Inorganic Reactions in Chlorine Dioxide Bleaching of Softwood Kraft Pulp

A softwood kraft pulp (27 kappa) was bleached with chlorine dioxide to various end pH values. The formation of chlorite, chlorate, and chloride was measured to quantify the amount of chlorine dioxide wasted as a function of pH during a Do (pre‐bleaching) stage. Chlorate formation increased with a decrease in final pH. Conversely, residual chlorite increased with an increase in the final pH. After 120 min of bleaching the total residual chlorite and chlorate showed that no substantial increase in residual oxidant occurs when bleaching to an end pH below 3.4. As a result, the brightness and permanganate numbers for low pH chlorine dioxide bleached pulps did not differ when bleaching to an end pH between 3.4 and 1.8. However, decreasing the pH below 3.4 did result in increased organic chloride formation. The results are contrary to previous studies where the maximum bleaching efficiency for a D1 stage was reported to occur when the end pH was between 3 and 4.