Parameter Optimization for Pulp from Rice Straw and used Paper with a Box-Behnken Design

Abstract

In pulping process, cooking time, ethanol concentration and temperature were reported to influence pulp yield, cellulose content and acid-insoluble lignin content. In this study, the effects of the three parameters on the optimum pulp yield, cellulose content and acid-insoluble lignin content were further examined with the Box-Behnken design. This optimization aimed to discover the optimal condition for a pulping process using straw and recycled paper with ethanol concentrations of 30, 45 and 60%. As paper material, the biomass was processed with an organosolv process using ethanol as the cooking liquid to benefit almost all constituent components to obtain pulp. A quadratic model was used to assess the obtained research data. The results showed that the optimal condition comprised a cooking time of 100 min, an ethanol concentration of 60% and a temperature of 90 °C. The condition resulted in 57.59% cellulose content, 91.46% pulp yield and 41.28% acid-insoluble lignin content.