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Cationic emulsions of maleic anhydride derivatives of oleic and abietic acid for hydrophobic sizing of paper, TAPPI Journal 2020
ABSTRACT: Ordinary rosin sizing agents are mixtures of resin acids that include abietic acid and related compounds obtained from softwoods such as pine. Fatty acids, which are another byproduct of the kraft pulping of soft-wood species, also may have hydrophobic effects, but their use as sizing agents has seldom been considered. In the current study, abietic acid and oleic acid, in the absence of other components, were first modified by reaction with maleic acid anhydride. Then, the maleated derivatives (maleated oleic acid [MOA] and maleated abietic acid [MAA]), which were emulsified with cationic starch at the 1:1 and 3:2 ratio, respectively, were added to fiber furnish containing aluminum sulfate (papermaker’s alum). The prepared sheets were dried with a rotating drum on one side at 100°C at low pressure to cure the sizing agents. The chemical, optical strength, and absorption properties were measured. The presence of the sizing material was confirmed using time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and the retention of the sizing agent on fibers was supported by evidence of hydrocarbons on the paper surface. In addition to achieving sufficient water resistance features with MAA, a lesser hydrophobic character was obtained when using MOA. Compared to commercial applications, relatively large amounts of sizing agent were used to obtain a sufficient sizing degree. The MOA required 5% addition to achieve a similar sizing degree as MAA at the 2% level. The sizing treatments also resulted in substantial increases in tensile index value. Since cationic starch was used in the formulation of the sizing agents, the increase in tensile index may have been due to the influence of cationic starch. Contributions to paper strength from a combination of ionic complexation and mutual association of hydrophobic groups is also proposed. Depending on the amount of sizing agent, the yellowness increased, especially when sizing with MOA.
Journal articles
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Multifunctional barrier coating systems created by multilayer curtain coating, TAPPI Journal November 2023
ABSTRACT: Functional coatings are applied to paper and paperboard substrates to provide resistance, or a barrier, against media such as oil and grease, water, water vapor, and oxygen, for applications such as food packaging, food service, and other non-food packaging. Today, there is increasing interest in developing recyclable and more sustainable approaches for producing these types of packages. This paper focuses on water-based barrier coatings (WBBC) for oil and grease resistance (OGR), water, moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR), and oxygen barrier performance. The main goal is to create coated systems that can achieve more than one barrier property using multilayer curtain coating (MLCC) in a single application step. One advantage is in optimizing coating material cost with the use of functional chemistry in confined layers where performance is balanced within the coating layered structure. This allows simultaneous application of layers of different polymer types in one step to achieve the appropriate performance needs for a given barrier application. This paper provides working examples of using MLCC to create coating structures with multiple barrier properties in a single application pass. Barrier polymers studied include styrene butadiene, styrene acrylate, starch-containing emulsions, and polyvinyl alcohol. The paper also shows the effect of increasing the pigment volume concentration with platy clay or fine ground calcium carbonate on MVTR and OGR barrier properties.
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Surface energy considerations for offset printing of coated paper and paperboard, TAPPI Journal November 2023
ABSTRACT: Offset printing of coated paper involves the complex interactions of ink with a surface that is characterized by three major properties: roughness, porosity, and related pore network structure and surface chemistry (related to surface free energy [SFE]). The effects of porosity and roughness are relatively well understood and are documented in the literature, whereas the influence of surface chemistry is much less studied and therefore the focus of this paper. The key results shown include: i) Coating porosity has a negligible effect on SFE determination by contact angle using two fluids. ii) The chemistry of the latex polymer in the coating formulation dominates the influence on SFE compared to pigment, with any surface energy differences present in the pigment being almost completely masked by latex. iii) Wetting agent and corona treatment can impact water absorption rate and surface spreading of water, resulting in small differences in printability. Increasing the concentration of the surfactant on a coated surface indicates switching orientation of the surfactant molecules, giving a “step wise” printing result. When looking to improve offset printability by selection of different pigments, the variation in SFE is less important than variation in either surface roughness or porosity.
Journal articles
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Multifunctional barrier coating systems created by multilayer curtain coating, TAPPI Journal November 2020
ABSTRACT: Functional coatings are applied to paper and paperboard substrates to provide resistance, or a barrier, against media such as oil and grease (OGR), water, water vapor as measured by moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR), and oxygen, for applications such as food packaging, food service, and other non-food packaging. Typical functional barrier coatings can be created by applying a solid coating or extruded film, a solvent based-coating, or a water-based coating to the paper substrate using various means of coating applicators.This paper focuses on water-based barrier coatings (WBBC) for OGR, water, MVTR, and oxygen barriers. The main goal was to create coated systems that can achieve more than one barrier property using multilayer curtain coating (MLCC). Curtain coating has emerged as the premier low-impact application me thod for coated paper and paperboard. This paper provides examples using MLCC to create coating structures that provide multiple barrier properties in a single coating step. Barrier polymer systems studied include styrene butadiene, styrene acrylate, vinyl acrylic, and natural materials, as well as proprietary additives where required to give desired performance. The paper also shows how the specific coating layers can be optimized to produce the desired property profile, without concern for blocking, as the addition of a non-blocking top layer can be applied in the MLCC structure as well. Experiments on base sheet types also shows the importance of applying the multilayer structure on a pre-coated surface in order to improve coating thickness consistency and potentially allow for the reduction of more expensive layer components.
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The use of hollow sphere pigments as strength additives in paper and paperboard coatings—Part 1: The predictive nature of packing models on coating properties, TAPPI Journal November 2020
ABSTRACT: Hollow sphere pigments (HSPs) are widely used at low levels in coated paper to increase coating bulk and to provide gloss to the final sheet. However, HSPs also provide an ideal system through which one can examine the effect of pigment size and particle packing within a coating due to their unimodal and tunable particle sizes. The work presented in Part 1 and Part 2 of this study will discuss the use of blends of traditional inorganic pigments and HSPs in coating formulations across a variety of applications for improved coating strength. Part 1 of this study focuses on the theory of bimodal spherical packing and demonstrates the predictive nature of packing models on the properties of coating systems containing HSPs of two different sizes. This study also examines conditions where the model fails by examining the effect of particle size on coating strength in sytems like thermal paper basecoats where the non-HSP component has a broad particle size distribution, and how these surprising trends can be used to generate better-than-expected thermal printing performance in systems with low HSP/clay ratios. Part 2 of this study focuses on the incorporation of HSPs of different particle sizes into paperboard formulations to affect coating strength and opacity.
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Z-directional testing of paperboard in combined tensile and compression loading, TAPPI Journal May 2024
ABSTRACT: The out-of-plane properties of paperboard are important in several converting applications such as printing, sealing, creasing, and calendering. A juxtaposed tensile and compression curve in the z direction (ZD) will, however, appear to have a kink or discontinuity at 0 stress. The purpose of the present work is to capture the continuous transition between tension and compression and to increase the understanding of the complex ZD properties of paperboard by cyclic testing. In this attempt to unify the ZD tensile and compressive behavior of paperboard, samples were laminated to the testing platens using heat seal laminate film. The method for adhering the samples was compared to samples that were laminated and glued to the testing platens. The edge effects of the cutting method were evaluated in compression testing with samples not attached to the testing platens. The flat slope seen in the initial part of the pure compression curve disappeared when the samples were laminated to the testing platens. The flat slope was instead replaced by a continuous response in the transition across 0 N. The stiffness in the transition region resembled the response in tensile testing. When the testing is cycled, the material exhibits a history dependence. Starting the cycle in either compression or tensile will show an effect on the stiffness at the transition, as well as the compressive stiffness. However, the ultimate tensile strength is unaffected.
Journal articles
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Print quality of flexographic printed paperboard related to coating composition and structure, TAPPI Journal January 2018
Print quality of flexographic printed paperboard related to coating composition and structure, TAPPI Journal January 2018
Journal articles
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Control of continuous digester kappa number using generalized model predictive control, TAPPI Journal September 2024
ABSTRACT: Kappa number variability at the digester impacts pulp yield, physical strength properties, and lignin content for downstream delignification processing. Regulation of the digester kappa number is therefore of great importance to the pulp and paper industry. In this work, an industrial application of model-based predictive control (MPC), based on generalized prediction control, was developed for kappa number feedback control and applied to a dual vessel continuous digester located in Western Canada. The problem was complicated by the need to apply heat at multiple locations in the cook. In this study, the problem was reduced from a multiple to a single input system by identifying three potential single variable permutations for temperature adjustment. In the end, a coordinated approach to the heaters was adopted. The process was perturbed and modeled as a simple first order plus dead time model and implemented in generalized predictive control (GPC). The GPC was then configured to be equivalent to Dahlin’s controller, which reduced tuning parameterization to a single closed loop time constant. The controller was then tuned based on robustness towards a worst-case dead time mismatch of 50%. The control held the mean value of the kappa number close to the setpoint, and a 40% reduction in the kappa number’s standard deviation was achieved. Different kappa number trials were run, and the average fiberline yield for each period was evaluated. Trial results suggested yield gains of 0.3%•0.5% were possible for each 1 kappa number target increase.
Journal articles
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Effects of hydrodynamic shear during formation of paper sheets with the addition of nanofibrillated cellulose, cationic starch, and cationic retention aid, TAPPI Journal September 2024
ABSTRACT: Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate effects of hydrodynamic shear levels on papermaking process variables and paper handsheet properties. The furnish was from 100% recycled copy paper, to which was added nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) at the 5% level following its optional pretreatment with cationic starch. A cationic copolymer of acrylamide (cPAM) was used as the retention aid. Different levels of hydrodynamic shear were applied both after mixing the NFC with the cationic starch (pre-shearing) or after all the furnish components had been combined (final shearing). The presence or absence of pre-shearing was found to have little effect on the measured outcomes. By contrast, increasing final shear hurt filler retention and made the resulting paper more uniform. However, the final shear level did not have a significant effect on the tensile strength of the resulting handsheets. Medium-charge density cationic starch, used in pretreating the NFC, consistently gave greater strength in comparison to a high-charge cationic starch. The significance of these findings is that though the relatively high hydrodynamic shear levels associated with modern paper machines can have some beneficial effects, they do not necessarily overcome all challenges associated with wet-end addition of nanocellulose in combination with other additives.
Journal articles
Magazine articles
Flocculation of fiber suspensions studied by Rheo-OCT, TAPPI Journal September 2024
ABSTRACT: When dealing with papermaking fiber suspensions, particle flocculation takes place even before the paper web is formed. The particle flocculation depends on several aspects, including particle mass concentration (consistency), particle collisions, electrochemical interactions promoted by chemical additives, etc. Due to its importance, fiber suspension flocculation has been studied for a long time in papermaking, and several methods have been developed for this purpose. The traditional techniques include, for example, focused beam reflectance microscopy (FBRM) and high-speed video imaging (HSVI). Recently, a new optical method, optical coherence tomography (OCT), has emerged for flocculation analysis. The advantages of OCT are the possibility to study opaque suspensions, its micron-llevel resolution, and its high data acquisition speed. The OCT measurements can be combined with rheological (Rheo) measurements, allowing simultaneous measurement of both the time evolution of the floc size and the suspension viscosity. In this work, we used this approach, Rheo-OCT, to study the flocculation of suspensions of various papermaking furnishes. We analyzed the time evolution of the floc size and the fiber suspension viscosity when the studied papermaking suspensions were treated with highly refined furnish (HRF) — a furnish that contained a significant amount of micofibrillated cellulose (MFC)-type fibrils — and/or chemical additives. Such studies can lead to a better understanding of the impact of flocculation on the produced paper web in terms of qualities like formation, drainage potential, and strength behavior.