The Impact of Kappa Number Composition on Eucalyptus Kraft Pulp Bleachability

Consumption of chemicals during ECF bleaching of kraft pulp correlates reasonably well with kappa number, which measures with KMnO4 the total amount of oxidizable material in the pulp. However, the method does not distinguish between the oxidizable material in residual lignin and other structures susceptible to oxidation, such as hexenuronic acids (HexAs), extractives and carbonyl groups in the pulp. In this study an attempt is made to separate the main contributors to the kappa number in oxygen delignified eucalyptus Kraft pulps and evaluate how these fractions behave during ECF bleaching using chlorine dioxide as the sole oxidant (DEDD sequence). Residual lignin and HexAs proved to be the main fractions contributing to the kappa number and chlorine dioxide consumption in ECF bleaching. Pulp bleachability with chlorine dioxide increases with increasing HexAs content of the pulp but chlorine dioxide per se does not react with HexAs. Reduction of pulp with sodium borohydride under conditions for removing carbonyl groups has no impact on bleachability. No correlation was found between the pulp of the extractive content and pulp bleachability. The removal of HexAs prior to ECF bleaching significantly decreases the formation of chlorinated organics in the pulp (OX) and filtrates (AOX) as well as of oxalic acids in the filtrates.