The Effect of Sodium Borohydride on Alkaline Sulfite-Anthraquinone Pulping of Pine (Pinus pinea) Wood

The improvements of adding sodium borohyride to the alkali sulfite-anthraquninone (AS-AQ) pulping process on properties of pulp and paper sheets was investigated. These properties were compared to those of the AS-AQ and the ethanol addition to AS-AQ (ASAE) pulping processes. The screened yield increased with alkali sulfite-antraquinone-sodium borohyride (ASAB) pulping process and kappa number decreased with respect to the AS-AQ process. Tensile and burst index of paper sheets improved with the ASAB pulping process, and the tear index for the ASAB pulping process was slightly decreased compared to that of the AS-AQ and ASAE pulping processes. It was determined that whiteness and brightness of papersheets decreased by adding sodium borohyride to the AS-AQ pulping process, whereas the opacity of papersheets did not change clearly compared to AS-AQ and ASAE pulping processes.