Bleaching or Brightening
Since the raw pulp (brown stock) still contains an
appreciable amount of lignin and other discoloration,
it must be bleached to produce light colored or
white papers preferred for many products. Bleaching
is normally done in several stages (multistage
bleaching). Through chlorination and oxidation the
fibers are further “delignified” by solubilizing
additional lignin from the cellulose.
A number of bleaching agents may be used and
are applied in a stepwise fashion within a bleaching
sequence. These include chlorine gas, chlorine
dioxide, sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide,
and oxygen. Between bleaching treatments, a strong
alkali (usually sodium hydroxide) is used to extract
the dissolved lignin from the surface of the fibers.
The bleaching agents and the sequence in which they
are used depend on a number of factors, such as the
relative cost of the bleaching chemicals, type and
condition of the pulp, desired brightness of the paper
to be produced, and sometimes in response to
environmental guidelines and regulations.
Bleaching of mechanical pulp is much different
than that for chemical pulp. Mechanical pulping
leaves the lignin and the cellulose intact, whereas the
purpose of chemical pulping is to chemically separate
the lignin from the cellulose fibers and remove
it from the pulp. A major advantage of mechanical
pulping is the high yields of pulp that can be
achieved from a given volume of wood. Therefore,
bleaching or brightening of mechanical pulps is
designed to minimize the removal of the lignin that
would reduce fiber yields.
Chemicals used for bleaching mechanical pulps
selectively destroy coloring impurities but leave the
lignin and cellulosic materials intact, These include
sodium bisulfite, sodium or zinc hydrosulfite (no
longer used in the United States), calcium or sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen or sodium peroxide, and the
Sulfur Dioxide-Borol Process (a variation of the
sodium hydrosulfite method). Originally, much of
the mechanical pulp was not bleached, but the
bleaching of groundwood has increased and improved
technology now enables bleached groundwood
pulp to be used for printing papers, tissues, and
towelling.