BLEACHING OF BAGASSE PULP BY ELECTROCHEMICAL PROCESS

Unbleached bagasse pulps were successfully bleached by the electrochemical process. Bleaching was carried out in one single stage (in-silu) by using NaCl solution and DC electricity. The electrochemical reactor is composed of a horizontal graphite anode and a parallel stainless screen cathode. Chemical, chemimechanical and mechanical bagasse pulps were bleached to a relatively high brightness. The rate of electrochemical bleaching was found to increase with increasing current density and salt concentration. The brightness of the chemimechanical bagasse pulp bleached by electrochemical technique was found to compare favourably with that bleached with lignin-preserving agents.