Bioresource Technology 101 (2010) 1892–1898 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Bioresource Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech Effect of different locations on the morphological, chemical, pulping and papermaking properties of Trema orientalis (Nalita) M. Sarwar Jahan a,b,*, Nasima Chowdhury a, Yonghao Ni b a Pulp and Paper Research Division, BCSIR Laboratories, Dr. Qudrat-E-Khuda Road, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh b Pulp and Paper Research Centre, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada article info abstract Article history: The chemical compositions and fiber morphology of stem and branch samples from Trema orientalis at Received 24 August 2009 three different sites planted in Bangladesh were determined and their pulping, bleaching and the result- Received in revised form 1 October 2009 ing pulp properties were investigated. A large difference between the stem and branch samples was Accepted 13 October 2009 observed. The stem samples have consistently higher a-cellulose and lower lignin content, and longer Available online 14 November 2009 fibers than the branch samples in all sites. T. orientalis from the Dhaka and Rajbari region had higher a-cellulose content and longer fiber length, resulting in higher pulp yield and better papermaking prop- Keyword: erties. The T. orientalis pulp from Rajbari region also showed the best bleachability. Trema orientalis, Variation of wood Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. properties Stem and branch Pulping and bleaching 1. Introduction sely to those of Malaysian-grown mangium and other fast-grow- ing plantation species, including the traditionally-used pulpwood The increased demand for wood and fiber and declining avail- of the Philippines. ability of wood supplies have prompted investigations into the po- The T. orientalis is among the fastest growing trees in the tential of fast-growing species as raw material for the pulp and tropical and temperate regions and produce wood that can be paper industry. Among them, Eucalyptus, Acacia have received widely used by the paper industry. It is a native species grows much attention (Colodette et al., 2000; Cossalter and Smith, in many places in Bangladesh. At present it has no industrial 2003; Downes et al., 2003; Edgrard, 1999; FAO, 2005, 2009; Khrist- use. In earlier studies, we introduced this species as a pulping ova et al., 1997; Malinen et al., 2006; Patt et al., 2006; Santiago and raw material (Jahan and Mun, 2003, 2004; Jahan et al., 2008b). Neto, 2008a,b). Trema orientalis is also a fast-growing species and T. orientalis was characterized with high a-cellulose content. can be harvested in 3–4 years for valuable pulpwood (Jahan and Pulp yield and paper making properties were comparable to Mun, 2003). the Gmalina, which is presently used by the Kharnaphuli Paper Many studies have been carried out to evaluate some fast Mills in Bangladesh. growing wood species for the pulp and paper industry (Edgrard, Due to the differences in climate, soil and others, it is likely that 1999; Fidel and Tamayo, 2003; Jahan and Mun, 2003, 2004; Ja- the chemical, physical and morphological properties of the same han et al., 2007, 2008a; Khristova et al., 1997; Malinen et al., wood species but at different locations, are different, therefore 2006; Lei et al., 2006; Zhu et al., 2005). Triploid Populus tomen- affecting pulping and papermaking properties. For example, Goyal tosa a hybrid poplar has received much attention recently and it et al. studied the variability in pulping and fiber characteristics of can be made into chemical and mechanical pulp with quality hybrid poplar due to their genetic makeup, environmental factors (Chen and Mao, 2000; Zhu et al., 2005; Yang et al., 2006). Fidel and tree age (Goyal et al., 1999). and Tamayo (2003) determined the chemical composition of In this paper, we determined the potential of T. orientalis col- plantation grown Acacia mangium, and the results showed that lected in three different locations in Bangladesh, as potential raw the Philippine mangium’s chemical composition resembled clo- material for pulping and papermaking. The physical, chemical and morphological properties of the stem and branch samples were carried out. The kraft and soda-anthraquinone (AQ) pulping * Corresponding author. Address: Pulp and Paper Research Division, BCSIR trails of these raw materials were conducted. ECF bleaching T. ori- Laboratories, Dr. Qudrat-E-Khuda Road, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh. Fax: +880 2 entalis pulps from different sites and stem and branch was also 86132002. E-mail address: [email protected] (M.S. Jahan). evaluated. 0960-8524/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.10.024 M.S. Jahan et al. / Bioresource Technology 101 (2010) 1892–1898 1893 2. Methods At the completion of cooking, the pulp was thoroughly washed, and screened in a flat vibratory screener (Yasuda, Japan). The 2.1. Material screened pulp yield, total pulp yield and screened reject were determined gravimetrically as the percentage of oven dried (o.d.) The T. orientalis samples (4 years old) were collected from the raw material. The kappa number of the resulting pulp was deter- Dhaka, Gaibandha and Rajbari districts in Bangladesh. Three trees mined in accordance with Tappi Test Methods (T236 om99). Three in each location were selected. The stem samples were prepared replicates were done and the average reading was taken. The accu- by removing 2 ft from top and bottom, while the branch samples racy of data was 95%. were prepared by removing 1 ft from the terminal. For the pulping experiments, the debarked log was chipped to 0.5 Â 0.5 Â 2cm 2.3. Evaluation of pulps size by hand. For the chemical analysis, the wood chips were ground in a Wiley mill and the 40–60 mesh size fraction was used. Pulps were beaten in a PFI mill to different revolution and hand- sheets of about 60 g/m2 were made in a Rapid Köthen Sheet Mak- 2.1.1. Analysis for chemical, morphological and physical properties ing Machine. The sheets were tested by following Tappi Standard The basic wood density was determined according to PAPTAC Test Methods: tensile (T494 om96), burst (T403 om97), tear Standard A. 8P. For the measurements of fiber length, the sample strength (T414 om98), folding endurance (T511 om96) and bright- ness (T525 om92). was macerated in a solution containing 1:1 HNO3 and KClO3. The macerated sample was taken in a slide and the fiber length was measured under a profile projector (Nikon V-12, Japan). The fiber 2.4. DEpD bleaching diameter was measured in an image analyzer. The chemical compositions were carried out by following Tappi The brown stock samples were bleached in a DoEpD bleaching Test Methods: the extractive (T204 om88), 1% alkali solubility sequence. The kappa factor was 0.20 in the first Do stage. Other (T212 om98), water solubility (T207 cm99), Klason lignin (T211 conditions were: 70 °C, 5% pulp consistency, 60 min. The initial om83) and ash content (T211 os76). The holocellulose content pH was adjusted to 2.5 by adding dilute H2SO4. The conditions was determined by treating the extractive free wood meal with for the Ep stage were: 70 °C, 60 min, 10% pulp consistency, 2% NaClO2 solution Browining (1976). The pH of the solution was NaOH and 0.2% H2O2. The conditions for the D1 stage were: 3.5 maintained at 4 by adding a CH3COOH–CH3COONa buffer and the end pH, the ClO2 charge in the D1 stage was one half of that in a-cellulose content was determined by treating the holocellulose the Do stage. The brightness and viscosity (T230 om99) of the sample with 17.5% NaOH (T203 om93). bleached pulp were determined in accordance with Tappi Test Methods. 2.2. Pulping 3. Results and discussion The kraft pulping was carried out in a thermostatically con- trolled electrically heated digester. The capacity of the digester 3.1. Chemical, morphological and physical properties was 5 l. The normal charge was 300 g of oven dried (o.d.). The pul- ping conditions were as follows: A complete wood chemical analysis was performed to deter- mine the differences in chemical composition of T. orientalis in – Active alkali was 16–20% on oven-dry (o.d) raw material as relation to sites and stem and branch. Table 1 gives a summary Na2O. of these results. The a-cellulose content of a raw material, which – Sulphidity was 25% (for kraft process). is directly correlated with pulp yield, varied significantly among – AQ was 0.1 on od raw materials (soda-AQ process). these sites. The a-cellulose content varied significantly among – Cooking time was 120 min at maximum temperature (170 °C). these sites. The highest content of a-cellulose (45%) was observed Ninety minutes were required to raise the maximum tempera- in stem from Dhaka and Rajbari, while the lowest content of a-cel- ture (170 °C) from a room temperature. lulose (41%) was observed in branch from Dhaka region. Similar – Liquor to wood ratio was 4. differences of T. orientalis branch and stem from Taiwan were Table 1 Chemical, physical and morphological properties of stem and branch of T. orientalis from different sites. Dhaka Gaybandha Rajbari Stem Branch Stem Branch Stem Branch Extractives, % Acetone 0.89 ± 0.02 1.52 ± 0.05 0.88 ± 0.03 0.97 ± 0.03 0.81 ± 0.04 1.7 ± 0.05 Cold water 2.4 ± 0.3 4.1 ± 0.3 2.3 ± 0.2 3.2 ± 0.3 3.2 ± 0.4 4.1 ± 0.4 Hot water 4.9 ± 0.3 5.3 ± 0.5 4.3 ± 0.4 5.5 ± 0.5 5.7 ± 0.5 6.0 ± 0.6 1% Alkali 21.4 ± 0.9 26.8 ± 1.1 24.6 ± 1.0 25.0 ± 1.2 22.8 ± 0.9 26.9 ± 1.2 Lignin, % Klason 24.1 ± 1.1 25.1 ± 1.2 24.0 ± 1.2 24.5 ± 1.1 23.6 ± 1.0 23.7 ± 1.1 Acid soluble 2.8 ± 0.2 3.7 ± 0.3 2.9 ± 0.3 3.2 ± 0.4 2.2 ± 0.3 3.2 ± 0.4 Pentosan, % 23.5 ± 1.0 22.7 ± 0.9 23.0 ± 1.0 23.6 ± 0.9 21.2 ± 0.8 23.5 ± 1.0 a-Cellulose, % 45.0 ± 1.6 41.4 ± 1.2 42.5 ± 1.3 42.0 ± 1.1 45.1 ± 1.2 43.1 ± 1.0 Ash, % 1.1 ± 0.05 0.73 ± 0.03 1.2 ± 0.02 0.9 ± 0.02 1.2 ± 0.03 0.7 ± 0.02 Density, g/cc 0.368 ± 0.03 0.330 ± 0.02 0.357 ± 0.02 0.351 ± 0.02 0.380 ± 0.03 0.364 ± 0.04 Fiber length, mm 1.34 ± 0.2 1.0 ± 0.06 0.89 ± 0.04 0.63 ± 0.04 0.83 ± 0.04 0.78 ± 0.03 Fiber diameter, lm 24.5 ± 1.0 23.5 ± 0.8 20.1 ± 0.8 19.4 ± 0.8 22.0 ± 0.9 20.5 ± 0.9 1894 M.S.