THE EFFECT OF Eucalyptus APMP FIBERS REINFORCEMENT ON Pinus radiata KRAFT PULP PROPERTIES

Abstract

Kraft pulps derived from pine species are largely used for high strength paper products. The quality of such pulps has been improved significantly in the last decades through advances in wood quality and adequate choice of pine species. The quality of pine fibers can be further improved by incorporating other fibers to them. In fact, the mixture of pine fibers with hardwood fibers is common practice around the world. An alternative to further improve the quality of pine fibers is by mixing them with wood fibers produced by modern techniques. This study evaluated the impact of mixing 10-40% of eucalyptus wood fibers produced by the P-RC APMP process on the Pinus radiata fiber properties. The pulp mixes were beat in a PFI mill and evaluated for the main physical properties. It was observed that the eucalyptus wood fibers improve the bonding capacity of the Pinus radiata fibers. At a given tensile strength, the properties of tear index and opacity of the pulp mix increase with increasing proportion of eucalyptus wood fibers. It is concluded that addition of up to 30% eucalyptus wood fibers to Pinus radiata kraft pulp is viable alternative to improve some of its properties.