The effect of black liquor exchange in the kraft cook on the tensile properties of Eucalyptus urograndis kraft pulp

Xylan addition to kraft cooking has been shown to increase the tensile strength of the pulp but may also lead to a densification of the sheet. The main objective of this study was to correlate the molecular properties of black liquor xylan with its ability to increase tensile strength at a given sheet density. Black liquors were obtained from kraft cooks performed at different cooking temperatures and cooking times, which resulted in dissolved xylan with different degrees of substitution of uronic acids, different molecular weights, and connected to different amounts of lignin. These black liquors were added to the later part of subsequent kraft cooks. The results show that the degree of substitution of the black liquor xylan is of great importance when using it as an additive to the kraft cook in order to enhance pulp strength. Both, improved and deteriorated tensile strengths at given sheet densities were seen as a result of the black liquor exchange, depending on the charge of the added xylan. This illustrates that exchanging black liquor is an attractive tool in order to improve the physical properties of the produced paper if it is done wisely, but may cause impairments if the exchange is conducted in an incorrect manner. Furthermore, novel analytical tools made it possible to detect much higher uronic acid contents in xylan than previously reported.