Detailed modeling of the kraft pulping chemistry: carbohydrate reactions

Abstract

The article introduces a detailed model for carbohydrate chemistry in kraft pulping. This article is continuation to the modeling work carried out for hot water extraction and chemical pulp bleaching. The model includes galactoglucomannan, xylan, and cellulose acid–base equilibria, in addition to peeling, stopping, and alkaline hydrolysis reactions of the same carbohydrates, as well as hexenuronic acid formation and degradation reactions. The Arrhenius parameters were applied from the literature or regressed against experimental data in the present study. The model is very successful in predicting the experimental data of carbohydrate reactions during kraft pulping. Many features of the pulping-related model can be applied to specific fractionation chemistry considerations. The detailed knowledge on carbohydrates composition at any stage of pulping gives possibility for further development of biorefinery cases based on kraft pulping, such as biofuel and chemicals production.