Date of Award

4-1992

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Chemical and Paper Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Raja Aravamuthan

Second Advisor

Dr. Ellsworth Shriver

Third Advisor

Dr. Nick Triantafillopoulos

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

This study's primary objective was to present sodium carbonate pulping as an alternative to soda or lime pulping of wheat straw for corrugating medium production. If sodium carbonate pulping is comparable with soda pulping in terms of strength properties, it could be the preference of choice because the recovery of sodium carbonate is simpler requiring less capital investment. The two strength properties that were optimized with respect to total chemical charge, cooking time, and sodium hydroxide fraction in the cooking liquor were Concora crush resistance and STFI compressive strength. These are the two most important strength properties for the end use of corrugating medium. Response surface methodology was used in conjunction with a central composite experimental design throughout the study. The data indicate that sodium carbonate pulping gives as good a result as soda pulping in terms of the strength properties investigated. The second part of the project correlated the strength development to pentosan and lignin contents of the pulps. This correlation depended on the optimization constraints.

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