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Nordic Pulp & Paper Research Journal Vol 32 no 4, 2017 — DOI
High purity dissolving pulp from jute
Jannatun Nayeem, Mamon Sarkar, Ariful Hai Quadery and M. Sarwar Jahan
KEYWORDS: Jute, Dissolving pulp, Formic acid pulp,
Fiber fractionation, α-cellulose, Fock reactivity
ABSTRACT: Pre-hydrolysed kraft pulp from jute was
fractionated into short, medium and long fibers to improve
the purity and reactivity. Fock reactivity increased with
decreasing fiber size, but α–cellulose content in long fiber
fraction was higher than that of short fiber fraction.
Fractionated jute pulp was alkaline extracted at 25ºC and
90ºC. Alkaline extraction removed pentosan resulting in
increased α-cellulose content in the pulp. The purity of the
alkaline extracted dissolving pulp increased to 96% for
long fiber fraction. Fock’s reactivity also increased after
reduction of hemicelluloses by weak alkaline extraction.
Refining followed by alkaline extraction did not improve
Fock’s reactivity as only alkaline extraction did. Fock’s
reactivity of pulp after alkaline extraction at 90ºC was
always higher than the pulp alkaline extraction at 25ºC.
Formic acid pulping of jute was also carried out. Formic
acid treatment followed by alkaline extraction and D0EpD1
bleaching produced pulp of 94.3% purity with Fock’s
reactivity of 63.2%. Alkaline extraction of the bleached
pulp increased purity to 97% with Fock’s reactivity of 72-
73%.
ADDRESS OF THE AUTHORS: Jannatun Nayeem,
Mamon Sarkar, Ariful Hai Quadery and M. Sarwar Jahan
(sarwar2065@hotmail.com), Pulp and Paper Research
Division, BCSIR Laboratories, Dhaka, Dr. Qudrat-i-
Khuda Road, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh,
Corresponding author: M. Sarwar Jahan
Introduction
Government of Bangladesh is intending to establish a
dissolving pulp plant based on jute fiber for rayon
production. Conventionally, dissolving pulp is produced
from wood by prehydrolysis kraft process and acid sulfite
process. But the price of jute fiber cannot compete with
wood. The price of dissolving pulp is around US$1300 per
MT, whereas of the price of high purity dissolving pulp is
about US$ 2000. To make a viable project based on jute
fiber, it should be high purity dissolving pulp, which will
be of higher α–cellulose content and free from lignin and
hemicellulose. The α–cellulose content in jute fiber is
higher than 60% and lignin content is less than 15% (Jahan
et al 2007). Therefore, jute fiber is a suitable candidate for
the production of high purity dissolving pulp.
In the viscose manufacturing process, hemicelluloses are
undesirable impurities, which affect the cellulose
processing and the properties of the final products
(Christov, Prior, 1993; Ibarra et al 2010). Many reports are
available on the hemicelluloses removal from the
cellulosic substrate, including caustic extractions
(Gehmayr, Sixta 2012, Li et al 2015) and enzymatic
hydrolysis that can be combined with others (Duan et al.,
2017, Ibarra et al., 2010), such as mechanical and/or
chemical pre-treatments. Köpcke et al (2010) showed that
an enzymatic treatment using a commercial xylanase
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followed by alkali extraction resulted in an efficient
hemicellulose removal from paper grade pulp. The pulp
reactivity could be increased by an additional enzymatic
treatment using a commercial monocomponent
endoglucanase. Among them, the caustic extraction, in
particular, the cold caustic extraction (CCE), as an
environmental friendly (due to the fact that caustic soda
can be recovered/reused) and industrially proven process,
is unique in producing high-purity cellulose.
Several studies were carried out on fiber fractionation to
minimize fiber length differentiation and to get desirable
pulp and paper properties. High performance sack kraft
paper requires high tensile with high Tensile Energy
Absorption (TEA), and high porosity. Refining increases
pulp strength but simultaneously decreases porosity. To
improve purity and reactivity of dissolving pulp, several
concepts are practised. These include removal of primary
wall, creation of pores, separation of aggregated fibers,
shorten cellulose chain, disruption of crystalline structure,
etc. by different chemical and mechanical treatments on
the fiber. Non-uniform distribution of hemicelluloses
across the fiber cell wall and molecular weight of
hemicelluloses affect hemicelluloses removal from the
pulp (Li et al 2016, Wollboldt et al 2010). The low
reactivity of kraft-based dissolving pulp towards carbon
disulfide was presumably due to the compact fibrillar
structure, because cellulosic fibers are made of cellulose I
(Ibarra et al 2010; Sixta 2006). To improve the
accessibility and reactivity of kraft- based dissolving pulp
or other cellulosic materials, it is essential to expose/create
more accessible sites (Engström et al 2006; Henriksson
et al 2005; Kvarnlöf et al 2006; Rahkamo et al 1996).
Refining may facilitate the production of purified
dissolving pulp with high reactivity.
Dissolving pulps must be low in hemicelluloses content.
Hemicelluloses have disadvantageous effects on the
manufacturing and end-products properties of regenerated
celluloses. The hemicelluloses increase chemical
consumption, cause false viscosity and poor filterability
during the rayon production process (Gübitz et al 1997).
The hemicelluloses cause inferior strength properties of
regenerated celluloses (Siclari 1967). Many studies have
been carried out to reduce hemicelluloses from the
dissolving pulp. Alkaline extraction is the most popular
technology for removing hemicelluloses For example,
Gehmayr and Sixta (2012) investigated the hemicelluloses
removal from a softwood sulfite pulp by using cold caustic
extraction (CCE). It was reported that refining in PFI mill
increased the fiber pore size, pore volume and specific
surface area (Li et al 2015). Grönqvist et al (2014). The
authors showed that the refining delaminated fiber wall
and broke down internal bonds consequently improved
porosity of the fiber wall. Fibre fractionation segregates
long fibres of the pulp to contribute significantly higher
porosity after being laboratory refined in a PFI mill to a
target TEA (Olson et al 2001). Abubakr et al (1995)
studied the fractionation of mixed office waste fibres to
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upgrade fiber quality. The authors found that fractionation
was effective in upgrading the long-fiber component, thus
increasing the strength indices of paper. Duan et al (2017)
fractionated kraft-based dissolving pulp and treated with
cellulase and found that short fiber fraction had the highest
accessibility, lowest viscosity, and highest cellulase
adsorption capacity, while the opposite was true for the
long fiber fraction. Duan et al (2016) also studied on a
combined process consisting of mechanical refining (R)
followed by a low-alkali (5.5% NaOH) cold caustic
extraction (CCE) and finally an endoglucanase (EG)
treatment (R-5.5% CCE-EG) was investigated for
upgrading paper-grade pulp to dissolving pulp. Results
showed that compared to the conventional process
(9%CCE-EG), the modified process can decrease the
alkali concentration (from 9%to 5.5%) to achieve a similar
hemicelluloses removal while simultaneously enhancing
the Fock reactivity (from 62.2% to 81.0%).
Organic acid dissolves lignin and hemicelluloses from
lignocellulosic raw material simultaneously. Thus, pulping
with organic acid may be an alternative process for
dissolving pulp from jute (Jahan et al 2006, 2007). The
pulping operation can be carried out at atmospheric
pressure. Acid used in pulping can be easily recovered by
distillation and reused in the process (Muurinen 2000).
Organic acid lignin is characterized with higher phenolic
group compared to proto lignin (Islam, Sarkanen 1993,
Jahan et al 2007) and can be used for many value added
products due to its lower molecular weight and higher
reactivity (Kubo et al 1998, Nihat et al 2002). The spent
liquor lignin can be used for producing carbon fibers
(Kadla et al 2002). In this process residual pentosan
content in the pulp was very low due to the dissolution of
most of the hemicelluloses (Jahan et al 2007). The
dissolved hemicelluloses can be converted to chemicals
and fuels (Liu et al., 2013; Tanifuji et al., 2013).
A number of studies have been carried out on dissolving
pulp from jute in our group (Jahan et al 2007, 2008, 2008a,
Jahan 2009, Matin et al 2015). In this investigation, an
effort was made to produce high purity dissolving pulp
from jute fiber with improved reactivity. The objectives of
this investigation were to fractionation of prehydrolysed
kraft pulp from jute, followed by PFI refining and caustic
extraction to improve the hemicelluloses removal and
reactivity. A dissolving pulp was also produced from jute
fiber by formic acid process (FA) followed by caustic
extraction. A mass balance was also done in FA process to
integrate the process in biorefinery.
Material and methods
Materials
Jute (Corchorus capsularis) was collected from
Bangladesh Jute Research Institute and all scales were
removed by hand and cut to 2-3 cm length in hand
chopping machine.
Prehydrolysis
Jute was prehydrolysed by water in 20 L capacity digester.
Prehydrolysis was carried out at 170ºC for 60 min. The jute
to liquor ratio was 1: 6. The time required to raise to
maximum temperature was 50 min. After completing
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prehydrolysis, pressure was released and the digester was
cooled by circulating cold water. Samples were then
collected from the drained off liquor for pH, solid content,
lignin and sugars determination. The percentage of
dissolved components was measured gravimetrically.
Cooking
Prehydrolysed jute fibers were cooked in the same
digester. The following parameters were kept constant in
the kraft process:
-Active alkali charge was 18 % as Na2O on o.d.
prehydrolysed jute fiber (sulphidity was 25%).
-Liquor to fiber ratio was 6:1.
-Temperature was 170ºC. Time required to raise
temperature was 45 min.
-Cooking time was 120 min at 170ºC.
After digestion, pulp was washed till free from residual
chemicals, and screened on flat vibratory screener
(Yasuda, Japan). The screened pulp yield, total pulp yield
and screened reject were determined gravimetrically as
percentage of o.d. raw material. The kappa number of the
resulting screened pulp was determined in accordance with
Tappi Test Methods (T 236 om-99).
Bleaching
Produced pulp was bleached by D0EpD1 bleaching
sequence. The ClO2 charge was 1% and temperature was
70 °C for 45 min in the D0 stage. The pH was adjusted to
2.5 by adding dilute H2SO4. Alkaline extraction was
carried out with 2% NaOH and 0.5%, H2O2 charge,
temperature was 70ºC for 120 min. In the D1 stage, ClO2
charge were 0.5, pH was adjusted to 4.5 in D1 stage,
respectively adding dilute alkali. The pulp consistency was
10% in all stages.
Pulp fractionation
Fractionation was carried out with a Bauer-McNett fiber
classifier according to Tappi T233 cm-95 standards. Pulp
fibers that were retained on the 50-mesh screen were the
long fiber (LF), the fibers passing through 50-mesh screen
but retained on the 100-mesh screen were the middle fiber
(MF), while the short fiber (SF) was defined as those fibers
that passed through the 100-mesh screen.
Evaluation of pulps
Pulp tests were performed according to the Standard
Methods of the Technical Association of the Pulp and
Paper Industry (TAPPI, Atlanta, GA): brightness (T 452
om-92); viscosity (T 230 om-89); -cellulose (T 203 om-
88); and alkali solubility S10 and S18 (T 235 cm-85). Alpha-
cellulose is the pulp fraction resistant to a treatment in an
aqueous solution containing 17.5% sodium hydroxide and
indicates undegraded, high molecular weight cellulose
content in pulp. Alkali solubilities S10 and S18 provide
information on the low molecular weight carbohydrates
(degraded cellulose and hemicellulose) in pulp. A 10%
sodium hydroxide solution dissolves both degraded
cellulose and hemicellulose (S10) whereas hemicellulose is
soluble in an 18% sodium hydroxide solution (S18)
(Christov et al 1996). R10 and R18 were obtained by
subtracting S10 and S18 from 100. R18-R10, or S10-S18 can be
an indication of the dissolved low-molecular-weight
cellulose content. The Fock reactivity of the produced pulp
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was determined by modified method, which is described content did not vary significantly between short and long
by Tian et al. (Tian et al., 2013a). The sodium hydroxide fiber fractions. It was expected that pentosan in short fiber
concentration, xanthation temperature, xanthation time, fraction would be higher as most of the hemicelluloses
and carbon disulfide dosage were 9%, 19ºC, 3 h, and 1.3 present vessel, fines and short fibers in wood pulp (Duan
mL, respectively. All pulp properties were analyzed in et al., 2017). But jute is a bast fiber, which is composed of
duplicate. fiber only. Therefore, pentosan content in jute pulp
behaves differently. The α–cellulose content in long fiber
Formic acid pulping of jute fraction was 1.1% higher than the short fiber fraction. But
The jute fiber was refluxed with 84% formic acid water the effect was not pronounced as in wood pulp (Li et al.,
mixture in a hotplate under the following different 2015a). The degraded cellulose (R18-R10) in whole pulp
conditions: was 2%, while the same was 0.8% in long fiber fraction.
-Reaction time: 4 h at boiling 107ºC.
-Material to liquor ratio: 1:8. Alkaline extraction
After desired reaction time, pulp was filtered in a Table 2 shows the effect of alkaline extraction on the purity
buckner funnel and washed with fresh formic acid- water and reactivity of dissolving pulp. The residual pentosan in
followed by hot distilled water. Then the pulp yield was long fiber fractions pulp was 2.2% and 2.0% after alkaline
determined gravimetrically and kappa number (T 236 om extraction at 25ºC and 90ºC, respectively (Table 3) which
99) and pentosan (T223cm01) were determined according corresponds to 35.4% and 41.5% pentosan removal from
to Tappi Test Methods. Formic acid pulp was bleached by the original dissolving pulp. Pentosan removal certainly
conventional D0EpD1 bleaching sequences. increased α-cellulose content in the pulp. The purity of the
alkaline extracted dissolving pulp increased to 96% for
Alkaline extraction long and medium fiber fractions. But the purity of short
Alkaline extraction of prehydrolysed kraft bleached and fiber fraction was only 95%, where α-cellulose content
formic acid (FA) bleached pulps was carried out with 8 % increased by 0.6% and 0.77% after alkaline extraction at
sodium hydroxide at 25ºC and 90ºC for 2h. FA pulp prior 25ºC and 90ºC, respectively. This result is consistence
to bleaching was alkaline extracted at 25ºC for 2 h. The with hemicelluloses removal data (26.2% and 32.9%).
consistency was 10%. After extraction, pulp was filtered After alkaline extraction at room temperature Fock’s
in a buckner funnel and washed with fresh distilled water. reactivity increased to 74.8% from 43.7% and to 77.4% for
The pulp yield was determined gravimetrically and long fiber fraction and from 73.3% for short fiber fraction
pentosan content (T223cm01) was determined by with the reduction of hemicelluloses. With the increase of
following Tappi Test Methods. alkaline extraction temperature, Fock reactivity further
increased, which was consistent with the hemicelluloses
Results and discussion reduction data.
The objective of this study was to prepare high purity
dissolving pulp from jute. To this end, the pulp obtained
was fractionated into long and short fibers followed by Table 1 - Dissolving pulp properties of fractionated pulp from
cold and hot alkali extraction with and without PFI refining jute in prehydrolysis kraft process.
of fractionated pulps. Table 1 shows dissolving pulp Whole Long Medium Short
properties of whole pulp and fractionated pulp. Our target pulp fibres fibres fibres
was to get high purity and high reactivity dissolving pulp. Pentosan (%) 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.1
It is clear from Table 1 that Fock reactivity increased with Fock reactivity (%) 49.4 43.7 60.3 73.3
decreasing fiber size. The reactivity of long fiber fraction R10(%) 92.9 94.8 92.3 91.8
was only 43.7% which increased to 73.3% with short fiber R18 (%) 94.9 95.6 94.8 94.8
fraction. Short fiber fraction contained mainly fragmented α-Cellulose (%) 94.6 95.6 94.6 94.5
fiber; consequently, increased surface area and exposed Viscosity (mPa.s) 9.2 9.4 9.3 7.1
cellulose surface for reaction.
As shown in Table 1, α–cellulose content in long fiber
fraction was higher than short fiber fraction. Pentosan
Table 2- Alkaline extraction dissolving pulp from jute.
Long fibres Medium fibres Short fibres
Temperature (ºC) 25 90 25 90 25 90
Yield (%) 98.3 97.0 98.0 97.3 97.4 97.1
Pentosan (%) 2.2 2.0 2.2 2.1 2.3 2.1
Fock reactivity (%) 74. 8 76.2 78.9 87.9 77.4 89.3
R10(%) 97.8 97.7 97.8 97.8 96.4 97.4
R18(%) 97.6 97.8 97.4 97.7 96.9 97.6
α-Cellulose (%) 96.5 96.4 96.1 96.3 95.1 95.3
Viscosity (mPa.s) 8.0 7.89 8.5 7.3 7.3 7.0

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Table 3 - Effect of refining on dissolving pulp properties of fractionated pulp from jute.
Content Long fibres Medium fibres Short fibres
Temperature (ºC) 25 90 25 90 25 90

Yield % 98.7 98.04 98.9 96.69 96.6 95.9

Pentosan 2.6 1.8 2.1 1.5 1.9 1.4
Fock reactivity (%) 73.0 75.1 75.2 83.1 75.3 85.0
R10 96.5 94.9 96.5 96.4 95.6 95.0
R18 97.6 96.5 97.6 95.7 95.1 96.3
α-Cellulose 97.8 96.3 97.5 95.4 96.1 95.8
Viscosity (mPa.s) 6.7 7.1 6.8 6.6 6.0 5.6

Refining and alkaline extraction result indicates that residual hemicelluloses are mainly
Table 2 shows the effect of refining on the alkaline responsible for reactivity. Short fiber fraction showed
extraction of the fractionated pulp. Hemicellulose removal higher reactivity than long fiber fraction. This result
from short fiber fraction was better than long fiber fraction. complied with the reported data (Tian et al 2014).
Mechanical refining followed by alkaline extraction
Organic acid pulping of jute
decreased pentosan content by 0.86% with long fiber,
Organic acid pulping process dissolves both lignin and
while the same declined by 1.26% for short fiber fraction
hemicelluloses simultaneously from the lignocelluloses,
at 25ºC (Tablse 1 and 3). But the pentosan removal in
which lower down residual pentosan content in the pulp
alkaline extraction at 90ºC was more pronounced than at
(Jahan et al., 2007). Therefore, formic acid process was
25ºC. At the 90ºC, pentosan removal was 1.66% and
evaluated for producing high purity dissolving pulp
1.75% for long and short fiber fractions, respectively.
production. Formic acid (FA) treatment produced of pulp
Arnoul-Jarriault et al (2015) attempted to convert
of 58.8% yield with kappa number 23.1, which was
softwood kraft pulp (paper grade) into dissolving grade
subsequently alkaline extracted with 8% alkali at 25ºC to
pulp by cold caustic extraction process (CCE) under the
produce dissolving pulp (data are not shown). The alkaline
conditions of NaOH charge, 3 to 12% and temperature,
extracted pulp was bleached by D0EpD1 sequences. As
25ºC to 110°C. The results showed that NaOH
shown in Table 4, α-cellulose content in bleached FA pulp
concentration had a predominant effect on xylan and
was 94.3%, which increased to 97.4% after alkaline
glucomannan removal. The best removal was observed
extraction at 25ºC. The α-cellulose content did not increase
below 40ºC or above 80ºC. Our results agree with the
with the increase of alkaline extraction temperature. It is
experimental data obtained by Arnoul-Jarriault et al
well established that cold caustic extraction effectively
(2015).
removed hemicelluloses from the pulp provided that alkali
As shown in Table 2, α-cellulose content increased in all
concentration is high (Sixta 2006). Li et al (2015) showed
pulps after alkaline extraction because of removal of
that the combined mechanical refining and CCE at 4%
hemicelluloses. The increase in α-cellulose content after
NaOH led to a decrease in the hemicellulose content from
refining followed by extraction at 25ºC was higher than the
9.5% to 5%, which was comparable with the CCE with 8%
alkaline extraction at 90ºC. The α-cellulose content
NaOH where of hemicelluloses content decreased from
increased by 2.22% and 0.67% for long fiber fraction and
9.5% to 4.6%. Also it was observed in previous section that
1.55% and 1.34% for short fiber fraction after alkaline
refining followed by CCE did not improved purity of
extraction at 25ºC and 90ºC, respectively. According to
dissolving pulp from jute. Therefore, FA pulp was not
pentosan removal results, α-cellulose content in pulp after
refined prior to CCE. Alkaline extraction at 25o and 90ºC
alkaline extraction at 90 ºC was supposed to be higher,
removed 30.1% and 51% pentosan, respectively, from the
though, according to the results of Table 2, the values were
original pentosan content of 3.56% in bleached FA pulp.
similar. This can be explained by degradation of α-
As shown in Table 4, the ‘‘R18-R10,’’ value in CCE FA
cellulose during alkaline extraction at higher temperature,
pulp was 1.3% which was equal to untreated FA pulp. This
which is evident from viscosity data (Table 3). There was
indicated that CCE with 8% NaOH did not degrade the
no direct relation found on fiber fractionation. This can
dissolving pulp. But alkaline extraction at 90ºC increased
also be explained by R10 and R18 results. The degraded
degraded cellulose to 1.8%.
cellulose R18-R10 in all fractionated pulps was higher with
alkaline extraction at 90ºC than at 25ºC. As for example,
Table 4 - Alkaline extraction of dissolving pulp from jute by formic
degraded cellulose in long fiber fractions was 1.06% at
acid process.
25ºC and 1.56% at 90ºC (Table 3).
Fock’s reactivity increased to 73% with long fiber Properties Formic Alkaline extraction,
fraction and 75.32% with short fiber fraction at 25ºC on acid temperature (ºC)
refining followed by alkaline extraction. With the increase pulp 25 90
of alkaline extraction temperature, Fock reactivity further Pentosan (%) 3.6 2.5 1.7
increased, which was consistent with the hemicelluloses R10 (%) 93.7 96.5 96.0
reduction data. Zhao et al (2017) showed that xylanase R18(%) 95.0 97. 8 97.8
treatment improved Fock reactivity from 21.6% to α-cellulose (%) 94.3 97.4 97.7
31.77%, which further increased to 32.42% by the Fock reactivity (%) 63.2 72.4 73.4
sequential refining followed by xylanase treatment. This

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Viscosity (mPa.s) 10.6 20.0 16.6
Fig 1 - Proposed biorefinery in dissolving pulp production process from jute by formic acid treatment
Fock reactivity of bleached FA pulp was 63.2%. Alkali
treatment of FA pulp improved accessibility of reactant by
swelling, consequently increased reactivity of CCE FA
pulp to 72.41%. Alkaline extraction at 90ºC further
increased reactivity to 73.44%. This can be explained by
higher ‘‘R18-R10’’, which increased the physical ability of
reactants/solvents to reach the hydroxyl groups, and to
overcome esteric hinders in the fiber structure (Strunk
2012). Miao et al (2014) also observed a positive
correlation between “S10-S18” value and Fock reactivity.
Finally it can be seen that FA process eliminates
prehydrolysis, fractionation and refining of pulp to get
pulp with high purity and reactivity. These unit operations
reduce energy consumption and process complications.
Process concept
From the above results and discussion it is observed that
FA process is an effective process for producing high
purity dissolving pulp from jute. Therefore, a biorefinery
concept in the production of dissolving pulp from jute fibre
has been proposed based on FA process (Fig 1). Lignin and
hemicelluloses were dissolved simultaneously from the
jute fiber in the FA liquor during pulping process (Jahan
et al 2007a). The pulp yield was 58%, which indicated that
α–cellulose was not affected during FA pulping. Organic
acid can be easily recovered from the spent liquor by
evaporation (Muurinen 2000). The recovery of formic acid
was 95% (data is not shown). After evaporation, lignin was
separated from the solid residue by dissolving
hemicelluloses in water. The lignin and hemicelluloses
yields were 11.3% and 13.3%, respectively on the starting
raw material. Organic acid lignin is characterized with
highly phenolics (Jahan et al 2007), which can be used in
producing phenolic resin (Lora, Glasser 2002). Alkaline
extraction of FA pulp was done with 8% NaOH, which
dissolved part of residual hemicelluloses and lignin. In the
downstream process, hemicelluloses solution in FA
627
treatment and alkaline extraction can be concentrated by
nanofiltration (Ahsan et al 2014) followed by fermentation
for ethanol and biochemical production. The
hemicelluloses can also be used for furfural production
(Liu et al 2013, 2014). The alkaline extracted pulp was
bleached by D0EpD1 bleaching sequences, which provided
85% brightness with the consumption of 15kg ClO2 per ton
of pulp. The kappa number of the bleached pulp was 0.87
only (data is not shown), which indicates almost no lignin
was present in the pulp. The final pulp yield was 40% that
was higher than wood in prehydrolysis kraft process
(Borrega et al 2013). A wide range of products can be
produced from dissolving pulp, including viscose rayon,
cellophane, and a variety of plastic films, cellulose esters,
and cellulose ethers that can be used in the textile,
medicine and military industries (Ibarra et al 2010). In
order to improve the purity, the pulp was subjected to CCE,
which improved purity and reactivity. In the CCE process,
extracted hemicelluloses can be transferred to
nanofiltration for concentration hemicelluloses for biofuel
and biochemical production.
Conclusions
Dissolving pulp from pre-hydrolysed kraft process showed
94.6% purity. Fractionation of the pulp demonstrated that
the short fiber fraction had higher Fock’s reactivity.
Pentosan content did not vary significantly between short
and long fiber fractions. It was expected that pentosan in
short fiber fraction would be higher. But jute being a bast
fiber is composed of fibres only. Therefore, pentosan
content in jute pulp behaves differently. Alkaline
extraction of the pulp increased purity and reactivity of the
pulp regardless fibre fractions. Mechanical refining
followed by alkaline extraction did not increase purity and
reactivity as expected. Formic acid treatment followed by
alkaline extraction produces dissolving pulp of 94.3%
purity and 63.2% Fock’s reactivity. Alkaline extraction at
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25ºC increased pulp purity to 97.4% and reactivity to
72.4%. Therefore, it can be concluded that FA process
with CCE is suitable for producing high purity dissolving
pulp from jute. The FA process also fractionates lignin and
hemicelluloses for biofuel, biochemicals and biomaterials,
which adds value and compensate price of jute.
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Manuscript received July 14, 2017
Accepted October 22, 2017

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