Niña Desiree May G. Alberto, Thea Mae Q. Baltazar, Johannes Paolo B. Cerrado (February 2006)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
Cellulose is a polymer present in nature and is the raw material for paper, anti caking agents, and even plastics. Bagasse is the waste material from sugar cane after the juice has been extracted and it may contain up to 60% cellulose. In order to extract the cellulose there are several methods present, though two remain to be the most used. They are the Alkaline Sulfite Process and the Neutral Sulfite Semi-Chemical Pulping process (NSSC).
This study sets out to determine if there is a significant difference on the percent ash, crude, fiber, and moisture content of cellulose extracted from bagasse using two different extraction methods, the Alkaline Sulfite Process and the Neutral Sulfite Semi-Chemical Process.
The cellulose was extracted from bagasse by digesting it with a solution made up of NaOH, Na2SO4. For the Alkaline Sulfite process the bagasse was digested for three hours while the NSSC process was digested for one hour, then the digested bagasse was mechanically ground into a homogenous solution using a blender. All testing was done at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC). T-test for independent samples was employed to analyzed data.
Results of the study showed that Alkaline Sulfite process yields cellulose with significantly higher crude fiber and ash content and significantly lower moisture content than NSSC.