Prehydrolysis kraft pulping of jute cutting and caddis mixture for rayon production

Jute cutting, jute caddis, and cutting-caddis mixtures were prehydrolyzed by varying time and temperature to get about 90% prehydrolyzed yield. At the conditions of 170 degrees C for 60 min of prehydrolysis, the yield for 100% jute cutting was 76.3%, while the same for jute caddis was only 67.9%. But with prehydrolysis at 150 degrees C for 60 min, the yield was 90% for jute cutting, where 49.94% of original pentosan was dissolved and prehydrolysis of jute caddis at 140 degrees C in 60 min yielded 86.4% solid residue. Jute cutting-caddis mixed prehydrolysis was done at 140 degrees C for 30 min and yielded 92% solid residue for 50: 50 cutting-caddis mixtures, where pentosan dissolution was only 29%. Prehydrolyzed jute cutting, jute caddis, and cutting-caddis mixtures were subsequently kraft cooked. Pulp yield was only 40.9% for 100% jute cutting prehydrolyzed at 170 degrees C for 60 min, which was 10.9% lower than the prehydrolysis at 140 degrees C. For jute cutting-caddis mixed prehydrolysis at 140 degrees C for 45 min followed by kraft cooking, pulp yield decreased by 3.3% from the 100% cutting to 50% caddis in the mixture, but 75% caddis in the mixture decreased pulp yield by 6.7%. The kappa number 50: 50 cutting-caddis mixture was only 11.3. Pulp bleachability improved with increasing jute cutting proportion in the cutting-caddis mixture pulp. Application: This research demonstrates that jute cutting-caddis mixed pulp can be used in rayon production.