Alkali-methanol cooking has been studied as one of the pollution free pulping methods. This paper deals with the sheet strength of alkali-methanol pulp and the recovery of methanol in black liquor. The results obtained are summarized as follows.
(a) Screened pulp yield by alkali-methanol cooking are 45% higher than that by kraft cooking. Active alkali concentration of alkali-methanol cooking liquor should be lower than that of kraft cooking liquor. This is explained by the “Escaping theory” by O. Maass (1941).
(b) Comparing at the same level of lignin content in pulp, there is no difference between the sheet strength of both pulps except tear factor.
(c) The consumption and operation loss of methanol during cooking are assumed to be 1321 kg on the basis of ton chips. Some portion of methanol, 613 kg/ton chips, however, comes from lignin and hemicellulose.
(d) The removal of methanol during washing process of pulp is easier than that of sodium hydroxide. Methanol is recovered easily in the evaporation of black liquor.
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