Characterization of totally chlorine-free effluents from kraft pulp bleaching III

Abstract Chemical changes in the dissolved high-molecular-mass material from silver birch (Betula pendula) kraft pulp during the oxygen–alkali delignification stage (O) and the subsequent totally chlorine-free (TCF) bleaching sequence (X–Z–EOP–AZ–EP–S) were investigated by analytical pyrolysis (pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass-sensitive detector (Py–GC/MSD)). In addition, the pyrolysis data were subjected to chemometric analysis, resulting in a rapid method for determining with reasonable accuracy, for example, the mass proportion of carbohydrates and lignin in the effluents from each of the treatment stages. The method was calibrated by chemical analysis on the same effluents.