"Moringa oleifera (drumstick) wood was evaluated in terms of its chemical composition, morphological features, Kraft pulping behavior, ECF bleaching and mechanical strength properties – important parameters for pulp and paper making – in comparison with Acacia mangium. Moringa oleifera was found to have the following composition: holocellulose 65.5%, lignin 20.5%, pentosan 11.6%, -cellulose 40.5% and extractives content of 5.15%, which made it comparable with the Acacia mangium wood sample. The alkali prehydrolysis of Moringa oleifera was carried out using 2% NaOH at 150 °C. The prehydrolysis liquor (PHL) was found to contain 50.9 mg/kg of calcium, 5140 mg/kg of potassium and 312 mg/kg of iron content. The prehydrolysis step was followed by Kraft pulping in order to obtain chemical grade pulp of kappa number 15-16 under optimized conditions. The Moringa oleifera pulp was bleached using the DEpD bleaching sequence to reach 85% brightness (ISO). The bleached pulp had an average fiber length of 1.21 mm, which was higher than that of Acacia mangium – 0.782 mm. The mechanical strength properties of the unbleached and bleached pulps, such as tear, tensile and burst indices, were also determined to show their suitability for pulp and paper production."

More than 70 % bleached chemical pulp is produced in India through elemental chlorine-free bleaching in which chlorine-based compounds like chlorine dioxide is a dominant chemical which generates chlorinated organic toxins harmful to the environment. Present studies demonstrate short sequence of bleaching combined with acid treatment, followed by pressurized oxygen delignification. It was found that efficiency of oxygen improved by adding hydrogen peroxide as an additive in oxygen delignification with subsequent treatment with ozone or chlorine dioxide as bleaching agents. It was observed that by using additive in ODL process, pulp can achieve 70±1 (%ISO) brightness. Reduction attains in kappa number 65–70 % as compared to 45–50 % in control oxygen delignification stage. Through AOpZ and AOpD bleaching sequences, full brightness achieved 84–85 (%ISO) without considerable loss in mechanical strength properties compared to DEpD sequence. A potential reduction in COD, color, and AOX was 28, 53.3, and 88 % respectively were observed in AOpZ short bleaching sequence compared to DEpD bleaching.