Patent ID: 8524037

Claim:
A continuous process for delignifying lignocellulosic material, the process comprising: feeding a lignocellulosic blend comprising a Thuja plicata chip furnish and a second lignocellulosic material that is a Callitropsis nootkatensis chip furnish into an aqueous alkaline pulping solution at a feed end of a digester, to produce a lignocellulosic mass, wherein the Truja plicata chip furnish comprises at least 50% of the blend by oven dry weight, wherein the second lignocellulosic material is provided in a proportion that increases the density of the mass so that the mass sinks in the pulping solution so as to move the mass through the digester to produce a cellulosic pulp under conditions having an H-Factor of 1500 or greater; and recovering the cellulosic pulp at a recovery end of the digester, wherein the cellulosic pulp may be subsequently bleached to produce a bleached pulp having: a. a post-bleaching kappa of 5 or less; b. a yield of 38% or more; c. an average length weighted fiber length of 2.2 mm or less; d. a coarseness of 0.16 mg/m or less; e. a freeness of 610 mL or greater; f. a tensile strength of 8.0 m or more at 500 Csf; and g. a porosity of 60 Gurley sec. or less at 500 Csf.