Environmentally Friendly Wheat Straw Pulping with KOH

The objective of this study is to develop a new process for the production of pulp using the wheat straw. Environmentally-friendly wheat straw pulp with potassium hydroxide was prepared، and their mechanical and optical properties were studied. Pulping tests were carried out varying active alkali (16، 18 and 20 wt %) and cooking time (60 and 90 min). Liquor-to-solid ratio، time to reach the maximum temperature and the cooking temperature were kept constant. The increase in active alkali significantly reduced the yield and kappa number of the pulp. Chemical pulps of 48. 71–53. 73% yield produced from the KOH pulping process exhibited acceptable papermaking properties comparable to those of soda pulp. Refining the pulps increased the tensile index، breaking length، and burst index of the handsheets. The tear index and brightness were lower for refined pulp compared with the unrefined one. The black liquor of this process can be utilized as a fertilizer for agricultural production.