METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC ANALYSIS OF WHEAT STRAW PULP CELL TYPES

Abstract

Agricultural residues are receiving increasing interest when studying renewable raw materials for industrial use. Residues, generally referred to as nonwood materials, are usually complex materials. Wheat straw is one of the most abundant agricultural residues around the world and is therefore available for extensive industrial use. However, more information of its cell types is needed to utilize wheat straw efficiently in pulp and papermaking. The pulp cell types and particle dimensions of wheat straw were studied, using an optical microscope and an automatic optical fibre analyzer. The role of various cell types in wheat straw pulp and papermaking is discussed. Wheat straw pulp components were categorized according to particle morphology and categorization with an automatic optical analyzer was used to determine wheat straw pulp cell types. The results from automatic optical analysis were compared to those with microscopic analysis and a good correlation was found. Automatic optical analysis was found to be a promising tool for the in-depth analysis of wheat straw pulp cell types