEH sequence. Chemical composition, and structural features of cell wall components of these Acacias were also characterized. Species of Acacia used in this experiment were Acacia mangium, Acacia auriculiformis, and Acacia crassicarpa. These three Acacias were easily pulped using the conventional kraft process with acceptables pulp yields, i. e. 50% total yield with kappa number of 20. Co-cooking of these Acacias, either as a mixture of different ages of the same species or as a mixture of different species, also showed acceptable results. The pulp could be bleached using conventional CEH bleaching sequence giving brightness greater than 75%. Analytical results indicated that these Acacias have typical chemical characteristics of hardwood without any significant drawback unfavorable for chemical pulping even at the age of three years.