Fractionation of epidermal cells from wheat straw pulp by flotation

Abstract

The wide availability of wheat straw makes it a promising raw material for various fiber products, but its heterogeneity makes it a challenging material to use. In addition to reducing paper properties, some cell types cause processing problems such as silicate deposition and poor dewatering. The aims of this work were to examine the fractionation tendency of wheat straw pulp cells in flotation and to determine the effect of fractionation on paper strength properties. A cell type categorization based on automatic optical fiber analysis was used to assess fractionation. The results showed that epidermal cells can be selectively enriched from unbleached wheat straw pulp by flotation and other short cells had a tendency to become enriched in the overflow fraction. The underflow fraction consisted mostly of fibrous material, as well as vessel elements and long parenchyma cells. Removal of the epidermal cells from pulp will reduce its silicate content and improve the strength properties of the paper.