Fractionation of wheat straw pulp cells in a hydrocyclone

摘要

Wheat straw is used as a raw material in paper manufacturing; however, some cell types in heterogeneous wheat straw pulp are detrimental to pulp processing equipment, cause manufacturing problems and decrease product properties. This study aimed to determine the fractionation tendency of various cell types in a hydrocyclone. A cell type categorization based on an automatic optical fiber analysis was used in the fractionation analysis. The results show that vessel elements enriched into the overflow fraction and epidermal cells migrated into the underflow fraction. The content of fibrous cells and fines was similar in both underflow and overflow fractions. The results also show that a hydrocyclone fractionated wheat straw pulp cells according to cell wall thickness. Based on our results, a hydrocyclone can be used to optimize wheat straw pulp composition for various end uses.