Characterization And Utilization Of Fiber From Enset Waste (Ensete Vetricosum) For Paper Production Process In West Shoa Zone Of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Enset (Enete vintricosum) is a vast fiber plant; it has a long length of fiber, and a good sources of pulp and hence can be used as input for the production of paper. The aim of this study was to extract and characterize waste Enset fibers for paper production. Proximate analysis, chemical compositions, and morphological properties of waste enset fibers were investigated in this paper. Proximate analysis, including ash content (4.97%) and moisture content (11%), was performed. Chemical properties including cellulose (56.55%), hemicellulose (76.98%), lignin (12.51%), ash (4.97%), and extractives (5.54%) were determined by assuming the content of enset fibers has only the above compositions. The morphological properties of enset fibers, including fiber length, diameter, lumen width, and cell wall thickness, were 2.66mm, 13.45 μm, 12.85 μm, and 3.42 μm, respectively. Enset fiber has an acceptable Runkel ratio (0.54) and flexibility coefficient (95.6) in the range of non-woods. Morphological analysis of pulp from enset fiber by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to determine the morphology of the fiber.The best properties of the pulp kappa number and yield were obtained with 10% sodium hydroxide, a cooking temperature of 130 oC, and a cooking time of 60 min. The optimum values of yield and kappa number were obtained from experiments at 38.06% and 18.6%, respectively. Tensile strength, tearing strength, and burst strength were up to the set standard. In general, results based on chemical and morphological analysis indicated that waste enset fibers are a promising fibrous raw material for paper production.