Characterization of Spruce Xylan and Its Potential for Strength Improvement

Abstract: Xylan dissolved during kraft cooking and later redeposited on fibre surfaces has been shown to give higher pulp yield and better strength properties. This is economically interesting from an industrial point of view. Many studies have been done to investigate xylan behaviour during kraft cooking, to discover the xylan-cellulose attachment mechanism, to find the optimal xylan retention or adsorption process, and to discover relations between xylan structure and strength enhancement. Most of them have concentrated on hardwood xylan. However, softwoods are the major raw materials for the pulp industries in the northern hemisphere. Earlier studies have shown that the xylan characteristics, rather than simply the amount of xylan, influence the strength-enhancing effect of xylan. To obtain optimal utilization of spruce xylan as a strength enhancer, it is essential to know what the beneficial xylan characteristics are and how cooking conditions affect the characteristics.In this study, kraft cooking of spruce chips was performed under varied cooking conditions and the xylan in the black liquor was precipitated and characterized. It was found that dissolved spruce xylan had a much higher amount of bound lignin compared to previous studies on xylan dissolved from hardwoods. Increased cooking temperature increased the dissolution rate of xylan. The lower alkali charge and higher ionic strength of the cooking liquor resulted in a lower amount of dissolved xylan. Apart from the effect of the amount, cooking conditions also affected substitution of dissolved xylan. Higher temperature and higher ionic strength led to a lower amount of MeGlcA, while the MeGlcA amount of dissolved xylan was preserved during lower alkali cooking.By distinguishing how different cooking conditions affect the characteristics of the xylan dissolved in the black liquor, xylans with different structures were designed to study their effects on pulp strength, that is, the addition of black liquors with certain known xylan characteristics in the kraft cooking process. It was found that the best effect of xylan on tensile strength occurred when the xylan penetrated some distance into the subsurface of the fibre wall. Both low molecular weight and high degree of substitution lowered the tendency of xylan to aggregate, which enabled the dissolved xylan to penetrate some distance into the exposed fibre surface. Upon beating, this xylan was exposed, thus facilitating improvement of fibre-fibre joint formation, which led to increased tensile strength.