ISBN : 978-602-17761-0-0
9
© 2013 Published by Center for Pulp and Paper through REPTech2012
oil palm empty fruit bunches EFB ratio and cooking time on pulp and paper qualities.
2. Materials and Methods
Concentrations of ethanol, cooking temperature and time have been considered as important process
variables. Ratio of cooking liquor to solid raw material and concentration of organic solvent were selected as
low as possible for the purpose of chemical saving. A total of 26 pulping trials were conducted in this work
by varying the cooking parameters.
2.1 Raw Materials
Oil palm empty fruit bunches used in this study was obtained in processed form ibre strands. The
EFB was cut to 2.5 cm length, washed to remove dirt, air dried and stored in an air-dry condition. Moisture
content for the EFB was 13.60 oven-dry basis.
2.2 Pulping
The EFB were pulped using a Parr pressure vessel, an 8 L cylindrical batch reactor heated by electrical
wires. The reactor was equipped with control unit to monitor pressure and temperature. In this study,
organosolv pulping of EFB was done by varying the ethanol concentration, cooking temperature, liquor to
EFB ratio and cooking time Table 1: a. Ethanol concentration : 40, 45 and 50
b. Cooking temperature
o
C: 175, 185 and 195 c. Liquor to EFB ratio L: EFB: 4.5, 5, 6 and 12
d. Cooking time min: 60, 90 and 120 At the end of digestion, the softened EFB was
disintegrated for ive minutes in a hydropulper, washed on a screen and screened bya fractionators
Somerville type with a screen plate of 0.20 mm slits. The total pulp yield was calculated as the sum of the
screened pulp yield and the sieves. Kappa number was determined according to TAPPI Test Methods T 236
cm-85 1994 [6].
2.3 Laboratory Paper
The laboratory paper was made by a handsheet machine British Handsheet Machine according
to TAPPI T 205 om-88 “Forming handsheets for physical tests of pulp” [6]. The structural, mechanical
and optical properties of these papers were measured according to TAPPI T 220 om-88 “Physical testing
Table 1. The Pulping Conditions Employed
Experiments Cooking time
min Cooking temperature
o
C Ethanol concentration
Liquor to EFB ratio L: EFB
1 120
185 50
12 2
120 185
50 10
3 120
185 50
12 4
120 185
50 12
5 120
185 50
8 6
90 185
50 8
7 90
185 50
6 8
90 185
50 4
9 90
185 50
6 10
120 195
50 6
11 60
185 45
6 12
60 185
50 5
13 60
185 50
4.5 14
90 185
40 4.5
15 60
185 45
4.5 16
90 185
50 4.5
17 60
195 50
4.5 18
60 195
40 4.5
19 90
195 45
4.5 20
60 175
50 4.5
21 60
185 45
4.5 22
60 185
45 4.5
23 120
195 50
6 24
60 185
50 6
25 60
185 50
5 26
60 185
50 4.5
10
© 2013 Published by Center for Pulp and Paper through REPTech2012
of pulp handsheets” [6] in a controlled temperature and humidity environment as stipulated in TAPPI
T 402 om-93 “Standard conditioning and testing atmospheres for paper, board, pulp handsheets, and
related products” [6].
3. Results and Discussion
