Improvement of the properties of Poplar chemi-mechanical newsprint through controlling process parameters

Abstract

One of the drawbacks of utilizing non-forest fast growing species of Poplar as raw materials to produce newsprint in Mazandran Pulp and Paper Mill is fairly low bulk and opacity of produced paper at the yield of 85% (current CMP yield of the Mill). In this research work, the effect of process parameters (cooking yield and freeness) on the optical and mechanical properties of chemi-mechanical pulp was investigated. The chemi-mechanical pulps of poplar was prepared at four various levels of cooking yield, through changing the cooking time, and their properties at different level of freeness were evaluated in comparison with the control sample of Mazandran Pulp and Paper Mill (75% hornbeam and 25% beech). Strength properties of the paper pulps stemmed from the cooking yields of 85.25% to 90.4% were higher and more favorable than the control sample. By contrast, the strength properties of the produced paper pulp from the cooking yield of 94.6% were inferior to prepared paper pulp from the control sample. According to the results, there is the possibility of significant improvement of the strength properties, opacity and bulk of the chemi-mechanical pulps of poplar trough controlling the process parameters like cooking yield and freeness to utilize it as raw material of newsprint production in Mazandran Pulp and Paper Mill.

Keywords

• POPLAR
• chemi-mechanical pulp
• Strength properties
• Optical properties
• newsprint