This chapter explores the potentials of the alkaline peroxide pre-treated oil palm vascular bundle (oil palm waste) in the industrial production of pulp, paper and other cellulosic products like microcrystalline cellulose. Management of this escalating waste is a herculean task and creates environmental hazards hence urgent action is needed to create value out of these waste biomass. The pulp and paper industry being a large consumer of lignocellulose materials preferred the use of coniferous and deciduous trees for pulp production and papermaking because their cellulose fibres in the pulp make durable paper. In addition to this, the global population explosion and the economic development has resulted in the significant increase in demand for paper. With improvements in pulp processing technology through the use of environmental benign technology like alkaline peroxide pre-treatment it has been considered as suitable for paper pulp and other cellulose based products such as microcrystalline cellulose. Characterization of the alkaline peroxide pre-treated oil palm vascular bundles using the scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transmission infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses confirm the micro-sized cellulose fibres. Use of these lignocellulosic materials can reduce the burden on the forest while supporting the natural biodiversity.
Part of the book: Palm Oil
This chapter explores the characteristic potentials of alkaline sulfite anthraquinone and methanol (ASAM) pulping of bamboo culms (Gigantochloa scortechinii) in the industrial production of pulp and paper for packaging. The biometric characterization results of the bamboo culms show that bamboo has fiber length of 1980–4000 μm, Runkel ratio of 0.86, and flexibility ratio of 50.19, while the chemical compositions of the bamboo contain 47.67% cellulose, 68.33% holocellulose, 26% lignin, and 3.69% solvent extractive, which give good paper quality fiber and also falls within the range of wood from softwoods species. The study revealed that the optimum ASAM pulping parameters was at 16% NaOH and 90 min cooking time, resulting in Kappa number of 14.17 and pulp yield of 49.06%, while the paper tensile index of 20.86 Nm/g, tear index of 22.64 mN.m2/g, and brightness of 39.32% were obtained. The biometric and chemical characterizations of the ASAM pulped bamboo have shown that ASAM pulped bamboo produces high-quality pulp and paper suitable for packaging and printing paper. Hence, the use of bamboo materials can reduce the burden on the forest, due to the increasing demand for paper and paper products, while supporting the natural biodiversity.
Part of the book: Bamboo