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Pulp and paper mills: The original biorefineries — past performance and limitations to future opportunities, TAPPI Journal October 2023
ABSTRACT: Pulp mills have been biorefineries since the invention of the Tomlinson recovery boiler. Unfortunately, the paper industry has done a poor job explaining that concept to the general public. A number of bioproducts in everyday use have been produced by pulp mills for several decades, and new products are routinely being developed. Modern research efforts over the last couple of decades have focused on producing even more products from pulp and paper mills through capacity enhancement and the development of value-added products and liquid transportation fuels to enhance paper mill profitability. Some of these efforts, often referred to as modern biorefineries, have focused so heavily on product development that they have ignored operating and process realities that limit the transformation of pulp and paper mills from the current limited number of bioproducts produced today to economic scale production of these value-added products. In this paper, several of these limitations are addressed. In addition, there are several supply chain, marketing, product quality, and economic realities limiting the value potential for these wholesale conversions of pulp mills into multiproduct modern biorefineries. Finally, the conservative nature and capital intensity of the pulp and paper industries provide a difficult hurdle for conversion to the modern biorefinery concept. These issues are also reviewed.
Journal articles
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Kraft pulp viscosity as a predictor of paper strength: Its uses and abuses, TAPPI Journal October 2023
ABSTRACT: For bleached kraft pulps, two factors govern paper strength: the individual fiber strength, and the bond strength that adheres the individual fibers together in the paper matrix. Inherent fiber strength is related to the length of the carbohydrate polymers, also known as the degree of polymerization (DP). Average DP (DP) is inferred by performing pulp viscosity measurements. Under certain circumstances during kraft pulping and bleaching, the average polymer lengths can be shortened, resulting in lower pulp viscosity, and may indicate fiber damage. Fiber damage typically manifests itself as a reduction in tear strength for well-bonded handsheets.This paper will review the literature on how pulp viscosity can predict paper/fiber strength and how it can be used as a diagnostic tool. It can be a means to monitor pulp quality during pulping and bleaching, as well as to alert when such operations approach a critical threshold. However, viscosity losses must be carefully and judiciously analyzed. Like most diagnostic tools, viscosity measurements can be misused and abused, which can lead to incorrect inferences about intrinsic fiber strength. This review will also cover these misuses. The overall goal is to provide the papermaker a better understanding of what pulp viscosity is, how it correlates to potential sheet strength, and what its limitations are. It will be illustrated that when pulp viscosity drops below a critical value, it will indicate an appreciable deterioration in the paper’s tear and tensile strength.
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Global Paper and Paperboard Demand Growing Despite Declines
Global Paper and Paperboard Demand Growing Despite Declines in Graphic Paper, Paper360º March/April 2018
Journal articles
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PPI Awards Showcase Industry Excellence, Paper360º March/Apr
PPI Awards Showcase Industry Excellence, Paper360º March/April 2018
Journal articles
Magazine articles
A hundred years of corrosion in the pulp and paper industry, TAPPI JOURNAL May 2018
A hundred years of corrosion in the pulp and paper industry, TAPPI JOURNAL May 2018
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Factors affecting particulate removal efficiency of kraft recovery boiler electrostatic precipitators: a technical review, TAPPI JOURNAL May 2018
Factors affecting particulate removal efficiency of kraft recovery boiler electrostatic precipitators: a technical review, TAPPI JOURNAL May 2018
Journal articles
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Dry chip feedrate control using online chip moisture, TAPPI JOURNAL May 2018
Dry chip feedrate control using online chip moisture, TAPPI JOURNAL May 2018
Journal articles
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SetPoint: Big Results from Thinking Small, Paper360º May/June 2018
SetPoint: Big Results from Thinking Small, Paper360º May/June 2018
Journal articles
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Human Performance and Risk Reduction, Paper360º May/June 2018
Human Performance and Risk Reduction, Paper360º May/June 2018
Journal articles
Magazine articles
Ford Goes Further with Renewable Nanomaterials, Paper360º May/June 2018
Ford Goes Further with Renewable Nanomaterials, Paper360º May/June 2018