Formic acid-peroxyformic acid pulping of Aspen wood: An optimization study

Populus tremula*Populus tremuloides wood samples were subjected to three-st age pulping in formic acid media with hydrogen peroxide addition, according to the Miler process. By means of three incomplete, second-order, centered , factorial designs, the effects of selected operational variables on the c omposition and technical properties of pulps were assessed for optimization purposes. Under the best conditions assayed, a pulp with 2.30 % lignin, 87 .0 % cellulose and 3.25 % xylan was obtained at 53.2 % pulp yield. Good SCA N viscosity (826 ml/g), reduced Kappa number (9.0) and satisfactory alkalin e resistance (R-10 = 89.0; R-18 = 91.0) proved the potentiality of the sele cted pulp for dissolving pulp production.