Abstract
This study deals with optimizing pulping conditions of the banana stem to substitute softwood pulp in writing and printing paper. Scanning micrograph and chemical composition of banana stem indicate that banana fibers are flat, flexible, long (2.24 mm) and the raw banana is characterized with high cellulose (65%) and low lignin (13.5%)contents. The banana stem was pulped using Kraft process (8.5 % alkali as Na2O and 17% sulfidity cooked at 105oC for 3 hr. Detail mechanism of the pulping parameters was discussed. The obtained pulps were characterized with respect to yield (64%) and Kappa number (35%). Compared to imported softwood pulp, all strength properties and opacity are high. This is attributed to the long banana fibers and the high cellulose content. The effect of these two parameters on tensile, burst, and tear, strengths was discussed. High quality of writing and printing paper was obtained by a furnish blend ratio of 20%-80%, banana stem pulp, and commercial bagasse pulp respectively.
Keywords: Banana Stem, Fiber length, Sulfate pulp, writing and printing papers.