Influence of hemicelluloses content on the paper quality produced with Eucalyptus globulus fibres

The raw-material composition and the cooking conditions determine the pulp composition and this affect the behaviour of the pulp in the beating process and the papermaking potential. However, at industrial scale the variability of the pulp composition, for a given raw material and a given process, is relatively low and usually it is difficult to quantify the impacts of pulp composition on beating and papermaking. In the present study E. globulus bleached pulps were produced under different cooking conditions by the kraft process in order to obtain pulps with significant different hemicelluloses content (19% versus 14.5%). The behaviour of the pulps in beating and the papermaking potential were investigated under two beating intensities in the PFI mill and at four beating times. The pulp suspensions were characterised in terms of drainability, fibre morphology, wet fibre flexibility and relative bonded area. The paper produced was evaluated in terms of structural, superficial, mechanical and optical properties. The results showed the clear effect of the hemicelluloses content on the beating rate as well as on the paper properties