The influence of various cooking parameters, such as effective alkali, cooking temperature, and cooking time on the formation of high molecular mass lignin-derived and low molecular mass carbohydrates-derived (aliphatic carboxylic acids) degradation products, mainly during the initial phase of softwood kraft pulping was studied. In addition, the mass transfer of all of these degradation products was clarified based on their concentrations in the cooking liquor inside and outside of the chips. The results indicated that the degradation of the major hemicellulose component, galactoglucomannan, typically was dependent on temperature, and the maximum degradation amount was about 60%. In addition, about 60 min at 284°F (140°C) was needed for leveling off the concentrations of the characteristic reaction products (3,4-dideoxy-pentonic and glucoisosaccharinic acids) between these cooking liquors. Compared with low molecular mass aliphatic acids, the mass transfer of soluble lignin fragments with much higher molecular masses was clearly slower.
