Technical Bulletin No. 0666: Laboratory Studies of Methanol, Acetone, and Methyl Ethyl Ketone Generation from Kraft Pulp Bleaching

Laboratory studies were conducted to investigate the amounts of methanol, acetone, and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) generated in the chlorination and extraction stages as a function of brownstock species, brownstock kappa number, chlorination stage kappa factor, and chlorination stage chlorine dioxide substitution. Four kraft brownstocks (hardwood and pine before and after oxygen delignification) were bleached with a range of kappa factors and chlorine dioxide substitution levels. At all of the conditions tested, the total amounts of acetone and MEK measured in the C and E stages were less than the level of quantitation of the analytical method employed (0.06 lb/ODTBS).