Production of Pulp from Banana Pseudo stem for Grease Proof Paper

ABSTRACT

Now a day, the dependency of mankind on polythene has grown to larger extent because of its wide applications in storing food without allowing the moisture inside the packing and also as carry bags. But polythene is a non-biodegradable material which when buried in the soil doesnt decompose. Because of this reason the soil looses its fertility due to the toxic chemicals it release by the action of temperature and also killing the microorganisms that are essential in the soil. In view of this, several attempts were made in recent years to develop paper that can show the oil proof as that of polythene. This project involves not the production of paper but the basic raw material for paper production that is pulp from banana plant (abundantly available on earth). Later this pulp can be blended with pulp obtained from bamboo which is less abundant, to obtain oil proof paper. The reason behind the selection of banana as raw material is, in banana plantations, after the fruits are harvested, the trunks or stems will be wasted. Billion tons of stem and leaves are thrown away annually. In this project we are producing pulp from banana waste stem using Krafts process and Soda process, also analyze the both process based on their yield, energy consumption and propose the best process.