The main goal of this study was to evaluate the potential of depithed bagasse for the production of printing and writing paper. Industrial whole bagasse was separated into two fractions: pith and depithed bagasse. The depithed bagasse was cooked by the soda process to two different degrees of delignification. The resulting pulps were fully bleached by the O-D*-(EP)-D sequence and characterized for their beatability, drainability, and physical-mechanical properties. Bleached soda pulps cooked to kappa 17.5 and 10.8 showed similar refinability and resistance to drainage, but the strength properties (tensile, burst, and tear) were slightly higher for the kappa 17.5 pulp at beating energy consumptions in the range of 2-7 W.h. We concluded that both pulps from depithed sugar cane bagasse would be suitable for the production of printing and writing paper grade pulps, but the higher kappa pulp is more economically attractive given its higher pulping yield, without significantly increasing the bleaching chemical demand.
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