Characteristics of the Kraft Pulp Extracted from Black-Wattle Species in Papermaking

ABSTRACT Were evaluated the characteristics of bleached (w/b) and unbleached (u/b) Kraft pulp at different refining times of the species acacia mearnsii De Wild. The chemical composition showed lower concentrations of insoluble lignin acid, total extractives and solubility in NaOH to 1%. The raw yield of 47.62% was regular due to the fiber characteristics. The Kappa was 4.5 (w/b) and 12.3 (u/b), both considered low. The drainability index 26oSR with T30’ refining (w/b) was near to ideal. The highest indexes in the mechanical properties were: tensile with 66.17N.m/g in refining T30’ (u/b); tear with 12.94mN.m2/g in refining T15’(w/b); burst with 5.21KPa.m2/g in refining T30’(w/b) and the whiteness optical properties of 81.8% in refining T0 (w/b) and opacity of 97.1% in refining (u/b).With these characteristic, the species has industry potential for the manufacturing of sanitary “tissue”, decorative, among others papers.