A preliminary investigation of nigerian Gmelina arborea and Bambusa vulgaris for pulp and paper production

Abstract

Two common Nigerian-grown biomasses, gmelina (Gmelina arborea) and bamboo (Bambusaa vulgaris) have been pulped and their fibre characteristics and paper properties examined. The results of their chemical compositions showed some fair similarities. The amount of glucose in the pulps of both biomasses indicated their suitability as lignocellulosic materials for pulping. Their pulp yield ranged between 48,0-54,1%, which fell within the acceptable range for good pulpwoods. The analysis of their fibre dimensions revealed that bamboo fibre has a wider fibre length distribution and higher fine length content. Gmelina and bamboo had weighted mean fibre lengths of 0,93 and 2,07 mm and mean fibre widths of 24,1 and 16,9 µm, respectively. The Runkel ratios of the samples were 0,4 (gmelina) and 0,9 (bamboo): this is indicative of their suitability for paper making. Mechanical properties of handsheets obtained from gmelina compared fairly well with South African pulpwoods (Eucalyptus grandis and Pinus paluta). Bamboo exhibited better tear index values than these woods but with lower sheet density and tensile index. These properties were significantly improved in handsheets obtained from blends of gmelina and bamboo, raising the prospect of producing paper from blends of both raw materials in Nigeria.

Fibre Characteristics and Strength Properties of Nigerian Pineapple Leaf (Ananas cosmosus), Banana Peduncle and Banana Leaf (Musa sapientum) – Potential Green Resources for Pulp and Paper Production

“…Coupled with its fibre diameter, banana peduncle has the highest lumen width, 11.56 µm, out of the three agricultural wastes studied. This value is higher than the range (2.47 -4.49 µm) reported for some indigenous hardwood species in the tropical rainforest ecosystem [46]; close to 14.8 µm for Gerdenia ternifolia [47]; lower than 17.55 µm for Rhizohpara harrisoni [48] and 16.9 µm for Bambusa vulgaris [49]. Lumen width of pineapple leaf is comparable to range (5.37 -16.40 µm) reported for bast, core and whole stalk of Hibiscus Cannabinus [50].…”

Fiber morphological characteristics of bamboo Ferrocabamus strictus culms from different geographical distribution regions

“…2022;Yusuf et al 2018). The proportion of medium ber and long ber was large in the middle portion of F. strictus culms, this was consistent with the conclusion that most bamboo species have the best ber morphology in the middle bamboo culm (Cao, 2022;Mayowa et al 2016), the ber slenderness ratio of F. strictus culm was close to that of Melocalamus compacti orus, Bambusa blumeana, Schizostachyum funghomii and Bambusa vulgaris (Wang, et al, 2008), and the ber length, width, wall thickness and runkel ratio were smaller, but the lumen diameter was larger. The larger the ber length, the greater the tear degree of the paper, and the smaller the runkel ratio improves the interweaving performance of the ber, the F. strictus of culms can be a high-quality papermaking raw material.…”

Encapsulation of precipitated calcium carbonate fillers using carboxymethyl cellulose /polyaluminium chloride: preparation and its influence on mechanical and optical properties of paper

“…Tear strength of paper depends on the fiber strength, which is a property of instinct nature of fiber as well as fiber length and flexibility (Casey 1981, Marzbani et al 2016, Akeem-Azeez et al 2016. The effect of different addition levels of CMC/PAC modified PCC, unmodified PCC and PCC/CPAM on tear strength are shown in Figure 4.…”