Documentwe

Faculty of Technology and Science
Chemical Engineering
Gerd Wne
Fibre surface properties

of kraft pulp
The influence of wood raw material, bleaching and storage
Karlstad University Studies

2009:29
Gerd Wne

of kraft pulp
The influence of wood raw material, bleaching and storage

2009:29
Gerd Wne. Fibre surface properties of kraft pulp - The influence of wood raw material,
bleaching and storage
Licentiate thesis
Karlstad University Studies 2009:29
ISSN 1403-8099
ISBN 978-91-7063-252-5
The Author
Distribution:
Faculty of Technology and Science
Chemical Engineering
SE-651 88 Karlstad
+46 54 700 10 00
www.kau.se
Printed at: Universitetstryckeriet, Karlstad 2009
Abstract
The aim of this thesis was to study the fibre surface properties of Birch
(Betula ssp.), Eucalyptus (E. urograndis and E. globulus) and Spruce (Picea
Abies) pulps bleached using two different methods: ECF (Elementary
Chlorine Free) and TCF (Totally Chlorine Free). The hardwood pulps were
subjected to a hot acidic stage prior to ECF bleaching in order to remove
hexenuronic acid. The effect of prolonged storage (ageing) on the fibre
surface properties was studied for all of the pulps.
The characteristics of the fibre surfaces were determined by measuring the
dynamic contact angle of single fibres (DCA) and by using Electron
Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) and Time of Flight Secondary
Ion Mass Spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS). The correlation between the fibre
surface properties and the sizing efficiency of the hardwood pulps were
evaluated by measuring the amount of alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) needed to
reach a certain water absorption level(measured as Cobb60).
The birch pulp was more hydrophilic than the eucalyptus pulps, thus
requiring more AKD to reach a certain water absorption value, and also had
a lower DCA. The introduction of a hot acidic stage (A stage) in the ECF
bleaching sequence applied to the hardwood pulps (i.e. A/D(EP)DD versus
D(EP)DD) lowered, as expected, the total fibre charge due to the removal of
hexenuronic acids groups (HexA). According to the DCA measurements all
of the pulps became more hydrophilic after the A/D(EP)DD bleaching than
after the D(EP)DD bleaching sequence. The sizing ability of the pulps,
measured as the AKD demand to a certain Cobb60 value, showed that the
AKD demand was more or less the same for the eucalyptus pulps regardless
of the bleaching sequence used. The birch pulp, on the other hand, required
somewhat less AKD in the A/D(EP)DD sequence than in the D(EP)DD.
The AKD demand to a certain Cobb60 value decreased further for the
bleached birch and E. globulus pulps after ageing due to an increase in the
fibre surface hydrophobicity. ESCA analysis revealed an increase of surface
extractives on the pulps after ageing, which was also supported by ToFSIMS analysis. It was concluded that there was an increase in fatty acids,
fatty acid salts and possibly even sterols and glycerides on the fibre surfaces
due to ageing. A migration of these components from the interior of the fibre
wall to the fibre surface during ageing was verified in this study.
The TCF and ECF bleached softwood pulps also showed differences in their
fibre surface properties that were tangible and thereby measurable. The
dynamic contact angle was highest for the TCF bleached softwood fibres, i.e.
these were more hydrophobic. Although changes caused by ageing were
much more pronounced for the ECF fibres, all pulps became more
hydrophobic upon ageing.
The hydrophobicity of pulp fibres can be determined using DCA, which is a

rather rapid and economically viable analysis. Using this information, a
paper/board mill can base its sizing strategy on scientific findings.
The ageing effects seen on the fibre surfaces in the form of the migration of
extractives might be an important parameter from an industrial point of view,
especially when pulps are stored and/or transported for a long time period.
Nowadays it is quite common for pulps to be shipped around the world and
subjected to warm and humid conditions. It is therefore probable that the
properties of the pulp change in such a way that the papermaking process
requires adjustment.
Sammanfattning
Syftet med detta licentiat arbete har varit att studera hur fiberytor pverkas
av olika blekningsfrfarande och att underska skillnader mellan olika
vedslag; bjrk (Betula sub species), eukalyptus (E. urograndis och E.
globulus) och gran (Picea Abies). Bde ECF (Elementary Chlorine Free) och
TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) blekning har anvnts i detta arbete. Effekten p
fiberytan av att behandla bjrk- och eukalyptusmassorna med ett varmt surt
steg (A steg) fre ECF blekning; med avsikten att ta bort hexenuronsyror
(HexA), har studerats. Frndringen av fiberns ytegenskaper efter lng
lagringstid (ldringseffekt) har ocks analyserats och utvrderats.
Fiberns ytegenskaper studerades med hjlp av kontaktvinkelmtning p
enstaka fibrer i vatten, Dynamic Contact Angel (DCA), med Electron
Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) samt med Time of Flight
Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS). Korrelation mellan fiberns
ytegenskaper och massans limbarhet (vattenabsorptionfrmga) undersktes
p lvvedsmassorna genom att mta hur mycket alkyl keten dimer (AKD)
som krvdes fr att n ett visst Cobb60 vrde.
Bjrkmassan var mer hydrofil n eukalyptusmassan och behvde mer AKD
fr att n en viss vattenabsorptions niv eller vattenresistens och dessa fibrer
hade ocks en lgre kontaktvinkel jmfrt med eukalyptusmassorna.
Genom att behandla alla lvmassor med ett A steg i brjan av en ECF
sekvens, reducerades mngden hexenuronsyror (HexA) i massan och den
totala fiberladdningen sjnk. Massorna blev mer hydrofila vid blekning med
sekvensen A/D(EP)DD vilket uppmttes med DCA, d v s fibrernas
kontaktvinkel blev lgre. AKD behovet till ett visst Cobb60 vrde sjnk ngot
fr bjrkmassan blekt med sekvensen A/D(EP)DD men var ofrndrat fr
eukalyptusmassorna oavsett bleksekvens.
Efter ldring/lagring krvdes mindre mngd AKD fr att n ett visst Cobb60
vrde fr lvmassorna till fljd av att fiberytorna hade blivit mer hydrofoba.
ESCA visade att detta frmodligen berodde p en kning av mngden
extraktivmnen (extraherbart material) p fiberytan, vilket verifierades med
ToF-SIMS. Den hgre hydrofobiciteten berodde p en kning av fettsyror,
salter av fettsyror och ev. ocks steroler och glycerider p fiberytan. En
migration av dessa komponenter frn bulken till fiberytan under ldringen
tros vara frklaringen.
Mtbara skillnader i fiberytans egenskaper har ocks noterats p ECF och
TCF blekta barrmassor. Kontaktvinkeln fr enstaka fibrer i vatten var hgre
fr TCF blekt massa dvs de var mer hydrofoba. Vid ldring av massorna var
frndringen dock strre hos ECF massan. Bde ECF och TCF massorna
blev mer hydrofoba efter ldring.
DCA mtning r en relativt snabb och billig analysmetod och kan anvndas
fr att mta hydrofobicitet hos en massa/fibrer. En frndring av
hydrofobiciteten hos massan till fljd av ldring kan mtas p detta stt och
en justering av limningsfrfarandet i pappersbruket kan predikteras.
Den ldringseffekt som observerats i dessa studier dr extraktivmnen
migrerar till fiberytan kan vara en viktig parameter sett ur ett industriellt
perspektiv. Massor transporteras idag lnga strckor och lagras ibland
ganska lnge under varma fuktiga frhllanden, vilket kan frndra massans
egenskaper och pverka efterfljande pappers- och kartongtillverkning.
List of Papers
This thesis is a summary of the papers listed below. The papers are appended
at the end of the thesis and reprinted with the kind permission of the
publisher.
I
Wne, G and Germgrd, U.: Aspects on the AKD demand of hardwood

kraft pulps before and after ageing. Appita Journal 62(2): 123-129
(2009).
II
Wne, G and Germgrd, U.: Fibre surface properties of bleached

hardwood Kraft Pulps Influence of an A-stage. Submitted to Paperi ja
Puu 2009.
III
Wne, G., Basta, J., Jrnstrm, L. and Germgrd, U.: A comparison of

the surface properties of ECF and TCF bleached softwood kraft pulp.
Appita Journal 60(5): 396 (2007).
My contribution to the appended papers:

Paper I
Paper II
Paper III
50% of the analytical work, all data analyses and most of the
writing.
writing.
writing.
Abbreviations
A
A/D
AKD
D
DCA
E
EA
EP
ECF
EDTA
EOP
ESCA
HexA
HPAE-PAD
O
P
Q
T
TCF
ToF-SIMS
Acid stage
Acid stage in combination with a chlorine dioxide stage
with no washing between the stages
Alkylketen dimer
Chlorine dioxide stage
Dynamic contact angle
Extraction stage (NaOH)
Effective alkali
Extraction stage enhanced with hydrogen peroxide
Elemental chlorine free
Ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid
Extracting stage enhanced with oxygen and hydrogen
peroxide
Electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis
Hexenuronic acid
High performance anion exchange chromatography with
pulsed amperometric detection
Oxygen stage
Hydrogen peroxide stage
Chelating agent stage (e.g. EDTA)
Peracetic acid stage
Totally chlorine free
Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy
Table of Contents
Objectives of the study ...............................................................................................8

Introduction.................................................................................................................9
The composition of wood .................................................................................................. 9
The ultrastructure of wood cells ........................................................................................ 9
Kraft cooking process ...................................................................................................... 10
The formation of hexenuronic acid.................................................................................. 12
Bleaching ......................................................................................................................... 13
Ageing.............................................................................................................................. 15
Internal sizing/water absorption....................................................................................... 16
Experimental.............................................................................................................17
Characteristics of unbleached pulp .................................................................................. 17
Bleaching procedures....................................................................................................... 17
Storage and ageing........................................................................................................... 19
Pulp analyses and methods .............................................................................................. 19
Dynamic contact angle measurement: DCA ............................................................... 20
Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis: ESCA................................................ 21
Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy: ToF-SIMS.................................. 22
Results & Discussion ................................................................................................23

Hardwood pulps............................................................................................................... 23
Sizing ability and hydrophobicity ............................................................................... 23
The effects of an acidic stage in the bleaching sequence ............................................ 26
The effects of ageing on hardwood pulps.................................................................... 29
The components of fibre surfaces................................................................................ 31
Softwood.......................................................................................................................... 34
The effects of ageing on softwood pulps..................................................................... 36
Conclusions...............................................................................................................37
Future studies............................................................................................................38
Acknowledgements...................................................................................................39
References.................................................................................................................40
Objectives of the study

The demand for pulp of improved quality has increased in the past few
decades due to a greater interest in tailor-made products with stringent
quality specifications. Traditional softwood and birch pulps in the Nordic
countries are, to an increasing extent, being replaced by, or used in
combination with, pulps based on fast growing trees. The latter are produced
in regions far away from the customers, resulting in long transportation
times. They may also be stored for longer periods of time before being used
by the customers, i.e. the paper/board mills.
The main objective of this study was to investigate the differences in fibre
surface properties of pulps produced from different wood raw material and
bleached using different methods. Two bleaching techniques, ECF and TCF,
were used in this work. Since it is well known that the properties of fibres
change over time, another objective has been to study the changes in the
bleached fibre surface properties after several months of storage.
Knowledge regarding possible changes at the fibre level due to the coverage
of extractives and lignin on the fibre surface can be used to improve the
ageing stability as well as to predict and/or explain the different behaviours
of these pulps in the paper and board making processes.
Introduction
Almost all species of wood can be used for making pulp and paper of
different grades today. Those most commonly used in the Nordic countries
are spruce, pine, birch and, to some extent, aspen. In the southern
hemisphere, on the other hand, different kinds of eucalyptus, mixed tropical
hardwoods, acacia and various species of pine are most frequently used. The
eucalyptus trees used in the production of pulp are usually grown in
plantations. The pulps used in this thesis were produced from Nordic spruce,
Nordic birch and two species of eucalyptus, the latter obtained from Portugal
and Brazil.
The composition of wood
Wood consists mainly of three polymers: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
The distribution of these components is not uniform within the cell wall and
also varies between different parts of the tree. The wood also contains
extractives and inorganic material. Table 1 shows the relative composition of
some softwood and hardwood species. The main hemicellulose component
in softwood is glucomannan whilst in hardwood it is xylan. The lignin
content of softwood is generally higher than that of hardwood; birch wood
contains more extractives and xylan than eucalyptus.
Table 1 Relative composition of the major wood components (%) (1).
Picea Abies
(spruce)
Pinus sylvestris
(pine)
Betula verrucosa
(birch)
Eucalyptus globulus
(eucalyptus)
Cellulose
Lignin
Extractives
Xylan
8.6
Glucomannan
16.3
Other
carbohyd.
3.4
41.7
27.4
1.7
40.0
27.7
3.5
8.9
16.0
3.6
41.0
22.0
3.2
27.5
2.3
2.6
51.3
21.9
1.3
19.9
1.4
3.9
These differences in the components of wood affect the pulping process and
thereby determine the process conditions required to produce pulp with the
desired properties. A high yield is one of the most important parameters
since the cost of the wood is the greatest individual expense a pulp mill has.
The effective removal of lignin, with as a low degradation of the
carbohydrates as possible in combination with a high bleachability of the
pulp, is a challenge for producers of pulp.
The ultrastructure of wood cells
A typical softwood fibre, known as a tracheid, is presented in Figure 1 (2)
which shows the various cell wall layers. The cell wall is a layered structure
around the lumen, with a middle lamella (ML) and primary wall (P) in the
outer part. The secondary cell wall (S2) accounts for the major part of the
wood material in all wood cells; it is also the most important layer in
determining the physical properties of the pulp. The function of the
secondary wall is mostly to support the wood cell, and is comprised
primarily of cellulose and lignin. Three separate layers can often be
distinguished, S1, S2 and S3, in which the cellulose fibrils differ in
orientation.
Figure 1. A typical tracheid cell wall (2).
Although the P cell wall and ML have high contents of pectin and lignin,
they also consist of cellulose, hemicellulose and extractives. It is the middle
lamella that links the wood cells together. Figure 2 shows the cell walls, the
middle lamella and the middle lamella corner (MLcc) between tracheids of
pine and between fibres of birch (2).
Figure 2. Intercellular lignin-rich middle lamella and a middle lamella cell corner between tracheids
of pine (a) and fibres of birch (b) (2).
Kraft cooking process

The kraft cooking process is the dominating process used in the production
of chemical pulps in the world today. It can be carried out either as a batch or
continuous process. The kraft cooking process can handle most species of
wood and produces pulps of high strength. The main role of the kraft cook is
10
to use the cooking chemicals to degrade and dissolve the lignin in the wood,
i.e. to delignify without hardly affecting the cellulose and hemicellulose
molecules. Figure 3, which illustrates the difference in the dissolution rates
of lignin in pine and birch during kraft cooking process, shows that the
relative dissolution rate of birch lignin is faster than that of pine. The
cooking process for softwood therefore uses tougher conditions than that of
hardwood.
100
170 C
Lignin, %
80
150 C
60
130 C
110 C
40
90 C
Pine
Birch
70 C
20
0
0
60
120
180
240
Cooking Time, min

Figure 3. The dissolution of lignin from pine and birch, respectively, during kraft cooking.
Data is based on Aurell et al. (3).
Fardim et al. (4) studied the ways in which the fibre surface properties of
eucalyptus were affected, with respect to the surface coverage of extractives
and lignin, when the effective alkali (EA) in the kraft cooking process was
increased. Figure 4 shows the share of surface area of the fibre covered by
extractives and lignin, detected by ESCA, as a function of the cooking kappa
number. The coverage of lignin on the fibre surfaces studied here decreases
continuously as the kappa number of the pulp drops, thus following the
degree of delignification. The coverage of extractives on the fibre surface, on
the other hand, increases.
11
50
Surface coverage, % area
Decrease in kappa number

40
Lignin
30
20
10
Extractives
0
10
15
20
25
Cooking Kappa number
Figure 4. Surface extractives and lignin after cooking eucalyptus pulp. Based on data from Fardim et
al. (4)
Laine et al. obtained similar results for softwood kraft pulp. The coverage of
extractives on the fibre surfaces increased as the level of EA in the cooking
process increased, due to the re-precipitation of extractives onto the fibre
surface as more extractives were solubilised (5, 6).
The formation of hexenuronic acid
In the kraft cooking process the 4-O-methyl--D-glucuronic acid on the
xylan backbone reacts with the cooking chemicals to form hexenuronic acid
(HexA). It is well known that the HexA present in the unbleached pulp
affects both the bleachability of the pulp, i.e. more bleaching chemicals are
needed to reach a certain brightness level, and the brightness stability of the
final bleached pulp. However the HexA groups remaining when the cooking
process is complete can be degraded either by hot acid treatment prior to
bleaching or in the bleaching process itself, as illustrated in Figure 5.
In the kraft cooking process
COO-
COOO
H3C
HO-
OH
O
OH
xylan chain
-CH3OH
OH
O
OH
xylan chain
Hexenuronic acid unit in xylan
H+
COOH
O
Acid treatment
+ HOOC
COOO
2-furoic acid and 2-furaldehyde
Figure 5. The formation of HexA from 4-O-methyl--D-glucuronic acid in xylan and its further
degradation during acidic treatment.
12
T = 170C
40
EA
40
30
30
20
20
10
10
0
0
20
40
60
80
0
100 120 140 160 180
Pulping Time (min)
Figure 6. HexA content and alkali concentration in

the liquor during conventional pulping of loblolly pine
(Pinus taeda). Based on data from Chai et al. (8 )
HexA content, meq/kg pulp
50
HexA
EA (g/L as Na2O)
HexA (mg/g - ODW)
50
50
100
40
80
30
60
20
40
HexA
Delignification
10
0
0
20
40
60
80
Delignification, %
Degrading the HexA after cooking is more selective than adjusting the
cooking conditions for a low content of HexA, especially in the case of
hardwood: the latter involves lowering the xylan content of the pulp, which
decreases the cooking yield. Figures 7 and 8 illustrate the formation and
degradation of HexA in the cooking process for some softwood (Pinus
tadea) and hardwood (Eucalyptus globulus) pulps, respectively. The HexA
content in the former increases initially but, due to degradation reactions,
starts to decrease as the delignification process proceeds. In the hardwood
pulp, however, the HexA content increases for a longer time whilst the
delignification process continues. However the HexA content will decrease
also for this pulp with prolonged cooking time at the expense of a lower pulp
yield (7).
20
0
100 120 140 160 180
Pulping time (min)
Figure 7. The effect of pulping time on the degree

of delignification and HexA content of E. globulus
kraft pulp. Based on data from Daniel et al. (9)
The difference in behaviour between the softwood and hardwood pulps is

probably due to the conditions used in the different pulping processes rather
than to the chemical structure of the native wood xylan
(8, 9).
Bleaching
Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleached pulp, i.e. pulp bleached with
chlorine dioxide, is the dominant grade of bleached chemical pulp currently
produced in the world, Figure 8. ECF pulp production reached over 70
million tonnes in 2005, which was almost 85% of the world market share.
Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) pulp production was still a small niche market
at less than 5% of the worlds production of bleached chemical pulp, as
shown in the figure. The line indicating other bleaching technologies refers
to bleaching with elemental chlorine and/or hypochlorite. The ECF market
share continues to grow in all pulp producing regions; this trend will
continue as the new production planned in Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Australia
and S.E. Asia will use ECF bleaching technology (10).
13
80
ECF
TCF
Other
70
Millions of tonnes
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Figure 8. Trends in the global production of bleached chemical pulp (data from www.aet.org).
The purpose of bleaching is to remove essentially all of the lignin remaining

in the pulp after cooking and thereby increase the brightness of the pulp. For
selectivity reasons, chemical pulp must be bleached in several stages; one
bleaching stage alone is not capable of removing and/or degrading all of the
chemical structures that remain in the pulp after the cooking process, at least
not without degrading the cellulose. The bleach plant normally consists of
alternating acidic and alkaline stages, thus taking advantage of the improved
solubility of oxidised lignin under proper conditions. The selectivity (i.e.
pulp yield at a given kappa number or brightness) is, of course, also
important in the bleaching process. Figure 9 illustrates a fibre line after the
digester with a typical ECF (OD(EOP)DD) and/or TCF (OQ(EOP)PP)
bleach plant (11).
Figure 9. An example of an ECF and/or TCF bleach plant (11).
Figure 10 shows the colour of the pulp in the different process stages,
ranging from the cooking stage on the left to the final bleaching stage on the
right. The dark colour is mainly due to residual lignin, which is gradually
14
removed in the following bleaching stages. Figure 11 shows the typical

brightness levels of pulps bleached in an ECF bleaching sequence.
100
90
Brightness, %ISO
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Cooking
O2
D0
(EPO)
D1
D2
Bleaching stage
Figure 10. The brightness of softwood pulp in

different stages of the pulping process (11).
Figure 11. Typical brightness levels from an ECF

bleaching sequence.
The use of a hot and mild acidic treatment, with the typical conditions of
~85-95C, pH=3-4 and 2-4 hours (12, 13), at the beginning of the bleaching
sequence is currently an established method for bleaching hardwood kraft
pulp (especially eucalyptus) (14). The hot acidic treatment can be performed
either as a separate stage or in combination with the first chlorine dioxide
stage in ECF bleaching sequences. Ragnar et al. (15) has shown the effect of
using a combined stage i.e. the hot acid treatment in combination with a
chlorine dioxide stage and compared this with other alternatives, such as a
single hot chlorine dioxide stage. The conclusion drawn was that, in terms of
the consumption of bleaching chemicals, a single hot D stage was more
beneficial than a combination of a hot acidic stage and a chlorine dioxide
stage (the A/D stage).
Regardless of the alternatives used to make the first D stage in the bleaching
sequence more powerful, the effects of these new approaches on the fibre
surface properties need to be evaluated before they can be used to predict the
way in which, for example, the sizing of pulps in the papermaking process
will be affected. This has been addressed in this thesis work.
Ageing
Dried and never dried bleached kraft pulps exhibit quite different properties
as far as e.g. beatability, optical properties and dimension stability are
concerned. Although these properties of bleached kraft pulp are rather stable
after drying, certain crucial properties, such as brightness, beatability and
strength, could deteriorate over time (16). Brightness stability is a very
important parameter, especially for hardwood pulps; the phenomenon behind
brightness reversion is an issue that has been investigated extensively (17). It
is also known that freshly produced papers undergo self-sizing or
autohydrophobization, whereby the paper becomes more hydrophobic during
storage/ageing (18). These facts constituted part of the background of this
thesis.
15
There are several methods currently used to measure the brightness stability
of pulp that is often referred to as brightness reversion or yellowing. The
sensitivity of pulp to light and/or heat is measured under conditions which
are accelerated by using e.g. high temperature at low and/or high humidity. It
is known that the amount of HexA in pulp (especially in hardwood pulps) is
an important parameter and that, when present in high amounts, it affects the
brightness stability of the final bleached pulp during ageing negatively. This
has been confirmed in several studies (19, 20).
The pulps used in this work were stored at room temperature and normal
humidity for up to 8 months. This was done to simulate normal ageing
without accelerating the conditions. It is probable that the actual storage
conditions for pulps are more extreme than those used here (e.g. higher
levels of humidity and temperature), so it can be expected that the properties
of the pulp/fibres will be even more affected during storage under more
realistic industrial conditions.
Internal sizing/water absorption
Sizing is used in the paper making process in order to restrain the tendency
of cellulosic fibres to absorb liquids through capillary action. Internal sizing
agents, such as alkyl keten dimer (AKD), are molecules with both
hydrophilic (water-loving) and hydrophobic (water-repelling) ends and
are added at the wet-end of the paper machine. The sizing agent binds to the
cellulose molecules with the hydrophilic tail facing the fibre and the
hydrophobic end stretching outwards. This makes the surface of the fibre
more hydrophobic, i.e. water-repellent (21). AKD is used in neutral to
alkaline conditions in the pH interval of 6-9. The AKD demand at a given
Cobb60 value (amount of water absorbed by a sheet of paper of known area
in 60 s) can be used as an indicator of the hydrophobicity of pulps and/or
fibre surfaces. This analysis method was used in this thesis.
It is known that sizing ability varies not only between different pulps
(softwood and hardwood) but also between pulps bleached according to
different bleaching sequences. Figure 12 shows the difference in the Cobb60
values at various charges of AKD for pulps bleached using different methods
and also for different wood species. Figure 12a show that a TCF bleached
hardwood pulp did not reach the same low Cobb60 level as the ECF bleached
hardwood pulp. Figure 12b shows that it was more difficult to size the
hardwood pulp to the same Cobb60 level than the softwood pulp bleached
using the same TCF sequence (22, 23, 24).
16
50
50
40
TCF HWdry
Cobb60, g/m
Cobb60, g/m
40
TCF HWwet
30
20
ECF HWwet
10
30
20
TCF SWdry
10
0
0.0
0.5
1.0
AKD dosage, kg/t
1.5
2.0
(a)
0.0
0.5
1.0
AKD dosage, kg/t
1.5
2.0
(b)
Figure 12. Cobb60 as a function of the amount of AKD added for never dried (wet) ECF and TCF
hardwood pulps (a) and for dried TCF hardwood and softwood pulps (b).
It should be noted that the Cobb60 tests in Figure 12(a) were made on never
dried pulps and the tests in Figure 12(b) were made on dried pulps.
Kreuger et al. (25), who used the Wilhelmy plate technique to measure
single fibre contact angles of water (DCA) on softwood and hardwood fibres
treated with AKD sizing, showed that there was a correlation between the
contact angle and the AKD dosage. A similar technique was used in this
thesis.
Experimental
Characteristics of unbleached pulp
The pulps used in this work were laboratory-produced pulps originating from
Swedish spruce chips (Picea Abies) and three kinds of mill-produced,
oxygen delignified, kraft pulps: two eucalyptus (Eucaluptus urograndis and
Eucalyptus globulus) and one birch (Betula ssp.(sub species)). The pulps
were washed thoroughly prior to being bleached in the laboratory. The basic
characteristics of the pulps are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Pulp characteristics of the unbleached pulps (oxygen delignified).
Kappa number (cooking)

Kappa number (O2)
Brightness, %ISO
Viscosity, dm3/kg
Tot. extr. material (acetone), %
Tot. fibre charge, mmol/kg
Picea Abies
E. urograndis
30.5
19.4
n.a.
17.5
10.8
10.4
29.3
33.0
63.4
1371 1128
1160
n.a.
n.a.
0.08
n.a.
n.a.
153
E=Eucalyptus
E. globulus
n.a.
9.1
60.4
1130
0.07
136
Betula ssp.
n.a.
13.6
47.9
1085
0.23
132
Bleaching procedures
The bleaching experiments were carried out in the laboratory in sealed
polyethylene bags, free from plasticizers. After each stage, the pulps were
washed thoroughly by dilution with deionised water to ~3% pulp consistency
before being dewatered to a pulp consistency of ~25 %. The bleaching
sequences applied on the different pulps are given in Table 3.
17
Table 3. The bleaching sequences used for the different pulps.
Wood species
Picea Abies
E. urograndis
E. globulus
Betula ssp.
ECF bleaching
D(EO)D(EP) D
TCF bleaching
Q(PO)TP
D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD
The Swedish spruce chips (Picea Abies) were cooked in the laboratory to
two different kappa numbers: 30.5 and 19.7 respectively. The details of the
cooking procedures are those applied by Bjrklund et al. (26, 27). The
conditions used in the ECF and TCF bleaching of these pulps are shown in
Table 4 and Table 5.
Table 4. ECF bleaching conditions - Picea Abies.
Bleaching stage
Time, min
Temperature, C
Final pH
D
50
50
3
(EO)
60
90
11.3
D
180
70
3.3
(EP)
60
70
11.2
D
150; 240*
70
3.8
* These figures represent experiments with pulps of O2 kappa number 10.8 and 17.7, respectively.
Table 5. TCF bleaching conditions - Picea Abies.
Bleaching stage
Time, min
Temperature. C
Final pH
Q
60
90
5.2
(PO)
120
110
10.7
T**
60
70
5.5
P
240
90
11.3
** peracetic acid
The hardwood pulps were subjected to two different ECF sequences; the
bleaching conditions used are as shown in Table 6 - 8. The A stage
conditions used were in line with those applied in the bleaching of hardwood
by e.g. Gomes et al. (12) and Colodette et al. (13).
Table 6. Bleaching conditions E. urograndis.
Bleaching stage
Time, min
Temperature, C
Final pH
A/D
120/15
95
2.8
D
60
60
3.2
EP
60
90
11.5
D
120
70
~3.5
D
120
70
~4
D
60
60
3.3
EP
60
90
11.5
D
120
70
~3.5
D
120
70
~4
D
70
50
3.2
EP
60
90
11.5
D
140
70
~3.5
D
165
70
~4
Table 7. Bleaching conditions E. globulus.
Bleaching stage
Time, min
Temperature, C
Final pH
A/D
120/15
95
3.2
Table 8. Bleaching conditions Birch.
Bleaching stage
Time, min
Temperature, C
Final pH
A/D
120/15
90
2.6
The chemical charges used in the bleaching experiments for the softwood
and hardwood pulps are shown in Table 9 and Table 10. The chlorine
18
dioxide (ClO2) charge is calculated as active chlorine (aCl): 1 kg of ClO2 is

thus equal to 2.63 kg of aCl.
Table 9. Total chemical charges in the ECF and TCF bleaching sequences for softwood pulps.
Bleaching sequence
Total aCl, kg/t
H2O2, kg/t
O2, MPa
NaOH, kg/t
EDTA, kg/t
CH3COOOH, kg/t
H2SO4, kg/t
Mg2+, kg/t
ECF
43; 60*
1.0
0.22
14; 16*
-
TCF
40; 45*
0.5
33
2
10; 15*
3.5
0.2
* These figures represent experiments with pulps of O2 kappa number 10.8 and 17.7, respectively.
Table 10. Total chemical charges in the ECF bleaching sequences for hardwood pulps.
D(EP)DD
aCl in first D stage, kg/t
Total aCl, kg/t
H2O2, kg/t
H2SO4, kg/t
NaOH, kg/t
A/D(EP)DD
aCl in A/D stage, kg/t
Total aCl, kg/t
H2O2, kg/t
H2SO4, kg/t
NaOH, kg/t
E. urograndis
12.5
21
5
2.5
12.7
E. urograndis
12.5
21
5
7
18.7
E. globulus
11
19
5
3.6
12.8
E. globulus
11
21
5
5.7
16
Birch
27
50
5
0.4
17.1
Birch
27
50
5
5.4
17.5
Storage and ageing

The bleached hardwood pulps were dried at about 50C and then stored in
sealed plastic boxes, free from plasticisers or other contaminants, at room
temperature (20-23C) for about 8 months. The dryness of the pulps was
about 95 % during storage. The fibre surface analyses were performed on
both fresh and aged pulps. The softwood pulps were stored for about 6
months under similar conditions.
Pulp analyses and methods
Pulp kappa number, viscosity and brightness were measured according to
ISO 302:2004, ISO 5351:2004 and ISO 3688:1999, respectively. The total
amount of extractives (i.e. acetone extractable material) was determined by
SCAN-CM 49:93 and the total fibre charge according to SCAN-CM 65:02.
The cellulose and hemicellulose contents were determined by acidic
hydrolysis according to TAPPI methodT-249cm-85, followed by HPAEPAD with the column DIONEX CarboPacTM PA1 (29). Cobb60 was used to
determine the water absorbency of unrefined and unsized bleached pulps
according to ISO 535:1991. Hexenuronic acids were detected by enzymatic
19
hydrolysis performed according to Tenkanen et al. (30), followed by ion

chromatography according to Hausalo et al. (29). The fibre surfaces in this
work were analysed using Dynamic Contact Angle of single fibres (DCA),
Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) and Time-of-Flight
Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS). These analyses are
described in more details below.
Dynamic contact angle measurement: DCA
The dynamic contact angle measurements were conducted using a Cahn
Dynamic Contact Angle Analyser (DCA-322) on unsized fibres, with
deionised water as the wetting liquid. Single fibres were taken at random
from the hand sheets produced and mounted carefully, with one end free, on
a piece of adhesive tape that was attached to the sample holder in the DCA
instrument, Figure 13 . Each value presented in this thesis work is a mean
value of measurements of about 10 single fibres taken from each pulp.
Microbalance
Fw
Sample holder
Fibre sample
Beaker
Moveable
platform
Figure 13. Schematic diagram of the DCA measuring equipment.
The advancing contact angle (A) of single fibres dipped in water was
calculated from the advancing and receding wetting forces (31, 32). The
appearance of the curves obtained from the DCA measurements clearly
shows whether the fibres enter the water vertically or not. Only data from
measurements where the fibres entered vertically were used for the mean
value calculation. In the static mode, the relationship between the force (F),
the liquid-air surface tension (l) and the contact angle () between a solid
plate of known perimeter and the liquid is given by the classic Wilhelmy
expression for the force, corrected for the weight of the plate and its
buoyancy, as given in Eq. 1:
F=l p cos
[1]
where p is the perimeter of the plate. The Wilhelmy plate in the static mode
can also be used to obtain information of the advancing contact angle (A)
and the receding contact angle (R) of fibres (33). Eq. 1 then gives Eqs. 2 and
3:
20
FA=l p cosA
[2]
FR=l p cosR
[3]
where FA and FR are the corrected Wilhelmy forces for the advancing and
receding liquid boundaries, respectively. Since the receding contact angle R
is close to 0 for cellulose fibres (28, 25), Eqs. 2 and 3 are reduced to Eq. 4:
cosA =FA/FR
[4]
Equation 4 is therefore used throughout this work for calculating the contact
angle of single fibres.
Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis: ESCA
ESCA can be used to determine the surface content of wood components
such as extractives, lignin and cellulose. This analysis method is based on
the fact that pure cellulose, extractives and lignin differ significantly in their
oxygen and carbon contents. The atomic O/C ratio measured by ESCA
therefore provides information of the surface composition of the fibre. The
specific ESCA signal for extractives is the non-oxidised carbon peak (C1carbon) in a high resolution carbon spectrum, i.e. carbon bonded only to
carbon or hydrogen (e.g. hydrocarbon chains in fatty acids). The more
extractives present on the pulp fibre surface, the lower the atomic O/C ratio.
Thus either the O/C ratio or the amount of C1-carbon can be used to follow
the effect of extraction. Lignin has more non-oxidised carbon (C1-carbon)
than cellulose. Provided that the extractives have been removed, either the
O/C ratio or the C1 carbon can be used to estimate the relative amount of
lignin on a cellulose fibre surface (34, 35, 36). Both the O/C ratio and C1
carbon method have limitations that can influence the estimation of the
surface coverage of lignin and extractable material. In this study, however,
these limitations were minimized by preparing the samples and performing
the ESCA analyses according to the recommendations described by
Johansson et al. (37). The O/C ratio was used to estimate the surface
coverage of lignin and extractable material on hardwood fibres according to
Equations 5 and 6, where the thickness of each component was assumed to
exceed the depth of analysis, i.e. about 10 nm. Should the thickness of the
extractive patches or layers be less than 10 nm then the surface coverage of
extractable materials and lignin will be underestimated; only a minimum
value will be obtained, which may nonetheless be useful in the comparison
of different pulp samples.
lignin=(O/Cafter extraction - O/C carbohydrates)/(O/C lignin - O/C carbohydrates)
[5]
extractives=(O/Cafter extraction -O/Cbefore extraction)/(O/Cafter extraction -O/C extractives)
[6]
The O/C ratios for pure carbohydrates (cellulose), lignin and extractives
(oleic acid) are 0.83, 0.33 and 0.11, respectively (5, 38, 39). This data, taken
from the literature, was chosen for both birch and eucalyptus and is here
assumed to be valid for both types of hardwood species.
21
The surface coverage of lignin and extractives in the softwood study were
calculated according to Equations 7 and 8:
lignin = (C1after extraction-X)/49
[7]
extractives = (C1before extraction-C1after extraction)/(C1extractives-C1after extraction)
[8]
where X is the measured value of C1-carbon in pure pulp (2 atomic-%) and

49 is the amount of C1 carbon in spruce lignin (40). C1 is defined as the
carbon fine structure content of C-C, atomic-%. The surface coverage of
extractable materials was calculated using Equation 8. Here, the theoretical
C1 carbon content of oleic acid of 94% was used for extractives (38).
The ESCA measurements in this thesis were carried out on both extracted
and non-extracted hardwood pulps before and after ageing. In the softwood
study, however, the ESCA measurements were only made before ageing.
ESCA spectra were recorded using a Kratos AXIS HS x-ray photoelectron
spectrometer (Kratos Analytical, Manchester, UK). The samples were
analysed using a monochromator (Al x-ray source) for the high resolution
carbon spectra and an Mg x-ray source for wide and detailed spectra. The
area of analysis was about 1 mm2 in size.
Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy: ToF-SIMS
ToF-SIMS analysis is generally used to identify chemicals or elements on
the outer surface of materials and to evaluate their distribution on the
surface. Although the method yields the molecular mass and has a high
sensitivity, it is not quantitative since the secondary ion yield is influenced
by the chemical states of the sample surface. Some ions are, of course,
ionized more easily than others (35). The instrument used in this work was a
PHI TRIFT II spectrometer (Physical Electronics Inc., Eden Prairie, MN,
USA). The ToF-SIMS spectra were measured using Ga+ primary ions with
15 keV and the analysing depth did not exceed 2 nm. Three areas of
100x100 micrometers in size were analysed from each sample and spectra
for both positive and negative ions were recorded. The peaks were identified
based on literature references (4, 41, 42) and molecular structures as
described by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). The
ToF-SIMS analyses were carried out on non-extracted hardwood pulps
before and after ageing. Only the positive ions in ToF-SIMS were used in
this work.
22
Results & Discussion

Two ECF bleaching sequences were applied to three different hardwood
pulps (Paper I and II), whilst one ECF and one TCF sequence was applied to
softwood pulps with two different cooking kappa numbers (Paper III), see
Table 3.
Hardwood pulps
The hardwood pulps were bleached in the laboratory using two different
ECF sequences, D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD. The hot acidic stage (A) was
introduced into the bleaching sequence to remove the hexenuronic acids
(HexA) present in the pulps. As the acidic treatment can be applied in
different ways, an A/D stage was selected; the conditions for bleaching to
89.7-91.5 %ISO brightness are given in Table 6 - 8. The characteristics of
the final bleached pulps are shown in Table 11.
Table 11. Characteristics of the bleached pulp sequences: D(EP)DD (denoted D) and A/D(EP)DD
(denoted A/D).
Pulp
Bleaching sequence
Brightness, %ISO
Viscosity, dm3/kg
Kappa number
HexA, mmol/kg
Kappa number adj. for HexA
Tot. ClO2 charge, kg/t (as aCl)
Tot. extr. material (in acetone), %
Total fibre charge, mmol/kg
Cellulose, rel. %
Glucomannan, rel. %
Xylan, rel. %
Hemicellulose, rel. %
E. urograndis
D
A/D
90.9
90.9
972
915
2.4
0.8
16
2
1.0
0.6
21.0
21.0
0.09
0.08
100
77
84.5
84.7
0.3
0.2
15.4
15.2
15.6
15.4
E. globulus
D
A/D
91.4
91.5
956
926
2.2
0.7
14
2
1.0
0.5
19.0
21.0
0.08
0.08
86
65
79.7
79.7
0.3
0.3
20.1
20.1
20.4
20.4
Birch
D
A/D
89.7
89.7
977
969
0.7
0.8
2
<1
0.6
0.7
50.0
50.0
0.18
0.17
67
63
73.8
73.6
0.3
0.3
26.0
26.2
26.3
26.5
After adjustment for content of HexA according to Li et al. (43), the final
kappa numbers were similar for the bleached eucalyptus pulps, with
consistently lower kappa number for the pulps bleached with an A/D stage.
The kappa number for the birch pulps were low for both sequences and so
was the HexA content, indicating that the HexA was effectively removed
also in the D(EP)DD sequence. The rather high chlorine dioxide charge used
in the birch bleaching trials might have contributed to this low content of
HexA.
Sizing ability and hydrophobicity
The hydrophobicity of the D(EP)DD bleached pulps was evaluated using the
Cobb60 analysis method. The amount of sizing agent, in this case AKD,
required to reach a certain water absorption level is shown in Figure 14.
AKD is used in the papermaking process to make the paper hydrophobic, as
23
described earlier. The figure shows that as the birch pulp required more
AKD to reach the level of 20 g/m2 than the eucalyptus pulps, it is thus less
hydrophobic. Pulp/paper can be regarded as being well-sized at a water
absorption level of about 20 g/m2, and this level has been used for
comparison throughout this thesis work.
34
32
E. globulus
Cobb 60, g/m 2
30
28
Birch
26
24
E. urograndis
22
20
18
16
14
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
AKD dosage, kg/t
Figure 14. Cobb60 value versus AKD dosage. Analysis performed on D(EP)DD bleached pulps.
The dynamic contact angle (DCA) measurement of single fibres in water was
also used in this work. The use of DCA made it possible to determine the
differences in hydrophobicity of the fibre surfaces. Figure 15 shows the
difference in DCA between the three D(EP)DD bleached hardwood pulps.
The birch fibres have a lower contact angle, which confirms a hydrophilic
fibre surface correlated to the need of more AKD to reach the Cobb60 level
of 20 g/m2.
AKD dosage for Cobb60 = 20 g/m , kg/t
1.2
1.0
Birch
0.8
0.6
E. globulus
0.4
E. urograndis
0.2
0.0
25
30
35
40
45
DCA in water (unsized fibres), A

2
Figure 15. The AKD dosage required to reach Cobb60=20 g/m versus DCA of the unsized D(EP)DD
bleached fibres.
The difference in hydrophobicity of the pulps and/or fibres could therefore

be observed both in the AKD demand to reach a certain Cobb60 level and in
the DCA of single fibres in water.
24
Surface covered by lignin, % or Kappa number
The question is: what components present on the surface of the fibres
influence hydrophobicity? This was studied by using ESCA to estimate the
coverage of extractives and lignin on the fibre surfaces. Figure 16 shows the
lignin coverage on the fibre surface, the kappa number (bulk kappa
number) and the kappa number adjusted for the HexA content of the
D(EP)DD bleached pulps. The contribution of the HexA to the kappa
number has been investigated in several studies; according to Li et al. (43),
11.6 mmol/kg of HexA correspond to one kappa number unit.
6.0
5.4
5.0
4.0
3.0
3.7
2.4
2.4
2.2
2.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
0.7
0.6
0.0
E. urograndis
Surface lignin
E. globulus
Kappa number (bulk)
Birch
Kappa number (adjusted for HexA)
Figure 16. Fibre surface coverage by lignin, the kappa number (adjusted for content of HexA) and
the bulk kappa number in D(EP)DD bleached pulps.
The share of fibre surface covered with lignin was between 2 and 5%, which
is in accordance to Neto et al. (44) who studied similar pulps. The Figure 16
shows that there was no direct correlation between the bulk lignin content
measured as kappa number and the surface coverage of lignin on the pulps
studied. The relatively high coverage of lignin on the birch fibres compared
to the eucalyptus fibres could explain why the birch fibres were more
hydrophilic. It is known that residual lignin bleached with ClO2 is quite
oxidised and hydrophilic and since rather high charges of chlorine dioxide
were used in the bleaching sequence in this work these fibres should then
show high hydrophilicity (45).
There was also a significant difference in the share of surface covered by
extractives before and after D(EP)DD bleaching, as shown in Figure 17. The
birch extractives were removed totally from the fibre surface after bleaching
even though this pulp had a rather high level of coverage prior to bleaching.
The E. urograndis pulp had the highest coverage of extractives after
D(EP)DD bleaching and, as shown in Figure 15, required the least amount of
AKD. This pulp also had the highest DCA, thus confirming a higher degree
of hydrophobicity.
25
Surface coverage of extractives, %
50
44
45
40
35
30
26
25
20
14
15
10.8
10
3.9
0.0
0
E. urograndis
E. globulus
O2 pulp
Birch
D(EP)DD
Figure 17. Share of fibre surface covered by extractives for O2 delignified and D(EP)DD bleached
pulps.
The birch pulp was subjected to extraction with acetone, with the DCA being
measured on single fibres both before and after the extraction which was
performed according to the standardized procedure for the analysis of
acetone extractable material (SCAN-CM 49:3). This method is expected to
remove most of the extractable material present on the fibres. The results on
birch showed that the DCA was reduced significantly after extraction, i.e. the
fibre surface had become more hydrophilic, see Table 12. These results are
in agreement with studies performed on mechanical pulp fibres extracted
with dichloromethane (31).
Table 12. The influence of acetone extraction on the DCA of single birch fibres.
Non-extracted
Extracted
DCA in water, A
30.5
12.0
This experiment showed that acetone extraction removed components

contributing to the hydrophobic character from the fibre surface even though
ESCA analysis on the non-extracted fibres showed that the surface coverage
of extractives was zero, Figure 17. It indicates that some other components
affecting the DCA analysis might have been also removed from the fibre
surface.
The effects of an acidic stage in the bleaching sequence
Since a correlation was found between the surface coverage of extractives
and the AKD needed to reach a certain Cobb60 level on the D(EP)DD
bleached pulps, we also studied the effect of a hot acid stage (A) in the
bleaching sequence. The results are presented in Figure 18. There was little
difference in the amount of AKD needed to reach a certain Cobb60 level
between the D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD bleached eucalyptus pulps. The
difference was, however, significant for the birch pulp, which required less
AKD after the hot acidic treatment.
26
36
36
E. urograndis
34
A/D
32
30
30
28
28
32
Cobb60, g/m
Cobb60, g/m
34
26
24
22
A/D
E. globulus
26
24
22
20
20
18
18
16
16
14
14
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
AKD dosage, kg/t
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
AKD dosage, kg/t
36
34
Birch
A/D
32
Cobb60, g/m
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
AKD dosage, kg/t
Figure 18. Cobb60 versus dosage of AKD for unrefined D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD bleached pulps.
Figure 19 shows the correlation between the coverage of extractives on the

fibre surface (measured by ESCA) and the AKD needed to reach a water
absorption level of 20 g/m2 (Cobb60) for both the D(EP)DD and the
A/D(EP)DD bleached pulps. According to the figure, the extractives on the
fibre surface seem to have a weak sizing effect, but only to a certain extent.
The significant difference in coverage of extractives on the fibre surface
between the E. globulus and E. urograndis pulps, 4 and 10% respectively,
had little effect on the AKD needed to reach a water absorption level of 20
g/m2.
D
1.2
A/D
Birch
AKD dosage, kg/t
1.0
0.8
E. globulus
E. urograndis
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
Surface extractives, %
Figure 19. The influence of surface extractives on the AKD demand for the bleached pulps. The AKD
2
data corresponds to Cobb60=20 g/m .
27
The DCA in water was measured on all bleached fibres, see Figure 20. These
results show that there was a difference in the hydrophobicity of the fibres
between the D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD bleached fibres, with a consistently
lower DCA for the A/D(EP)DD bleached fibres.
D
A/D
50
45
DCA in water,
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
E. urograndis
E. globulus
Birch
Figure 20. The DCA of D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD bleached pulp fibres.
Since the coverage of extractives on e.g. the birch fibres bleached in the
A/D(EP)DD sequence (1.4 %) was higher than on fibres from the D(EP)DD
sequence (0 %), Figure 19, a higher DCA was expected for the A/D bleached
pulp, but this was not found to be the case.
Independent of the hardwood species, Figure 21 shows that the extractive
coverage of the fibres is low at high levels of lignin coverage, and vice versa.
This correlation is not linear, levelling out at lignin coverage of about 2 %.
The rather high coverage (~5%) of quite oxidised and hydrophilic lignin on
the birch fibres in combination with the low coverage of extractives can
probably explain the more hydrophilic character of the birch fibres in this
study, as discussed earlier.
28
Surface coverage of lignin, %
7
D(EP)DD
Birch
A/D(EP)DD
5
4
E. globulus
3
E. urograndis
2
1
0
0
10
12

Figure 21. The surface coverage of lignin versus the coverage of extractives on D(EP)DD and
A/D(EP)DD pulp fibres.
Figure 22 depicts the AKD demand necessary to reach a certain Cobb60 level
(in this case 20 g/m2) for all hardwood pulps bleached with the D(EP)DD
and A/D(EP)DD sequences versus the ratio of extractives and lignin on the
fibre surfaces. It shows an interesting correlation up to an extractive/lignin
ratio of about 2 and that at higher ratios, where significantly more extractives
are present on the fibre surface, the AKD demand levels out; the selfsizing effect levels out.
1.2
AKD to Cobb60=20g/m2
Birch pulp: extractives =0; lignin =5.4
1.0
Birch
0.8
E. globulus
E. urograndis
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
Ratio of extractives/lignin on the fibre surface

2
Figure 22. The amount of AKD required to reach Cobb60 = 20 g/m versus the ratio between
extractives and lignin on the fibre surface.(All bleached hardwood pulps)
The effects of ageing on hardwood pulps

The study on the effects of ageing was performed on the E. globulus and
birch pulps stored at ambient temperature and humidity for about 8 months.
Figure 23 shows that all pulps became more hydrophobic after ageing
demonstrated as a higher DCA of the fibres. The A/D(EP)DD bleached pulps
29
seem to have been affected more than the D(EP)DD bleached pulps. (Note
that the DCA measurements are performed on unsized fibres.)
Before ageing
After ageing
60
D
A/D
DCA in water, A
50
A/D
40
30
20
10
0
E. globulus
Birch
Figure 23. The dynamic contact angle of D(EP)DD (denoted D) and A/D(EP)DD (denoted A/D)
bleached pulps before and after ageing.
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
E. globulus - D (EP)DD
Before ageing
After ageing
C obb 60 , g/m 2
C obb 60 , g/m 2
The amount of sizing agent required by the pulps before and after ageing was
studied by measuring the Cobb60 value. Figure 24 shows that all of the aged
pulps (dashed lines) needed less AKD to reach a specified level, which
correlates with the increased hydrophobicity of the fibres measured using
DCA and shown in Figure 23.
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
Birch - D(EP)DD
0.1
0.2
0.3
Before ageing
0.4
0.5
0.6
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
E. globulus - A/D(EP)DD
Before ageing
After ageing
C ob b 60 , g/m 2
C obb 60 , g/m 2
AKD, kg/t
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
AKD, kg/t
0.8
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
36
34 Birch - A/D(EP)DD
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.7 0.8
AKD, kg/t
0.9
After ageing
1.0
Before ageing
0.5
0.6
0.7 0.8
AKD, kg/t
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
After ageing
1.1
1.2
1.3
Figure 24. The AKD demand versus Cobb60 before and after ageing for D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD
bleached E. globulus and birch pulps .
Figure 25 shows that the coverage of extractives on the fibre surfaces of the
D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD bleached birch and E. globulus pulps increased
after ageing. As a result the amount of AKD needed decreased.
30
D - before ageing
D - after ageing
A/D - before ageing
A/D - after ageing
AKD dosage for Cobb60 =20 g/m , kg/t
1.2
1.0
Birch
0.8
E. globulus
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0

2
Figure 25 The amount of AKD required to reach Cobb60= 20 g/m versus the surface
coverage of extractives before and after ageing for the bleached pulps (Birch and
E. globulus).
The correlation between the AKD dosage to reach a Cobb60 value of

20 g/m2 and the extractives on the fibre surface, is more pronounced for the
birch pulps compared to the eucalyptus pulps, both before and after ageing.
The components of fibre surfaces
ToF-SIMS is an analytical tool used to identify chemicals or elements on the
topmost surface of materials and to evaluate their distribution on it. Although
this analysis method yields the molecular mass and has a high degree of
sensitivity, it is not quantitative. It was, however, used in this work to
identify possible chemical changes on the fibre surface during ageing as well
as to try to identify the kind of surface components that change over time,
e.g. type of extractives. The ToF-SIMS analyses were performed on the
pulps both before and after ageing. Figure 26 shows part of the positive ToFSIMS spectrum for the D(EP)DD bleached birch pulp. Peaks indicating Camyristate (268 amu) and Ca-palmitate (296 amu) were detected in the
spectrum from 200 to 300 amu for the aged pulp, which is the area typical
for fatty acids and fatty acid salts (4, 41, 42). The peak at 251 amu might
either originate from the Na-salt of myristic acid or be a fragment of oleic
acid. This peak is not detected after ageing; Ca-myristate at 268 amu, on the
other hand, is present with a greater intensity in the aged pulp. The peak at
257 amu is probably palmitic acid which, after aging, is detected with Ca at a
significantly higher peak of 296 amu. Furthermore, several other peaks in the
range of 200-300 amu could also contribute to the presence of fatty acids, i.e.
extractives.
31
Figure 26. Part of the ToF-SIMS spectrum for D(EP)DD bleached birch pulp before and after ageing.
Figure 27 shows part of the positive ToF-SIMS spectrum, from 200 to 600
amu, for the E. globulus pulp also bleached in the D(EP)DD sequence. This
spectrum shows several peaks, indicating the presence of fatty acids, i.e.
extractives similar those found in the birch pulp in Figure 26. The peaks for
Ca-myristate (268 amu) and Ca-palmitate (296 amu) were also detected here,
both showing a significant increase after ageing. The lower part of Figure 27
shows the spectrum at 300-600 amu, which corresponds mainly to fatty
acids, sterols and glycerides.
Three peaks that possibly originate from tripalmitin with 2 side chains,
increased considerably upon ageing; i.e. peaks at
551 amu [(C16H33COO)2Ca]H+ (heptadecanoic acid Ca salt),
523 amu [(C15H31COO)2Ca]H+ (hexadecanoic acid Ca salt) and
495 amu [(C14H29COO)2Ca]H+ (pentadecanoic acid Ca salt), thereby
indicating that the extractive coverage has increased on the fibre surface after
ageing.
32
Figure 27. Part of the positive secondary ion ToF-SIMS spectrum for non-extracted D(EP)DD
bleached E. globulus pulp before and after ageing. N.B. Different scales are used on the y-axis for
the fresh and aged pulps.
Figure 28 shows a similar ToF-SIMS spectrum before and after ageing for
the E. globulus pulp bleached using the A/D(EP)DD sequence. The
similarity between the spectra for pulps bleached with D(EP)DD and
A/D(EP)DD in this study indicates that, irrespective of the choice of
bleaching sequence, there is no significant difference in the type of
components on the fibre surface. The peaks referred to in the D(EP)DD
bleached pulps, i.e. 551, 523 amu as shown in Figure 27, also increased in
the A/D bleached pulp, thereby strengthening the theory that these
components contribute to the increased hydrophobicity of the aged pulps.
33
Figure 28. Part of the positive secondary ion ToF-SIMS spectrum for non-extracted A/D(EP)DD
bleached E. globulus pulp before and after ageing. N.B. Different scales are used on the y-axis for
the fresh and aged pulps.
Softwood
The softwood kraft pulps were bleached according to D(EO)D(EP)D and
Q(PO)TP (where T represents peracetic acid). Both ECF and TCF bleaching
sequences are used in Nordic pulp mills and were therefore interesting
alternatives to compare in this work. The pulps were cooked in the
laboratory at two different kappa number levels, 19.4 and 30.5, and are after
bleaching denoted ECF1/TCF1 and ECF2/TCF2, respectively. Table 13
shows the characteristics of the pulps after the cooking, O2-delignification
and final bleaching processes. The coverage of extractives and lignin on the
fibre surface detected by ESCA is also presented.
Table 13. Characteristics of softwood pulp after cooking, O2 delignification and bleaching.
Pulp
Kappa
cooking
ECF1
TCF1
ECF2
TCF2
19.4
19.4
30.5
30.5
Kappa Brightness
O2
% ISO
10.8
10.8
17.2
17.2
90.3
88.8
90.5
88.3
Kappa
No.
0.5
2.4
0.5
2.7
Hemicellulose
% of
carbohydrates
17.4
17.0
19.1
18.3
Surface
Lignin
%
0.8
1.1
0
1.6
Surface
extractives
%
12.7
10.6
22.4
16.0
The TCF bleached pulps had, as expected, higher bleached kappa numbers
than the corresponding ECF bleached pulps. The table shows that the
34
hemicellulose content was somewhat lower in the pulps with a low kappa
number after cooking. In both cases the TCF pulps had slightly lower
contents of hemicellulose than the ECF pulps.
Table 14 shows a comparison of the coverage of lignin and extractives on
the ECF bleached fibre surfaces of the softwood and hardwood pulps used in
this study. The calculation of the surface extractives and lignin of the
hardwood pulps was here made according to the same method (C1-method)
as for the softwood pulp. The surface lignin coverage was highest in the
hardwood pulps, with birch being followed by E. globulus. The content of
surface extractives was, on the other hand, much higher in the softwood
pulp, followed by E. globulus.
Table 14. Lignin and extractives on the fibre surface of all the ECF bleached pulps used in this study
(ESCA data, calculated using the C1-method).
Wood species
Picea Abies
Betula ssp
Eucalyptus urograndis
Eucalyptus globulus
Surface lignin, %
0-1
3-4
1-2
2-3
Surface extractives, %
12-22
0-1
~3
6-7
The coverage of extractives on the fibre surfaces of the laboratory cooked

and bleached softwood pulps was relatively high compared to other reports
in which the percentages in bleached softwood kraft pulp have been found to
be between 1-6 % (46, 47, 48). A possible explanation to this could be a reprecipitation of extractives onto the fibre surface during the bleaching and/or
in the washing procedures (6). The TCF pulps had a lower coverage of
extractives than the ECF pulps (Table 13), which could be explained by the
intense alkaline extraction in combination with hydrogen peroxide applied in
the TCF bleaching procedure. This actually coincides with the studies
conducted by Laine (6) in which the coverage of extractives was shown to be
significantly influenced by the type of chemicals used in the bleaching
process. In the present study, the pulps with the higher kappa number after
cooking had the highest coverage of surface extractives after bleaching,
Table 13. According to the DCA measurements, these fibres were also more
hydrophilic, as demonstrated by the lower contact angle, Table 15. The
explanation for this could be, for example, that these pulps have a higher
content of hemicellulose and/or a higher portion of extractives of a neutral
character, which is characteristic for chlorine dioxide bleached pulps (6).
Further studies in the matter are obviously necessary.
35
Table 15. The DCA of D(EO)D(EP)D and Q(PO)TP bleached softwood pulps.
Pulp
ECF1
TCF1
ECF2
TCF2
Kappa
no.
19.4
19.4
30.5
30.5
DCA
A
52.2
58.1
39.8
52.9
Standard
dev.
10.8
12.4
4.9
7.8
The effects of ageing on softwood pulps

The effects of ageing were studied, using the softwood pulp with the highest
kappa number (i.e. 30.5) after cooking, by measuring the DCA of single
fibres in water. Table 16 shows the DCA of the fibres before and after
ageing. The DCA increased for both the ECF and TCF bleached pulps after
storage, showing that the fibres became more hydrophobic with time. The
change was more pronounced for the ECF bleached fibres.
Table 16. The DCA of single fibres before and after ageing.
Pulp
ECF2
TCF2
Before
ageing
39.8
52.9
Dynamic contact angle, A

Standard
After
Standard
dev.
ageing
Dev.
4.9
53.3
7.6
7.8
61.6
5.4
+13.5
+8.7
The explanations for the increase in DCA after ageing are most likely the
same as for the hardwood pulps: either a migration of hydrophobic
components, such as extractives, to the fibre surface or a change in the
character of the components on the fibre surface that makes them to become
more hydrophobic in nature.
36
Conclusions
The surface properties of all the kraft pulps used in this study were analysed
before and after ageing; it was found that the fibres became more
hydrophobic after ageing. This was shown to be caused by an increase in the
amount of extractives, especially fatty acids, calcium salts of fatty acids and
possibly also sterols and/or glycerides on the surface of the fibres. A
migration of these compounds to the fibre surface during ageing could then
be suggested. The amount of AKD required for a certain pulp grade seemed
to be related to the hydrophobicity of the fibre surfaces, and could be
assigned to the coverage of the fibre surfaces by extractable materials. The
coverage of lignin on the fibre surface, however, might also have affected
their hydrophobicity. There were measurable differences in the sizing
efficiency of the three hardwood pulps studied: Eucalyptus urograndis,
Eucalyptus globulus and Betula ssp. The birch pulp was the most
hydrophilic, and required more AKD to reach a certain Cobb60 value, i.e. to
reach a certain water absorption.
It has been shown that the introduction of a hot acidic stage prior to an ECF
bleaching sequence when bleaching hardwood kraft pulps influenced some
of the surface properties of the fibres. The total fibre charge was decreased
due to the removal of hexenuronic acids; there was also a decrease in the
coverage of lignin on the fibre surfaces, as measured by ESCA. The sizing
ability, measured as AKD demand to a certain Cobb60 value, was however
rather similar for all of the eucalyptus pulps regardless of the bleaching
method used. They all required less AKD in the sizing test after ageing,
again regardless of the bleaching sequence used. The dynamic contact angle
(DCA) measurements of the aged fibres confirmed an increase in the
hydrophobicity of the fibres after ageing, probably due to an increased
coverage of extractives on the surface of the fibres.
The bleached softwood pulps with a high kappa number after cooking had a
higher surface coverage of extractives, higher contents of hemicellulose and
lower DCA in water compared to the bleached pulps with a lower cooking
kappa number, suggesting that they were less hydrophobic. The DCA in
water was consistently higher for TCF fibres than for ECF fibres, despite a
lower coverage of extractives on the fibre surfaces of the TCF pulps. This
may be explained by the higher proportion of neutral extractives present on
the fibre surfaces of the ECF pulps. The DCA increased after ageing for all
softwood and hardwood pulps.
The results in this thesis indicate that DCA measurements can be used to
postulate changes in fibre surface properties and possibly also to predict the
tendency in sizing ability of bleached pulps.
37
Future studies
The pulps used in this work varied in origin. They were produced using
different kinds of wood: hardwood (birch, eucalyptus) and Nordic softwood
(spruce). Some were laboratory cooked (softwood) and others industrially
produced (hardwood) in different regions of the world. All of the bleaching
trials were, however, carried out in the laboratory. The interesting results
shown in this work should nevertheless be verified on other wood raw
materials, including the non-woods.
The ageing process should be studied in more detail, varying time,
temperature, humidity etc. with more frequent analyses of the same kind as
in this work (e.g. DCA, Cobb60, etc.). The aim should be to study the change
in hydrophobicity of the fibres in more details, i.e. the migration kinetics of
hydrophobic material to the fibre surface.
The effects on disintegration and beatability of pulps originating from
various wood raw materials, bleached using different methods and stored for
shorter and longer periods would be interesting topics for further study.
Raman Spectroscopy could be used to study changes in the surface
components of pulp fibres over the time. Any correlation between the fibre
surface lignin and the bulk lignin with respect to the individual components,
as well as the composition/type of extractable material on the fibre surface,
could thereby be assessed.
38
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank the following persons, companies and organisations:
My supervisors, Professors Ulf Germgrd and Jiri Basta, for their support
and guidance in my work.
Professor Gran Bengtsson and Ph.D. Caisa Andersson for fruitful
discussions and constructive criticism of the manuscripts.
Eka Chemicals AB, Stora Enso AB, Sdra Cell AB and the Wood
Ultrastructure Research Centre (WURC) for financial support.
The personnel at Eka Chemicals AB and Stora Enso AB R&D for their
laboratory assistance and advice and to all colleagues in these companies that
I have worked with throughout the duration of this thesis.
Nils och Dorthi Trodssons Forskningsfond for financing the Dynamic
Contact Angle (DCA) equipment at Karlstad University.
Maureen Sondell, Read & Write, for her linguistic revision of the thesis and
the appended articles.
My parents and sisters, in particular, for encouraging me.
Finally, Lennart, Peter and Anna. Thank you for being so patient with me
when I was working in Karlstad and spent a lot of time away from home.
You mean the world to me!
39
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43

of kraft pulp
The aim of this thesis was to study the fibre surface properties of Birch (Betula ssp.), Eucalyptus (E. urograndis
and E. globulus) and Spruce (Picea Abies) pulps bleached using two different methods: ECF (Elementary
Chlorine Free) and TCF (Totally Chlorine Free). The hardwood pulps were subjected to a hot acidic stage
prior to ECF bleaching in order to remove hexenuronic acid. The effect of prolonged storage (ageing) on
the fibre surface properties was studied for all of the pulps.
The characteristics of the fibre surfaces were determined by measuring the dynamic contact angle of
single fibres (DCA) and by using Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) and Time of Flight
Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS). The correlation between the fibre surface properties and
the sizing efficiency of the hardwood pulps were evaluated by measuring the amount of alkyl ketene dimer
(AKD) needed to reach a certain water absorption level(measured as Cobb60).
The birch pulp was more hydrophilic than the eucalyptus pulps, thus requiring more AKD to reach a
certain water absorption value, and also had a lower DCA. The introduction of a hot acidic stage (A stage)
in the ECF bleaching sequence applied to the hardwood pulps (i.e. A/D(EP)DD versus D(EP)DD) lowered,
as expected, the total fibre charge due to the removal of hexenuronic acids groups (HexA). According to
the DCA measurements all of the pulps became more hydrophilic after the A/D(EP)DD bleaching than
after the D(EP)DD bleaching sequence. The sizing ability of the pulps, measured as the AKD demand to
a certain Cobb60 value, showed that the AKD demand was more or less the same for the eucalyptus pulps
regardless of the bleaching sequence used. The birch pulp, on the other hand, required somewhat less AKD
in the A/D(EP)DD sequence than in the D(EP)DD.
The AKD demand to a certain Cobb60 value decreased further for the bleached birch and E. globulus
pulps after ageing due to an increase in the fibre surface hydrophobicity. ESCA analysis revealed an increase
of surface extractives on the pulps after ageing, which was also supported by ToF-SIMS analysis. It was
concluded that there was an increase in fatty acids, fatty acid salts and possibly even sterols and glycerides
on the fibre surfaces due to ageing. A migration of these components from the interior of the fibre wall to
the fibre surface during ageing was verified in this study.
The TCF and ECF bleached softwood pulps also showed differences in their fibre surface properties
that were tangible and thereby measurable. The dynamic contact angle was highest for the TCF bleached
softwood fibres, i.e. these were more hydrophobic. Although changes caused by ageing were much more
pronounced for the ECF fibres, all pulps became more hydrophobic upon ageing.
The hydrophobicity of pulp fibres can be determined using DCA, which is a rather rapid and
economically viable analysis. Using this information, a paper/board mill can base its sizing strategy on
scientific findings.
The ageing effects seen on the fibre surfaces in the form of the migration of extractives might be an
important parameter from an industrial point of view, especially when pulps are stored and/or transported
for a long time period. Nowadays it is quite common for pulps to be shipped around the world and subjected
to warm and humid conditions. It is therefore probable that the properties of the pulp change in such a
way that the papermaking process requires adjustment.

ISSN 1403-8099
ISBN 978-91-7063-252-5

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Faculty of Technology and Science

Fibre surface properties

Karlstad University Studies

Fibre surface properties

Karlstad University Studies

The hydrophobicity of pulp fibres can be determined using DCA, which is a

Wne, G and Germgrd, U.: Aspects on the AKD demand of hardwood

Wne, G and Germgrd, U.: Fibre surface properties of bleached

Wne, G., Basta, J., Jrnstrm, L. and Germgrd, U.: A comparison of

My contribution to the appended papers:

Objectives of the study ...............................................................................................8

Results & Discussion ................................................................................................23

Objectives of the study

Figure 1. A typical tracheid cell wall (2).

Kraft cooking process

Cooking Time, min

Decrease in kappa number

Cooking Kappa number

Hexenuronic acid unit in xylan

2-furoic acid and 2-furaldehyde

Pulping Time (min)

Figure 6. HexA content and alkali concentration in

HexA content, meq/kg pulp

HexA (mg/g - ODW)

Pulping time (min)

Figure 7. The effect of pulping time on the degree

The difference in behaviour between the softwood and hardwood pulps is

The purpose of bleaching is to remove essentially all of the lignin remaining

Figure 9. An example of an ECF and/or TCF bleach plant (11).

removed in the following bleaching stages. Figure 11 shows the typical

Figure 10. The brightness of softwood pulp in

Figure 11. Typical brightness levels from an ECF

Kappa number (cooking)

Table 3. The bleaching sequences used for the different pulps.

D(EP)DD and A/D(EP)DD

Table 5. TCF bleaching conditions - Picea Abies.

Table 7. Bleaching conditions E. globulus.

Table 8. Bleaching conditions Birch.

dioxide (ClO2) charge is calculated as active chlorine (aCl): 1 kg of ClO2 is

Storage and ageing

hydrolysis performed according to Tenkanen et al. (30), followed by ion

extractives=(O/Cafter extraction -O/Cbefore extraction)/(O/Cafter extraction -O/C extractives)

extractives = (C1before extraction-C1after extraction)/(C1extractives-C1after extraction)

where X is the measured value of C1-carbon in pure pulp (2 atomic-%) and

Results & Discussion

Cobb 60, g/m 2

AKD dosage, kg/t

AKD dosage for Cobb60 = 20 g/m , kg/t

DCA in water (unsized fibres), A

The difference in hydrophobicity of the pulps and/or fibres could therefore

Surface covered by lignin, % or Kappa number

Kappa number (bulk)

Kappa number (adjusted for HexA)

Surface coverage of extractives, %

This experiment showed that acetone extraction removed components

AKD dosage, kg/t

Figure 19 shows the correlation between the coverage of extractives on the

AKD dosage, kg/t

Surface coverage of lignin, %

Surface coverage of extractives, %

Birch pulp: extractives =0; lignin =5.4

Ratio of extractives/lignin on the fibre surface

The effects of ageing on hardwood pulps

AKD dosage for Cobb60 =20 g/m , kg/t