The effect of reaction wood on the properties of eucalyptus kraft pulp - Part II

The fibers of Eucalyptus wood have characteristics relevant to the Brazilian pulp industry in the production of tissue papers, printing and writing papers, and more recently paper for packaging. The chemical composition and morphology of the fibers of reaction wood are distinct from normal fibers, and can influence both the pulping parameters and the paper properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of bleached Eucalyptus Kraft pulp, from reaction wood, on paper production. For that, the physicalmechanical and optical properties of bleached eucalyptus pulps produced from trees with straight stem and inclined stem, normal and reaction wood, respectively, were analyzed. The reaction pulp presented physical, mechanical and optical properties superior to the normal pulp, with the exception of tear resistance and apparent specific volume. As such, the reaction pulp obtained higher potential for paper production than the normal pulp. For sanitary purposes, the reaction pulp achieved good water absorption results and also reduced the energy consumption during refining, despite a slight decrease in the tensile and tear index. For the production of printing and writing papers, the reaction pulp had better performance in the optical mechanical resistance properties, with the exception of tear resistance.