The top ten factors in kraft pulp yield

摘要

Kraft pulp yield depends on a plethora of factors: the nature of the wood and the quality of the chips, the cooking recipe (especially the key independent variables - alkali charge, sulphidity, temperature, and kappa target), the pulping equipment, and so on. Here, the factors have been assembled into a "top ten" list, and are assessed in terms of relative importance, potential to influence yield values, and contribution to practical knowledge of how pulp yields can be improved. The ten factors can be re-ordered at will, to rank the magnitude of the yield changes they can produce, for example, or to see which factors have the highest potential for yield improvement at modest cost.