Evaluation of pulp and paper making characteristics of rice stem fibers prepared by twin-screw extruder pulping

Twin-screw extrusion pulping is a new approach to the manufacture of pulp for paper production, designed for non-wood feedstocks. In this research, the production of pulp from rice stem with a newly fabricated twin-screw extruder was investigated. Extrusion pulping of rice stem was conducted following a central composite design using a two-level factorial plan involving three process variables (pretreatment NaOH concentration: 0.4, 0.8, 1.2%; extrusion temperature: 40, 60, 80 o C; and extruder rotational speed: 55, 70, 85 rpm). Responses of pulp and handsheets properties to the process variables were analyzed using statistical software (MINITAB 15). As the results show, pulping of rice stem fiber can be done at a relatively short pretreatment time about 4 hours and a low NaOH concentration about 0.8% by twin-screw extruder with limit extrusion temperature of about 80 o C and extruder rotational speed about 85 rpm. The effect of pretreatment solvent, NaOH, is greatly enhanced by increases in the extrusion temperature. Analysis of the results revealed that this process has suitable potential to be used to obtain a pulp with yields approximately equivalent to neutral sulfite semichemical pulping at fixed kappa number, which is applicable for fluting paper and linerboard production.