TOTALLY CHLORINE-FREE BLEACHING OF OIL PALM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH (EFB) CHEMICAL PULPS

摘要

Chemical pulps produced from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibres have been well established since last two decades. In this study, four chemical pulps from EFB were prepared by employing kraft, kraft-anthraquinone, soda and soda-anthraquinone pulping processes. The effects of three stage totally chlorine-free (TCF) bleaching sequence consisting oxygen, O, ozone, Z, and hydrogen peroxide, P (OZP) on kappa number and viscosity of the three pulps were examined. It was found that EFB chemical pulps showed high bleachability toward TCF bleaching where kraft-anthraquinone and soda-anthraquinone TCF bleached pulps achieved 80% ISO brightness and remained viscosity above 15 cp. Moreover, comparable properties of the full bleached EFB soda-anthraquinone pulp may be the key to sulphur-free and chlorine-free pulp production.