Pulp production from banana stem. / Produção de polpa celulósica a partir de engaço de bananeira.

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2001

RESUMO

The banana stem, grain stalk that supports the banana fruits, is normally discarded after the fruit harvesting, either in the packing house or in the delivering centers, where it is considered a residue due to the great volume generated. For this reason and for being a fibrous material, stem was evaluated for pulp production. The stem in natura presents 93 % of humidity and parenchymatic cells in abundance; in terms of chemical composition the stem presents 7,4% of lignin, 47,0 % of total extractives and 45,6% of holocelullose. In this research, the performance of the stem as raw material for pulp production was evaluated, using the CaO as an alkali source. Washing and aqueous pre-extraction (100 ºC and 100 minutes) were considered as a pre-process in order to reduce the amount of extractives on the banana stem bagasse; the original bagasse and the materials obtained after the pre-processes were submitted to the CaO pulping with 8, 10, 12 and 14 % of CaO, at 120 ºC temperature during 120 minutes in rotating digester. For comparison, a soda cooking was carried out, under the same conditions using 12% of NaOH as alkaline charge. The results showed that the aplication of washing and aqueous pre-extraction caused a reduction of about 40% in the initial mass of bagasse. Considering the pulping conditions and also the chemical composition of the banana stem bagasse the pre-process evaluated did not show a significant effect on the cooking process itself. For the banana stem pulping, a CaO process can be considered a technical alternative for pulp production, with delignification rates similar to the NaOH process.

ASSUNTO(S)

polpação polpa de celulose pulping resíduo agrícola. banana stem agricola residue pulp engaço de bananeira

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