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Over the Wire..., Paper360º July/August 2021

Over the Wire..., Paper360º July/August 2021

Leaders Don’t Settle for a New Normal, Paper360º July/August 2021

Leaders Don’t Settle for a New Normal, Paper360º July/August 2021

Guest Editorial: Research and development in the post COVID-19 era, TAPPI Journal June 2021

Science and technology occupy prominent roles in solving global problems. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of science regarding decision-making, saving lives, and safeguarding the environment. While information technology (IT) and IT-based tools have garnered much needed attention in the past few decades, other areas such as manufacturing engineering, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals are finding their right places in gaining public and political support and attention--thanks to COVID-19! Such public attention has highlighted vulnerabilities due to lack of investments in manufacturing and materials engineering, as well as the need for strategic investments in these areas.

A guide to eliminating baggy webs, TAPPI Journal June 2021

ABSTRACT: Slack or baggy webs can cause misregistration, wrinkles, and breaks in printing and converting operations. Bagginess appears as non-uniform tautness in the cross direction (CD) of a paper web. The underlying cause is uneven CD tension profiles, for which there are few remedies once the paper is made. Precision measurements of CD tension profiles combined with trials on commercial paper machines have shown that uniform CD distribution of moisture, basis weight, and caliper profiles at the reel are key to avoiding bagginess. However, the most important but infrequently measured factor is the CD moisture profile entering the dryer section. Wetter areas entering the dryers are permanently elongated more than dry areas, leading to greater slackness in the finished paper. In storage, wound-in tension can amplify baggy streaks in paper near the surface of a roll and adjacent to the core. Unwrapped or poorly wrapped rolls exposed to low humidity environments may have baggy centers caused by moisture loss from the roll edges.All of the factors that impact bagginess have been incorporated in a mathematical model that was used to interpret the observations from commercial trials and can be used as a guide to solve future problems.

Soybean peroxidase treatment of ultra-high kappa softwood pulp to enhance yield and physical properties, TAPPI Journal September 2020

ABSTRACT: The working hypothesis serving as basis for this study is that pulping to a higher kappa number will produce a higher yield pulp, and then treating that pulp with a surface reactive lignin peroxidase to ablate surface lignin will increase specific bonding area. In the present case, the working hypothesis was modified so that soybean peroxidase (SBP) works like lignin peroxidase to modify surface lignin on high-kappa, high-yield softwood pulps to facilitate enhanced fiber-to-fiber bonding such that the resulting paper strength is similar to the lower kappa soft-wood pulp generally used to make linerboard. Soybean peroxidase is actually a plant peroxidase that exhibits lignin peroxidase-like activity. It is not a lignin peroxidase derived from white rot fungus. The current work did show a significant improvement in pulp yield (62.2% vs. 55.2% yield for a 103-kappa control linerboard grade sheet), while treatment with SBP showed that tensile, burst, and STFI properties of the pulp were improved, although more convincing data needs to be obtained.

TAPPI News, Paper360º September/October 2020

TAPPI News, Paper360º September/October 2020

Tissue Market Called Dynamic: Fastmarkets RISI NA Conference, Tissue360º Spring/Summer 2020

Tissue Market Called Dynamic: Fastmarkets RISI NA Conference, Tissue360º Spring/Summer 2020

Using novel DNA methods to achieve higher process efficiency and performance, TAPPI Journal January 2023

ABSTRACT: Uncontrolled microbiological activity is a challenge for recycled fiber (RCF) mills as it can have negative effects on production and end-product quality. The microbes that exist in these systems have been largely unknown, and the strategies employed to control microbiology have been non-specific. Understanding the specific microbial groups present in RCF mills, their properties, and where they exist, as well as having the ability to accurately measure the true troublemakers, are key to targeted control of the bad actors. In this study, we present the results of a global survey of over 40 RCF paper machines. The same RCF-specific problem-causing bacterial groups were found on different continents, including large densities of newly identified bacteria in paper processes. Those can degrade cellulose and starch, produce acids and odorous substances, and have a significant impact on fiber strength and additive consumption. We also demonstrate how modern DNA tools can quantify the impact of biocidal countermeasures against the actual troublemakers, including bacteria found to degrade cellulose during RCF pulp storage, which may be linked to a negative impact on end-product strength. These novel DNA tools give producers updated biocide program key performance indicators (KPIs) and actionable information to more effectively design and adjust microbiological control to achieve higher process efficiency and performance.

PM Upgrade Requires a Comprehensive Condition Monitoring Solution, Paper360º January/February 2023

ASPI News, Paper360º July/August 2023