Hindawi Publishing Corporation Advances in Materials Science and Engineering Volume 2016, Article ID 8915362, 11 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/8915362 Research Article Influence of Soda Pulping Variables on Properties of Pineapple (Ananas comosus Merr.) Leaf Pulp and Paper Studied by Face-Centered Composite Experimental Design Jantharat Wutisatwongkul,1 Nandh Thavarungkul,1 Jirawan Tiansuwan,2 and Preecha Termsuksawad1 1 Integrated Product Design and Manufacturing Program, Division of Materials Technology, School of Energy, Environment and Materials, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, 126 Pracha Uthit Road, Bang Mod, Thung Khru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand 2Division of Thermal Technology, School of Energy, Environment and Materials, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, 126PrachaUthitRoad,BangMod,ThungKhru,Bangkok10140,Thailand Correspondence should be addressed to Jantharat Wutisatwongkul;
[email protected] Received 23 November 2015; Accepted 14 March 2016 Academic Editor: Belal F. Yousif Copyright © 2016 Jantharat Wutisatwongkul et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Face-centered composite design (FCC) was used to study the effect of pulping variables: soda concentration (4-5 wt%), temperature ∘ (90–130 C), and pulping time (20–60 min) on the properties of pineapple leaf pulp and paper employing soda pulping. Studied pulp responses were screened yield and lignin content (kappa number). Paper properties, which include tensile index, burst index, and tear index, were also investigated. Effects of the pulping variables on the properties were statistically analyzed using Minitab 16. ∘ The optimum conditions to obtain the maximum tensile index were soda concentration of 4 wt%, pulping temperature of105 C, and pulping time of 20 min.