Development of paper from banana stem fibre.

Abstract

Paper is made of a raw material that has been beaten and broken down into tiny fibres, mixed with water and formed into sheets on a screen surface that catches the fibres as the water drains through it. The individual fibres interlock and form a sheet of paper when pressed and dried. The raw materials producing such fibres include the bast plants, tree bark, stalks of grasses, and other vegetation. The modernization of papermaking made it possible for mass-production of paper using pulped woods. The invention of pulping machine would end the nearly 2000-year use of pulped rags and plant fibres, and start a new era for the production of newsprint. Eventually almost all paper that we know today is made out of pulped wood. Banana stem is studied to be used as the alternative to replace wood for the production of pulp and paper. The experimental design of production of papers was computed and the response of paper properties was analysed using a central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM). The aim of the study is to observe the influence of different factors such as blending time, the amount of banana stem and the amount of water in the pulping of banana stem on tensile strength, density and thermal degradation of paper. The blending time had a predominate effect on banana stem pulp and paper properties which improves the pulp yield, tensile strength, and density. The amount of water took the second place and the amount of banana stem seems to have low priority. By applying the desirability function method, the optimal production conditions were found to be a blending time of 8.355 min, amount of banana stem of 825.538 grams and water content of 1.349 liters. The optimal conditions resulted in a little difference when compared to the predicted value. The resulting paper properties value were approximately 0-16% lower than the predicted value. The difference of observed and predicted values of paper properties was considered acceptable.