Modeling and Optimizing Brightness Development in Peroxide Bleaching of Thermomechanical Pulp

Alkaline peroxide bleaching of chemi-mechanical pulp is a very complicated system where various process factors affect the bleacing performance and pulp properties. Traditional onefactor-at a time method is ineffective and costly infinding the optimal bleaching conditions. In this study, statistical experimental design and multiple regression method wre used to investigated the interactions among various bleaching factors and to find out the possbile maximal brightness development during one stage alkaline peroxide bleacing of TMP. The TMP was made from 10% Korean red pine and 90% Korean spruce and had an initial brightness of 54.5% ISO. the TMP was pretreated with EDTA(0.5% on O.D. pulp, 3% pulp consistency, 30$^{\circ}C$ for 60 minutes) and bleached in a 2 L Mark V Quantum Reactor at 750 rmp, 7.5% of bleaching consistency and with 0.05% magnesium sulfate addition. The ranges of chemical factors studied , based on oven-ried pulp, were 1-5% for hydrogen peroxide, 1-4% for sodium hydroxide and 1-4% for sodium silicate. The rages of reaction temperature and time were 50-90$^{\circ}C$ and 40-180minutes respectively. Interactions of hydrogen peroxide with alkali , time with temperature ature, alkali with time and silicate with temperature were found to be significant which means that hydrogen peroxide bleaching will be favored at stable concentration of perhydroxyl ion, relatively short time and low temperature, and high level of silicate. Mathematical model which has good predictability for target brightness in one stage peroxide bleaching can also be established easily. Base ion the model, maximal brightness of 70% ISO was found to at 50$^{\circ}C$ and 50 minutes by chemical additions of 5% for hydrogen peroxide, 3.2-3.4% for sodium hydroxide and 4% for silicate based on O.D. pulp. However, this result might not be suitable for situation where furnishes are different from ours, or different pretreatment is used, or bleaching carried out at different pulp consistency. In these cases it will be good to re-investigate the process by a similar methodology as was used in this study.