PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE bioresources.com Janan et al. (2008). “Dissolving pulp from jute,” BioResources 3(4), 1359-1370. 1359 ALTERNATIVE PULPING PROCESS FOR PRODUCING DISSOLVING PULP FROM JUTE M. Sarwar Jahan, Sabina Rawsan, D. A. Nasima Chowdhury, and A. Al-Maruf Dissolving pulps are the raw materials of cellulose derivatives and of many other cellulosic products. Jute is a very good source of cellulose and worthy of consideration for the production of dissolving pulp. In this investigation jute fiber, jute cuttings, and jute caddis were used as raw materials to prepare dissolving pulp by a formic acid process. A very high bleached pulp yield (49 to 59%) was obtained in this process. The α- cellulose content was 93 to 98%, with a high pulp viscosity. Also a good brightness (81 to 87%) was achieved in totally chlorine free bleaching. Jute fiber showed the best and jute caddis showed lowest performance in producing dissolving pulp via the formic acid process. R18-R10 values were much lower than for conventional dissolving pulp. Keywords: Jute fiber; Jute cutting; Jute caddis; Dissolving pulp; TCF bleaching; α-cellulose Contact information: Pulp and Paper Research Division, BCSIR Laboratories, Dhaka, Dr. Qudrat-I- Khuda Road, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh *Corresponding author: m_sarwar@bdonline.com INTRODUCTION Forest resources are diminishing in Bangladesh, while consumption of paper and allied materials is continuously increasing (FAO 2003). So it is important to seek strategies that will compensate for diminishing forest resources and also provide local economic value. It is therefore crucial to explore nonwoods as potential raw materials for pulp production. Jute used to play an important role in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. A significant portion of the total export earnings was dependent on jute and related products in the sixties (Jahan et al. 2007). The chemical and morphological characteristics of jute favor it as a pulping raw material (Nahar 1987). Therefore, many studies have been done on the pulp from jute at home and abroad (Akhtaruzzaman and Shafi 1995; Jahan 2001; Roy et al. 1998; Jahan 2008). Retted jute fiber contains a very high α-cellulose and low hemicellulose content as compared to wood or other nonwood (Nahar 1987). So it may be used in producing dissolving pulp. But the price of jute fiber cannot compete with wood. The bottom part of jute, which is called jute cuttings, is discarded in jute mills. About 15% of jute cuttings and 3% of caddis are produced in processing of jute fiber in conventional jute mills. Bangladesh produced 8,10,000 MT of jute fiber in 2004-2005 (Anon 2007). So about 120,000 metric tons of jute cuttings and 24,300 metric tons of caddis remained left over in jute mills in one year. These residual materials have the potential to be used as pulping raw materials. Most of the dissolving pulps are produced from wood using the prehydrolysis kraft or acid sulfite processes (Biermann 1993; Hinck et al. 1985). Dissolving wood pulp is a chemically refined bleached pulp composed of more than 90 percent pure cellulose.