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One trend in the pulp and paper industry is the use of nonwood plants, such as annual plants and grasses. They are intended to substitute trees as a raw material source for pulp. Since the composition and fiber properties differ, they need to be evaluated. In this feasibility study, pulp was extracted from hops, hemp, and miscanthus, yields and fiber properties were investigated and compared with available data for pulp from pine and spruce (Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft). Very high yields of up to 86.6 wt % were found for natural pulping and a low kappa number of 3.5 for miscanthus. Accordingly, almost all the lignin was removed. This confirms the high chemical efficiency of the pulps and underlines the great potential of annual plants and grasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key element in the use of renewable raw materials is besides disintegration the upstream process of comminution. Based on an optimized fine comminution, not only the yield of the disintegration process can be increased, but also the energy requirement for comminution can be significantly reduced. In this work, the comminution of the woody renewable resources common spruce and common beech in a cutting mill was studied. For comparison experiments were carried out on a hammer mill. The influence of water content and nature of the raw material on the specific comminution energy and products was examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]