Material for this investigation consisted of chips from both stem wood and whole trees from three species grown in the Central Sudan. These included the following: Acacia seyal var. seyal (Talh)., Prospis juliflora (Mesquite). And Conocarpus erecta (Sauidi damas). Samples from whole tree chips, from each species were chemically analyzed using TAPPI standards. Fiber morphology was also determined for stem wood and branch wood separately for each of the three species. These measurements were made for macerated fibers, using stereological techniques for determining fiber length, while cross-sectional measurements were made using the Quant meter Image Analyzer equipped with a microscope in Giad Material Research laboratory. Stem wood chips and whole tree chips were cooked separately for each species using soda-anthraquinone (AQ) pulping. The pulping process was carried out in a laboratory, cylindrical digester. Pulp yield was determined. Pulping process and pulp preparations were also carried out according to different TAPPI standards, and so were pulp beating, handsheet formation and testing. Evaluation of paper quality produced from this investigation was based on three properties, namely: tensile index, burst index, and bulk density. The results showed significant differences in chemical and anatomical properties between the different parts of the three species. This was reflected in some pulp and paper properties. Although pulp yields were slightly lower than those from previous studies, the paper properties obtained were, in most cases, higher than previous results. Tensile index and burst index increased with beating time and showed only slight decrease in case of whole tree paper compared to paper from stem wood.

Whole Tree; Stem Wood; Soda Pulping; Paper Properties