Studies on use of lignocellulosic residues of palma rosa grass after steam distillation for the production of chemical grade pulp

• Published in: Indian journal of chemical technology 2007-07, Vol.14 (4), p.389-399
• Main Authors: Dutt, Dharm, Tyagi, C H, Upadhyaya, A K, Garg, A P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0971-457X

The study aims at using of lignocellulosic residues of Cymbopogon martini to develop value added quality papers by eco-friendly pulping and bleaching techniques. C. martini grass is exclusively used to extract important geranium oil by distillation in crude direct?fired stills. Anatomical, morphological and chemical studies indicate its similarities with hardwoods and its suitability for the production of chemical grade pulp. Molecular oxygen, which is specific oxidizing agent for lignin has an immediate drawback to its use, is the low solubility in cooking liquor. The diffusion problem of dissolved oxygen is reduced to insignificance because of looser and open structure in the lignocellulosic residues of C. martini after distillation. Distillation process makes the C. martini suitable for alkali-O2 delignification process by bridging over the problem of mass transfer of O2, which is far less than C. martini without distillation. C. martini produces 44.73% screened pulp yield at kappa number 22.12 by soda cooking process and screened pulp yield of 45.80% at kappa number of 20.47 by alkali-O2 delignification process. The addition of 0.1% AQ in alkali-O2 process reduces kappa number to 17.35 and improves pulp yield by 1.20%. The unbleached pulp shows good response towards bleaching, which can be bleached up to 85.95% by OCEHH bleaching sequence.