Potentials of branchwood pulp from selected plantation species: Moluccan sau (Paraserianthes falcataria (L.) Nielsen)

The utilization of the branchwood into pulp as potential source of fibers for many uses like papers, paperboards, fiberboards and other cellulose derived products will immensely increase the yield per tree (Haygreen & Bowyer, 1982). From various researches done on branches, results definitely showed differences in the anatomical features of the branch and the main stem. Findings of these researches showed that the values derived from the branches are lower than that of the stem, such as, shorter length of tracheids in coniferous branch, fibers in hardwood branches are 25% shorter than the stem, and lesser diameter values, the kraft pulping studies yield lower strength of the sheet but it requires less beating time. By the mere position of the branches in the trees, the occurrence of the reaction wood is highly possible. Reaction wood is also different from normal wood. The presence of the reaction wood in branches for pulp production though, can be viewed as a boon rather than a bane. In hardwoods, the reaction wood is known as tension wood. Chemically, tension wood has higher cellulose content than normal wood, thus as fiber source, branches from hardwoods may yield more fibers. The branches from Moluccan sau (Paraserianthes falcataria (L.) Nielsen), a plantation species, was pulped employing the kraft process, with the effective alkali, and H-factor as variables and subsequently bleached in 4 bleaching sequences. The results for the branches pulped at 16% effective alkali [EA] and a 1600 H-factor yield a comparable results with that of the trunk with even less fines in the branch, and higher percentage in the + 48 major fraction, as a result of the fiber classification. The total percentage yield is also higher in the branch than in the trunk, which is a positive indication for the branchwood pulping, at all levels of H-factors. The beaten branchwood pulp, at 1000 + 4000 PFI revolutions, exhibited higher densities but with respect to the properties at test, branchwood should be beaten at lower revolutions. Bleaching does not drastically reduce the intrinsic viscosity of the pulp. The study shows that branchwood could really yield acceptable fiber even for paper manufacture, employing 16% EA but lower H-factor and a lower degree of beating