Search

The present research aims to shed light on the effect of activated sludge (from a paper mill) and nanochitosan on the physical and strength properties of recycled pulp. Firstly, activated sludge was treated with 3% acetic acid for 30 min and then placed in a beaker for 90 min at 100 °C. Then, the ingredients were mixed and refined with recycled newsprint pulp in different proportions (0, 5, 10, and 15%). Finally, 2% nanochitosan was optionally added. Test specimens were prepared according to TAPPI standards with a basis weight of 120 g/m2, and their physical (water absorption) and strength (tear strength, tensile strength, burst strength, and ring crush test) properties were measured and compared. The results showed that with the increase of untreated activated sludge in recycled paper pulp, the indicators of tear resistance, ring crush test, and burst strength decreased and water absorption increased. Strength properties increased and water adsorption decreased when adding activated sludge treated with 3% acetic acid. Through the addition of nanochitosan to activated sludge treated with acetic acid, a significant increase in strength properties and a decrease in water absorption were observed.

The macroscopic and microscopic properties of old newsprint pulp with xylanase, MLac/Glu (modified laccase-glutamate system), and X-MLac/Glu (xylanase synergistic modified laccase-glutamate system) pretreatment was investigated by means of fiber quality measurements (FQA), attenuated total reflectance-infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR), headspace gas chromatography (HSGC), X-ray diffract ion method (XRD), Low-temperature nitrogen absorption and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that, compare with the control pulp, the brightness and lightness ( L ∗ {L^{\ast }} ) of hydrogen peroxide bleached pulp after X-MLac/Glu pretreatment increased by 5.86 % ISO and 3.58 %, respectively. FQA analysis revealed that coarseness and fine fiber content increased slightly. The content of carboxyl groups and water retention value increased remarkably by 31.11 % and 39.22 %, respectively. The paper physical analysis showed that the paper strength properties have improved significantly. The crystallinity of cellulose decreased by 3.82 % due to X-MLac/Glu pretreatment. ATR-IR analysis indicated some non-cellulose components are removed. The BJH average pore size and BET specific surface area increased after enzyme pretreatment. The SEM analysis showed that through X-MLac/Glu treatment the fiber surface becomes rough and the connections between the fibers become tighter, more fibrils appeared.

This study investigated the feasibility of utilizing paper sludge (PS) as feedstock in the production of composite boards that are lightweight, durable and environmentally friendly. PS samples were collected from recycled newsprint (RN), corrugated recycled (CR) and virgin pulp (VP) pulping mills in South Africa. The PS was dried and mixed with magnesium phosphate cement to produce boards in a central composite design. Three different fillers including fly ash, calcium carbonate and silica fume were also added to the mix as binder replacement. The PS was characterized before use, and the produced composite board was evaluated for mechanical and physical properties. The boards produced had medium to high density (0.52—1.12 g/cm3) that could be used for non-structural interior applications. The results showed that boards containing RN had the highest mean value for modulus of elasticity (MOE) of 769 MPa. The mean MOE for boards containing CR- and VP-PS was 357 and 411 MPa, respectively. Calcium carbonate had the best effect on the board properties. Techno-economic analysis was simulated for four different types of feedstock scenarios at different locations including a combined scenario. Sensitivity analysis revealed that decreased feedstock cost resulted in decreased minimum required selling price. The analysis also revealed that the combined scenario proved to be the most cost-effective and profitable option for the future.

Direct seeding into strip-tilled zones (STZs) of living mulches may require weed suppression tactics for soil surfaces exposed within the STZ. Three surface mulch options (hydromulch, compost blanket, and a no-mulch control) were evaluated for their ability to suppress weeds and improve crop performance when applied in STZs seeded to carrot (Daucus carota). These STZs were located within one of five living mulch options [red clover (Trifolium pratense), white clover (Trifolium repens), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), a weed-free control, and a weedy control]. From measurements spanning 2 years at two North Dakota locations, dry weed biomass was lower in STZs where hydromulch or compost blankets were applied compared with the no-mulch control (12, 13, and 82 g·m−2, respectively). The presence of a living mulch adjacent to the STZ reduced carrot root biomass by 49% to 84% compared with the weed-free control. Further research should 1) investigate methods for reducing yield loss from living mulches, and 2) develop biodegradable alternatives to plastic mulches.

The use of enzymes in the bio-deinking process of newspaper waste has promising potential. However, investigations on the concentration of enzyme combinations need to be carried out to obtain the optimum ratio of cellulase and laccase enzymes for the bio-deinking process of recycled newspapers. The mixture of the two enzymes at various ratios was used to remove the ink on paper pulp from used newspapers by mechanical disintegration method treatment and followed by the bio-deinking process in an incubator shaker. The characterization of functional groups, structures, and thermal properties of bio-deinked pulp paper was carried out by FTIR, XRD, DTG/TGA, and an analysis of the degree of brightness to the prepared paper. FTIR results confirmed three main components of papers, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The XRD results showed that the equal ratio of cellulase and laccase enzymes had an effect on a higher crystallinity index, which was 78.8% compared to those obtained from the conventional methods with a crystallinity index of 69.7%. Thermal analysis showed that the optimum combination of both enzymes contributed the most at the highest temperature where the rate of degradation decreased. Brightness analysis showed that bio-deinking had met the quality requirements for newsprint paper in SNI 7273:2008. Our findings show that the combination of cellulase and laccase enzymes at the same ratio can produce optimal bio-deinked pulp for paper fabrication with excellent characteristics in brightness, thermal, and physical properties.

In recent yr. due to reduced ligneous resources, increased demand for paper products, increased environmental concerns that are made from virgin papers production, and high volume of waste papers, the need for recycling of papers is felt more than ever. One of the important steps in the process of recycling paper is the deinking of waste papers. The purpose of this study is the deinking of the old magazine papers in order to produce newsprint. In the review, old magazine papers were deinked by Flotation method using: Sodium hydroxide (1%), Sodium silicate (2%), Hydrogen peroxide (1%), and DTPA (1%). Then they were bleached with an amount of Hydrogen peroxide (1/5%). 60 grams of paper was made under standard conditions for testing. Then the brightness of handmade papers was measured in three replicates. The result showed that the brightness of non-deinked papers was about 40%, after deinking it was about 50%, and after bleaching it was increased to about 60%. Results indicate that the use of Hydrogen peroxide and its derivatives in bleaching of waste papers are resulted in increasing brightness in several percent. By combining pulp prepared from recycled magazine paper with CMP pulp prepared from a broadleaf species, the results showed that the addition of deinked OMG significantly reduced the brightness of the control sample. Also, adding deinked magazine paper in any proportion to the mixture of imported CMP pulp and long fiber pulp (by increasing the opacity) improves the quality of the printed paper obtained. This recycled paper can be used in production papers that are used temporary and do not need high resistance (such as newsprints).

The advancement in plastic and plastic based products in last two decades has imposed a serious threat to the environment. This has led to an increase in the demand for sustainable and biobased products. Paper and paper products are good alternatives to their plastic counterparts. A key element of paper industry is the raw material (wood, bamboo and nonwood agricultural residues such as bagasse, straws etc.) from which pulp is produced. The pulp is then utilized for production of paper. There are many pulping processes to prepare pulp of various qualities. For fine grade pulp, chemical pulping is used. The chemical pulp is produced by soda, kraft and sulphite pulping processes. However, for newsprint grade pulp, stone ground wood (SW), thermomechanical (TMP), chemi-thermomechanical (CTMP), chemi-mechanical (CMP) or refiner mechanical (RMP) corresponding pulping processes are employed. The method of pulp preparation (pulping process) consumes large amount of energy and chemicals. A new pulping process with electron irradiation using biowaste (bagasse) as a raw material is discussed in this work. Bagasse pulping process is found to reduce about 50% of energy consumption during pulping process. The process is referred to as ‘ECTMP’ (Energy Efficient Chemi-Thermo Mechanical Pulping). The paper produced from aforesaid method also reflected no loss of strength properties with respect of TMP reference pulps. Henceforth, preliminary calculation based on experimental results shows that the proposed bagasse ECTMP process explored the scope of energy savings of the order of 50%.

This study examines the effect of pulp type on the formability and elongation of paperboard, which are of key importance when producing 3D packages. Material performance was studied with a press-forming machine using laboratory handsheets as substrates. The handsheets were prepared from bleached softwood and hardwood kraft pulps, chemi-thermomechanical pulp, recycled newsprint, and mixtures of birch kraft and other pulps. The effect of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) on substrate properties and material formability was also investigated. The 3D elongation of MFC-free handsheets varied between 1.2 and 5.5%. Depending on the pulp type and sheet composition, three essential sheet properties were recognized. These properties were bulk, elastic modulus and bending stiffness, the first two of which affect material bending stiffness. Sheets made from softwood fibers were superior to other samples, but their low bending stiffness resulted in distortion of formed trays. A partial replacement of birch kraft with recycled newsprint did not lead to a loss of sheet extensibility, which suggests that the interactions between the converting tools and the substrate have a great effect on material convertibility. Scanning electron micrographs showed that the pulp type affects the mechanism behind fracture initiation. The ability of MFC to increase extensibility was limited to mechanical pulps, indicating the important role of the main pulp component in defining tensile properties.

The chemical composition of corn stalk as well as fiber morphology, fiber length and diameter were carried out. Furthermore, Kraft pulping process using different cooking conditions (temperature, 125 – 170oC, time, 15 - 40 min., and % alkali 9 - 12%) were done at laboratory scale. The obtained pulps were characterized with respect to %yield, %rejects, kappa number and rest alkali. Effect of chemical composition of corn stalk on yield and kappa number was discussed. The mechanical properties of hand sheet paper were explained in details, according to different cooking conditions. The high ash content and the relatively short fiber of corn stalk can attribute to positive effect with respect to bulk, opacity and the necessary strength of paper which are important properties in newspaper. Industrial trials were carried out using Pandia continuous digester(74 tons corn stalk kraft pulp was produced) and 90 tons newsprint paper (furnish: 86.5% bleached corn stalk pulp + 13.5 bleached soft wood pulp) was obtained using Furdirinier paper machine. The produced newsprint was printed and commercialized by four famous newsprint companies in Cairo – Egypt (about twenty tons for each). Comparison with the imported newsprint paper was done, the produced newsprint has better qualities with respect to opacity, and strength properties. Findings from industrial and commercialized trials in this study provide insights into new opportunities to utilize corn stalk pulp as better alternative to produce good quality of newsprint.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for diversity in the market and alternative materials for personal protective equipment (PPE). Paper has high coatability for tunable barrier performance, and an agile production process, making it a potential substitute for polyolefin-derived PPE materials. Bleached and newsprint papers were laminated with polyethylene (PE) coatings of different thicknesses, and characterised for their potential use as medical gowns for healthcare workers and COVID-19 patients. Thicker PE lamination improved coating homogeneity and water vapour resistance. 49 GSM bleached paper with 16 GSM PE coating showed high tensile and seam strength, and low water vapour transmission rate (WVTR). Phi-X174 bacteriophage testing revealed that paper laminated with 15 GSM coating hinders virus penetration. This research demonstrates that PE laminated paper is a promising material for low cost viral protective gowns., Graphical abstract Image 1

Increasing society awareness on sustainable development and environmental pollution has led to increase in utilization of industry-based secondary fibers such as old newsprint, mixed office waste, and old magazines for paper making. Paper recycling is necessary to reduce dependency on virgin wood pulp and to avoid disposal problem for waste paper. Deinking, the most important process in waste paper recycling, is traditionally handled by large quantities of chemicals, is expensive, and is damaging the environment. Microbial enzymes offer a better alternative for eco-friendly deinking of waste paper by reducing chemical consumption, which leads to cost-cutting, energy saving, and lower waste production. This chapter describes microbial enzymes reported for waste paper recycling and comparison of enzymatic deinking with other conventional methods.

This research focused on the production of a novel calcium silicate pigment made from pulverized coal fly ash and its application as a coating pigment in a size press for fiber replacement. Improved specific base paper properties of the newsprint was investigated. This novel coated fly ash based calcium silicate (FACS) pigment and conventional precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) pigment was applied using a cylindrical laboratory coater. When a 4.3 gsm coat weight of FACS was used during the size press application, the brightness increased 10 points, whereas, when the coat weight of FACS was increased to 7.8 gsm, the brightness increased to 21 points as compared to base newsprint sheet; however, FACS brightness was lower than the PCC coated newsprint sheet. Also, there was a significant gain in other newsprint specific base properties when fly ash based pigment was used. This indicated that it is feasible to utilize a novel fly ash based pigment in the size press coating application to replace fiber in order to reduce production cost, improve specific base properties, and reduce environmental pollution. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study reporting the application of fly ash as a coating pigment for quality enhancement of newsprint.

Herein, we propose a biorefinery concept for the production of man-made cellulosic fibres from waste newsprint using environmentally friendly technologies. Newsprint represents one of the most challenging ligno-cellulose substrates as it comprises mostly virtually unrefined wood pulp. Spinning dopes were prepared with pulps obtained through kraft pulping and alkaline glycerol pulping at varying intensities. The solubility of kraft deinked newsprint pulps in the ionic liquid 1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-enium acetate ([DBNH]OAc) was not promising and resulted in solutions of poor spinnability. In contrast, dopes prepared from alkaline glycerol pulping showed promising visco-elastic properties and the spun fibres possessed high tensile properties that are comparable to commercial Lyocell fibres made from highly refined dissolving pulp. The structural features of these fibres in terms of degree of orientation, crystallinity and the moisture sorption behaviour were analyzed and are discussed.

We use a dynamic, global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to capture the economic impacts of internet adoption, modeled through reduced demand in the newsprint and printing and writing paper (pulp and paper) industries. Global newsprint consumption is estimated to fall dramatically by 2030. We rely on estimates from another study that captures the change in global pulp and paper consumption using the global forest products model (GFPM), based on two scenarios: (i) full per capita internet adoption by 2100 and (ii) more rapid full internet adoption by 2050. We incorporate reductions in pulpwood consumption into a global multiregional dynamic CGE model to estimate economy-wide impacts in Canadian provinces, the United States, and the rest of the world. Results indicated that the year 2050 internet adoption scenario would result in a reduction in cumulative discounted gross domestic product (GDP) by as much as 17% in some regions of Canada, reduce GDP by 5.8% in the United States, and increase GDP by 3.3% in the rest of the world from 2006 to 2030. These findings highlight the costs of internet adoption, leaving net benefit analysis of adoption to future work.

To clarify the socioeconomic factors influencing global paper and paperboard demand, a panel data analysis was conducted covering the period 1961–2014. This study used paper and paperboard demand as the dependent variable, and a country’s economic level, Internet usage rate, plastic packaging demand, and time trend as the explanatory variables. An inverse U-shaped quadratic relationship, such as an environmental Kuznets curve, was found between economic level and paper and paperboard demand, which saturates and begins to decline as economic level increases. The economic level representing the turning point differs significantly with the use, ranging from around 37,000 US$/person for newsprint paper to around 66,000 US$/person for printing and writing paper. For both newsprint paper and printing and writing paper, demand declines owing to the spread of the Internet as the economic level rises, although this reductive effect is greater for printing and writing paper than for newsprint paper. A substitution relationship is not found between wrapping paper and corrugated cardboard on the one hand and plastic packaging on the other hand as the economic level becomes higher.

Refining of cellulose pulp is a critical step in obtaining high quality paper characteristics, however, this process is slow and costly especially for refining longer conifer fibers which are the preferred source for high quality paper production and give the paper its strength. In this study, we have applied a novel rotation generator of hydrodynamic cavitation for refining conifer rich pulp samples. Our results show that the device is capable of generating intense shear forces and multiple zones of developed cavitation and is successful in increasing the drainage rate of high consistency pulp (3%). The paper produced by means of the obtained pulp has higher quality because of its higher tensile index (50.5 kN m kg−1) and burst index (3 kPa m2 g−1). These physical parameters were sufficient for newsprint paper and other paper/board quality manufacture. In addition, this laboratory scale rotation generator proved to be economically efficient in comparison to the routinely employed laboratory beaters. To our knowledge, this is the first example of using hydrodynamic cavitation for the refinement of softwood fiber pulp of standard industrial consistencies (3%).

Laccase has the enormous potential to be implemented as the multitasking biocatalyst in whole process of paper making. The enzyme can utilize effectively for pulping, delignification of pulps as alone or in the combination with other bleaching enzymes. Laccase has been evaluated for the biografting of pulp fibers, decolorize and stabilize the effluent of the paper mills, biotransformation of high molecular weight (HMW) lignins to lower molecular weight (LMW) aromatic compounds. Further this enzyme has the huge possibilities to apply for deinking of old newsprint (ONP) and pitch removal from varieties of the different pulps. There is no doubt on versatility mode of action of laccases in paper industry, but still there is limited commercialization of this enzyme has been possible, because of laccases has the less redox potential (E0) and needs mediators for the oxidation of non phenolic substrates, production of enzyme is cost intensive at large scale. This review is providing the proper updated information on the state of the art of different applications of laccase in paper industry. It also confer the interpretation to the readers about the areas of extensively studied and the field where there is still much left to be done.

Pulp and paper is considered to be the fourth most energy-intensive industry (EII) worldwide. However, as most of the CO2 emissions are of biomass origin, this sector has the potential to become a carbon-negative industry. This study proposes a new concept for conversion of the pulp and paper industry to carbon negative that relies on the inherent CO2 capture capability of the Kraft process. The techno-economic performance of the proposed carbon-negative system, based on calcium looping (CaL) retrofitted to a pulp and paper plant, was evaluated. The effect of CaL design specifications and cost assumptions on the thermodynamic and economic performance were evaluated. Under the initial design assumptions, the reference pulp and paper plant was shown to turn from electricity importer to electricity exporter with the cost of CO2 avoided equal to 39.0 €/tCO2. The parametric study showed that an increase in the fresh limestone make-up rate resulted in a linear increase of the specific primary energy consumption for CO2 avoided (SPECCA) and a reduction in the amount of electricity exported to the electric grid. This translates into an increase in the price of pulp and newsprint, and the cost of CO2 avoided. This study has also demonstrated that the pulp and paper industry has high potential to become carbon negative. It has been shown that carbon capture and storage would become economically viable in this industry if the negative CO2 emissions are recognised and a negative CO2 emissions credit of at least 41.8 €/tCO2 is implemented.

Paper performance qualities strongly depend on the origin of cellulose fibers. Awareness of environmental issues and sustainable development has led to the increase in the use of recycled printing papers. Recovered fibers are often used as a substitute for virgin wood fibers in the production of certain types of papers. As recovered fibers cannot provide the same quality level of paper products as virgin wood fibers, alternative sources of virgin cellulose fibers need to be identified. The aim of this research was to analyze the printability of laboratory papers made of different contents of straw pulp. Therefore, the printing papers were formed using straw pulp of three different cereal species (wheat, barley, and triticale) and mixing them with recycled newsprint in different weight ratios. The printability of these laboratory papers was analyzed by classifying dot reproduction quality based on four dot reproduction attributes. Printed dot reproduction greatly affects the quality of reproduction in graphic products, as dots are the most important element in multi-color reproduction of texts and images. It was confirmed that laboratory papers containing straw pulp provide the same or even better dot reproduction quality than laboratory control papers formed only of recycled newsprint.

Corn stalk, an agricultural waste, was valorized by the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNF), which were tested for improving recycled paper properties. CNF from eucalyptus kraft pulp (E-CNF) was used as a reference. Addition of 0.5% wt. CNF produced from corn organosolv pulp (C-CNF) to recycled paper increased the tensile index by 20%, whereas the same improvement with E-CNF was achieved at 1.5% wt. Tensile index was further enhanced by increasing the E-CNF, whereas C-CNF achieved its maximum effect at this dose. Different recycled furnish compositions were studied to evaluate C-CNF as a product additive. C-CNF improved tensile strength in all the different recycled furnishes studied. The tensile index improvement caused by C-CNF did not depend on the proportions of old newspaper and old magazine paper used. Addition of C-CNF to recycled corrugated board fluting increased the tensile strength, but to a slightly lower extent than in the case of recycled newsprint paper.

The aim of this study was to determine the optimum combination of wheat straw and white poplar (P. alba) chemimechanical pulps (CMPs) for producing newsprint paper. The CMP was prepared separately from the two raw materials. Cooking conditions included 10%, 12%, and 14% chemical charge based on w/w oven dry raw materials, maximum cooking temperatures of 120, 140, and 160 °C, and cooking time of 45 min. Hydrogen peroxide was used for bleaching the selected pulp. The results indicated that screened pulp yields were in the range of 54.3% to 61% and 80.9% to 85.9% for 18 cooking trials of wheat straw and white poplar, respectively. Handsheet brightness reached up to 52.9% and 61.9% for wheat straw and white poplar, respectively. The highest breaking length and burst index were related to CMP produced from 25% white poplar/75% wheat straw pulp blend. The best tear index was obtained using a mixture of 50% white poplar and 50% wheat straw pulp. Averages of breaking length, burst and tear indices ranged between 4.61 and 3.80 km, 2.31 and 2.55 kPa•m2/g, and 7.29 and 11.1 mN•m2/g, respectively. The strength properties of handsheets were higher than those reported for commercial newsprint except the breaking length of 50%/50% blend.

Due to its physical properties and its ease of manufacture, paper is widely used in various engineering applications such as electrical insulation materials for components in high voltage technology. In this study, paper loaded with ferroelectric nanoparticles (BaTiO3and SrTiO3) was made with fibers obtained from plants growing on the Moroccan soil [Halfa (Stipa tenacissima), Agave (Agave americana), Pennisetum (Pennisetum alopecuroides), Typha (Typha latifolia), and Junc (Juncus effusus)] and two commercial pulps (bleached softwood Kraft and newsprint grade thermomechanical pulps). A retention aid, cation polyacrylamide (Percol 292), was necessary to retain ferroelectric particles in the fibrous network and improve the dispersion of strontium titanate particles. The different pulp and handsheets used were characterized according to standard methods (Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada, PAPTAC). It is well known that annual and perennial plants contain high percentages of fines (length < 0.2 mm) and short fibers. The results show that there is a strong interdependence between the dielectric properties of the loaded paper and surface finish, porosity, dispersion level of ceramic particles, fines content, shape, conformability, and sheet formation. The single dielectric relaxation detected towards low frequencies is attributed to hydroxyl groups present on fiber surfaces, in ceramic particles and adsorbed water.

Various parameters that may affect the efficiency of tri- and di-functional aminoalkylalkoxysilanes (AAAS) copolymer treatments to deacidify and mechanically strengthen aged complex papers (lignocellulosic pulp, additives) were studied. Three model papers were first hydrothermally aged (90 °C—50% RH) in order to achieve physicochemical characteristics similar to those of a naturally aged newsprint, and were then treated with AAAS copolymers. The chemical composition of the treatments varied from 50 to 5 wt% of tri-functional monomer APTES, the latter acting as cross-linker in the copolymer network. The respective ratio of tri- and di-functional monomers in the mixture was shown to greatly influence the mechanical properties of the treated papers in the case of APTES/DIAMINO but less so in the case of APTES/AMDES. If APTES/DIAMINO (50/50 wt%) did not strengthen the degraded papers, a higher proportion of DIAMINO (95 wt%) and lower proportion of APTES (5 wt%) led to improving the tensile strength and, more importantly for the function properties of paper, significantly enhancing the folding endurance. The treatment efficiency decreased at higher state of deterioration of the papers and in the presence of alum–rosin sizing. Lastly, the treatments developed for the artificially aged model papers were applied to the degraded newsprint paper specimen and successfully enhanced its mechanical properties.

In this work, we studied the infl uence on the mechanical and physical properties of paper made of pulp from recycled cardboard and paper (printing/writing and newsprint) by adding different percentages of nanofi brillated cellulose. For each type of recycled pulp, we formed paper with incorporation of 0, 5 and 10 wt% nanofi brillated cellulose. The results showed that addition of nanofi brillated cellulose reduced the paper thickness and increased the density values. Papers with nanofi brillated cellulose presented resistance properties with values statistically superior to the treatments without addition. Addition of 10 % provided the best results, with improvement of tensile, burst and tear resistance of 97, 133 and 104 %, respectively, in comparison to normal papers. The paper produced with the recycled newspaper pulp had lower increase in mechanical properties from the nanofi brillated cellulose in relation to the papers with recycled pulp from cardboard and printing and writing paper. The considerable improvement in the mechanical properties is related to the increase of hydrogen bonds between the fi bers and nanofi bers, forming a dense network, resulting in greater surface area of nanofi brillated cellulose.

This chapter surveys the evolution of papermaking in New Zealand over roughly one century, specifically from the 1860s when paper was manufactured from rags and waste paper until about 1960, by which time there were pulp and paper mills in operation serving local and export markets. A distinctive feature of the New Zealand scene was that the wood pulp was sourced from exotic plantations largely comprised of Pinus radiate , a Californian species previously untried for papermaking. Ownership of the plantation forest estate was divided between the state and private companies. The state had long planned for a pulp and paper industry and sought to shape its structure but ultimately the companies were able to develop separate processing schemes. Both state and industry depended upon pulping trials conducted in the United States, while the technological solution to pulping sappy southern pines in the US also gave hope that Pinius radiata would be suitable for newsprint. Other organisational models and technical assistance came, however, from Scandinavia, although some technical problems were solved locally. The establishment of a pulp and paper industry in New Zealand became the life’s work of a small number of individuals working both in the Forest Service and for private companies, and many conflicts occurred along the way.

Alcohol free “wet” offset technology is important not only for the sake of printers but for a stronger, more profitable business. The optimization of automatic offset printing system for the environmentally friendly dampening components via free alcohol and filtration procedures is a further milestone of the classical offset technology environmental approach. Offset printing, also named “wet” offset, uses dampening solution in order to keep non-printing elements as a hydrophilic on the surface of offset printing plate. So fountain solution is a part of its process. Generally it is composed by water and around of 8-10% isopropyl alcohol as a surface active agent improved wetting. However, there are inherent issues with this process, such as negative environmental impact, health hazardous, complex press operations and waste water and chemical regulations. Isopropyl alcohol used in water solution in offset printing has negative influence as: part of it vaporizes to form volatile organic compounds that pollute the working environment, also toxic and flammable. Measured by volume IPA is the most significant air pollutant in the offset printing companies. In the common ecology savings conditions there are alternative ways to reduce or even fully IPA-free printing, lowering costs and risks for health and safety the environment. In web offset printing are several possibilities to apply alcohol free dampening solution. In this study for the CSWO (Cold Set Web Offset) printing it was applied fully alcohol free solution with specially developed additive, compatible to individual tap water properties. In addition here was used ceramic filtration system in order to prevent fast contamination and also permit longer intervals between changing the fountain solution and keeps it clean during the long period. So in this way we achieved having stable printing process without any problems.

The Canadian pulp and paper sector grew from a newsprint production centre to feed the United States newspaper industry to become one of the most significant pulp and paper manufacturing centres in the world, especially in mechanical pulp and paper products. Despite its size it has never broken completely free from its U.S. roots. Recent changes in the U.S. markets, coupled with trade globalization, and increased competition from other producing regions have led to significant change in the Canadian sector since 2000. Looking out over the next ten years, trends are expected to persist and present numerous challenges to the Canadian pulp and paper products industries and dependent industries.

Paper and board products include four main product groups—packaging, newsprint, graphic and copying paper and tissue paper. The copying paper product group includes: sheets or reels of unprinted paper in different formats, used for copying, fax machines or office printers. Tissue paper products are defined by the EU Flower eco-label as: sheets or rolls of tissue paper fit for use for personal hygiene, absorption of liquids and/or cleaning of soiled surfaces. Tissue paper production is located predominantly in France, Germany, Italy and the UK, with these countries producing over 70% of Europe's tissue paper. Norway is an importer of tissue paper. There are only 14 factories in Norway producing pulp and paper products. In particular, at the end of 2001, for a specific tissue paper product, the sales of eco-labelled products accounted for almost 30% of the total product sales of one large distributor.

In this study, the effect of mixing willow wood species with other wood species used in Mazandaran wood and paper industry on the optical and mechanical properties of newsprint paper made from chemi-mechanical pulp (CMP) was investigated. CMP pulp was made under condition of efficiency of 85 %, cooking time of 60 min, temperature of 170° C, and L:W = 7, sulfite percentage of 20 % based on the dry weight of the willow wood species in 6 levels. After handmade papers (60 g/cm2, gsm) were prepared, optical and mechanical properties of papers were evaluated. Results showed that the best optical properties were related to papers obtained from the factory pulps (control pulp), and only the opacity of papers obtained from willow paper pulp mixed with factory pulps has been in acceptable level (45:55, 45 % willow pulp to 55 % of the factory pulp). The best strength properties were observed in the incorporation of 100 % factory CMP pulp and in second priority 60:40 mixture (include 60 % of willow pulp with 40 % of factory CMP pulp). Due to the importance of strength properties compared to the optical properties in newsprint paper, incorporation of 60 % of willow pulp with 40 % of factory CMP pulp is suggested for newsprint paper.

Copyright: 2014 Arbor Publishing Ab. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY. The definitive version is published in Nordic Pulp & Paper Research Journal, vol. 29(3), pp 521-532

High-yield pulping of wood chips using low-consistency (LC) refining in combination with primary-stage high-consistency (HC) refining has previously been shown to produce paper with quality parameters (tensile strength and light-scattering coefficient) commonly targeted for newsprint with significantly less refining energy input than using only HC refining. However, questions remain on the differences in the refining action between the two refiner types and for high-yield pulping, the refiner energy demand is a crucial process parameter. Therefore, fines- and fiber-fraction development in HC and LC refining has been studied in detail using Bauer-McNett fractionation, and the respective tensile strengths of the different fractions have been compared. Quantitative and qualitative (morphological) characteristics of the isolated fine fractions have also been analyzed in detail using a newly developed automated fluorescence microscopy method and scanning electron microscopy. The results suggest the difference in LC/HC pulp properties (strength and optical) is partly derived from deviating fiber and fines morphologies and mass balances. The quality of the fines generated during HC and LC refining also differs. LC-refined pulps contain thinner fibrillar fines (thread-like) and HC-refined pulps broader fibrils such as lamellae-type fines. Flake-like fines from the outer fiber wall decreased in relative amount with energy input.

Pulp and paper industries have provided great research opportunities to control systems. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between 80 process variables of CMP tower and stock preparation, and 17 newsprint quality properties in Mazandaran Wood and Paper Industries (MWPI). After the preparation of two suitable data series considering the time needed for pulp to paper, the relations between process dependent and newsprint independent variables were determined using partial least squares (PLS) regression. As a result, two PLS models were developed. The first model with 4 latent vectors categorized and related CMP tower variables and the second one, through 8 latent vectors connected stock preparation variables with paper properties. PLS regression coefficients determined how much the most influencing process variables impact each paper properties

Objective of the work was to experimentally determine the effect of the organic matter and moisture contents on the calorific value of organic solid wastes. Nine substrates (i.e. newsprint, biodried municipal solid wastes, municipal solid waste derived composts, wastewater sludges, and sea weed derived compost), with organic matter contents that ranged from 12% to 91% (dry weight) were used in the experiments. All substrates were dried and ground and deionized water was artificially added in order to achieve certain target moisture contents per substrate. The higher heating value (HHV) was, then, determined experimentally for each sample using a bomb calorimeter. Best reduced models were developed to describe the higher and lower heating values as a function of organic matter, ash and moisture contents. A triangular plot was constructed and the self-sustained combustion area was determined and compared to that of the Tanner diagram. Response surfaces were drawn to visually assess the effect of organic matter and moisture contents on the calorific value of the wastes.

The recycled paper and board industry needs to improve the quality of their products to meet customer demands. The refining process and strength additives are commonly used to increase mechanical properties. Interfiber bonding can also be improved using cellulose nanofibers (CNF). A circular economy approach in the industrial implementation of CNF can be addressed through the in situ production of CNF using side cellulose streams of the process as raw material, avoiding transportation costs and reducing industrial wastes. Furthermore, CNF fit for use can be produced for specific industrial applications.This study evaluates the feasibility of using two types of recycled fibers, simulating the broke streams of two paper machines producing newsprint and liner for cartonboard, to produce in situ CNF for direct application on the original pulps, old newsprint (ONP), and old corrugated container (OCC), and to reinforce the final products. The CNF were obtained by 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO)-mediated oxidation and homogenization at 600 bar. Handsheets were prepared with disintegrated recycled pulp and different amounts of CNF using a conventional three-component retention system. Results show that 3 wt.% of CNF produced with 10 mmol of NaClO per gram of dry pulp improve tensile index of ONP ~30%. For OCC, the same treatment and CNF dose increase tensile index above 60%. In both cases, CNF cause a deterioration of drainage, but this effect is effectively counteracted by optimising the retention system.

This study concerns the experimental charac- terization and compaction of paper/cardboard coming from waste of the city of Ouagadougou. The characterization results show that the category of waste of paper and card- board encountered in Ouagadougou contains 39 % corru- gated cardboard, 28 % of office paper, 18 % of non- corrugated cardboard, 7 % of newsprint and 8 % of papers used for commercial printing. The compaction of office paper, corrugated cardboard and mixed paper/cardboard and green waste (10 % by mass of ''leaves'') was performed for the production of three types of briquettes at pressures between 1 and 10 MPa. Results analysis of physical parameters (index of resistance to impact, density, humidity, calorific value, rate of relaxation) of obtained briquettes were used to determine the optimal pressure of compaction which is 6 MPa, for each initial mixture of waste compacted.

In Iran, due to abundant restrictions on harvesting wood from northern forests by implementing the preservation project and also lack of possibility for sufficient wood production, development of the area of planting poplar is quite inevitable. Poplar wood properties have special importance to produce many wood production, particularly pulp and paper. Paper factories are the major consumers of poplar wood at the global level and this is because of unique morphological, physical, mechanical and technological properties of poplar wood. Therefore, regarding the importance of using this species in making various printing and writing paper, packaging or carton, cardboard and newsprint, in this study, costs of poplar production in one hectare including planting and harvesting were examined and determined. Then, based on conversion coefficients of FAO, required round wood, productivity and the cost of poplar wood were calculated for the producing various kinds of paper. The results indicate that carton and cardboard paper or packaging allocate the lowest cost and highest return, while printing and writing paper had highest cost and lowest return in terms of poplar wood supply needed for paper production.

The purpose of this study was to assess the environmental impacts of the Norwegian pulp and paper industry, considering the production of pulp fibres and printing paper. The pulp fibres included in this study are thermo-mechanical pulp and kraft pulp fibres, which differ with respect to the energy consumption and chemicals used during production. The assessed paper grades were super-calendered paper and newsprint. The study was a cradle to gate approach, and corresponds to an attributional life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA was based on data collected from main pulp and paper producers in Norway. Importantly, aspects related to the increasing use of mineral fillers in the production of newsprints were assessed. The results showed that a reduction of more than 18% climate change impact (kg CO2 eq.) was achieved by increasing the fraction of fillers, in the newsprint furnish. Furthermore, the total climate change impact reduction depended on the applied energy mix. Assuming that the production of printing paper was based only on Norwegian energy mix, yielded a reduction of the climate change impact by more than 44% in 2011, compared to the production based on Scandinavian and European energy mix. Additionally, the input and output transport contributed to more than 20% impact in several cases. We thus concluded that the estimated environmental impacts were affected by; i) the furnish composition of a given paper quality, ii) the input and output transport and iii) the use of different primary grid energy sources.

In order to control digitally the print-through, the print-through criterion of offset printing was studied in this article. For 4 given paper samples, the paper properties including paper opacity and K&N ink absorbency were tested, and then print-through value expressed with ΔDand ΔEab*was measured under 9 sets of printing condition. The results showed that lower printing press and higher printing speed were helpful to reduce the print-through. And under the same printing conditions, the print-through value of cyan ink print was slightly larger than that of magenta ink print. In addition, the print-through values of offset paper samples were a bit larger than that of newsprint samples. In particular, no matter what kind of conditions were, the print-through value expressed with ΔDand ΔEab*were lower than 0.04 and 4NBS when thePTRvalue was larger than 72%. The criterion of print-through was firstly given, which was very helpful to choose paper during the offset printing.

In order to study the preparation and property of the multi layer composite paperboard, bleached wheat straw pulp, bleached chemical thermal mechanical pulp and waste newsprint pulp are used as raw materials to making paperboard. The results show that the bonding force between fibers of grasses chemical pulp is strong which can improve the bonding strength between the layers. Bleached wheat straw pulp is used as outer layer and waste news paper pulp is used as inner layer to make composite paperboard has high physical properties. Bleached chemical thermal mechanical pulp fiber is shorter, so paperboard tightness and physical strength reduce, which can be used as the lining of the multi layer composite paperboard to improve the stiffness of the paperboard and reduce the cost.

In this study, nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), isolated from the bleached aspen kraft pulp, was surface modified using borate. The resultant nanocrystal suspensions, namely B-NCC, were characterized by conductometric titration and atomic force microscope (AFM). B-NCC was then applied as a retention aid in the bleached old newsprint deinked pulp. The results showed that the modification process led to a negative increase in surface charge density, while the particle size was not changed. The fines retention and pulp drainability were increased when the B-NCC was used either alone as the monocomponent retention aid, or together with cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) to constitute a microparticle retention system. The microparticle retention system gave better retention and drainage rate, with the maximum values of 90.5% and 3.5 ml/s, respectively.

With increasing utilisation rate of recycled raw material in newsprint and graphic paper grades, dirt specks contamination is becoming critical. Predicting sheet contamination from pulp contamination level is not straigthforward, as only a fraction of the specks are actually visible in a thick sheet. We propose a specks extinction model to predict the visible contamination in sheets of paper made of deinked pulp. The modelling makes use of the optical properties of the sheet material, and the size distribution of the specks population. The model can be used for multi-layer sheets as well. We demonstrate that it is possible to minimise visible specks contamination through a combination of stratified forming and deinked pulp fractionation. ADDRESSES OF THE AUTHORS: Patrick Huber (Patrick.Huber@webctp.com), Bruno Carre (Bruno.Carre@webctp.com), Benjamin Fabry (Benjamin.Fabry@webctp.com), Saurabh Kumar (Saurabh.Kumar@webctp.com): CTP, Domaine Universitaire CS 90251, 38044 Grenoble Cedex 9, France Corresponding author: Patrick Huber

Information about disputable phenomenon of control processes in pulp and paper industry is limited and exclusive. The manuscript is concentrated in problems to optimize and control the production process. Online data of wood and paper companies of Mazandaran corresponding to 165 variables were available. Data series were normalized. The study steps include the following; liner regression or stepwise, genetic algorithm and neural network. Mean error and mean absolute percent errors of model tester were calculated. The number of effective variables in the bursting strength of printing paper and newsprint were 16 and 12, respectively. As the results of Gamma test shows, effective variables of printing paper have been as following: Optical-Additives & Stock, RPM-Fan Pump2 and P-Take off DOC P & Life 4. Also, newsprint variables of Machine Consistence-Additives & Stock and Stock Valve-Additives & Stock have been the most amounts of Gamma test scales. Newsprint variable of Level-Condensate Collection Tank and variables of printing and writing paper such as; Broke Tower Level-Broke Tower Level and 7-Calendr (zones pressures) can be kept constant.

The need to increase the recovery rates of recyclables from households, reducing at the same time the collection costs, has favored the spreading of commingled collection systems. This study presents a thorough analysis of the quality of a secondary source of recovered paper of a Spanish newsprint mill, imported from the United Kingdom, where these systems are widely practiced. The results show that the quality of recovered paper from commingled systems is very far from the quality obtained with selective systems: the unusable material content vary from 1% to 29% (11.9% on average) compared to less than 1%. Larger materials recovery facilities (MRF), less oversaturated and with advanced sorting techniques, have demonstrated to be able to render better qualities, the unusable material content varying from 0.3% to 16.6% (8.1% on average). However, the quality is still far from contamination levels typically found with selective systems, especially in terms of non-paper components. This fact limits significantly the use of this recovered paper for graphic paper production where the major potential for an extended use of recovered paper in papermaking lies. Furthermore, there is a discussion on the cost efficiency of these systems and how the legislation and private or public initiatives are affecting the spreading of these systems, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Print mottle is problematic in the print and paper industry. In this report, a mathematical evaluation model of print mottle was generated after analyzing several methods. The print mottle images can be evaluated by the model based on the theory of wavelet image denoising analyses that use the wavelet multi-scale fast algorithm. The model was then applied to analyze print mottle on four business papers (inkjet papers, newsprint papers, art papers, and double-coated offset printing papers). The correlation between the results of this method and the human visual evaluation system (HVS) was calculated and evaluated. Experimental results showed that the model predictions agreed with HVS results. The correlation between the printed newsprint papers and the eight different wavelet base functions was over 0.76 (such as haar, sym4, bior3.7, etc.) and decomposed at the first, second, and third levels. The results of the three other papers were better matched with the analysis by human eyes, but the correlation of the art paper and visual model were not as strong as the others. The optimal parameters for the print mottle model were presented in the four kinds of papers presented.

Paper sheets were produced from bleached kraft pulp, and office and newsprint waste paper. Nanoparticles from black alder bark, grey alder bark and pine bark as well as birch sawdust were obtained for using them as reinforcing fillers in paper. Non-extracted bark and that extracted in biorefinery were used. For producing nanoparticles, the materials were destructed using the thermocatalytic destruction method and then dispersed in water medium in a ball mill. At a sufficient concentration, gel-like dispersions were obtained, which contained nanoparticles with the size ~300 nm. The dispersions were introduced in paper furnish in different amounts. It has been established that all the nanoparticle fillers increase the tensile index and burst index in dry and wet states. The nanoparticle fillers from extracted bark increase the mechanical indices to a higher extent. At 20% filler content, tensile index in a dry state increases in the case of non-extracted grey alder bark, black alder bark and pine bark by 28...

In life cycle assessment (LCA) of paper products, it is common to either assume that the carbon impacts of forestry are neutral (i.e. no net emissions) or to credit harvested wood products as a carbon store. When comparing virgin and recycled materials, this means that forest carbon flows are either shown as nil or a net sequestration credit. However, harvested wood products typically account for less than half of the carbon stored in a forest, with additional stores in below ground biomass, deadwood, litter and soils. Each of these stores may be affected by changes in demand for virgin pulp and paper. In this study the countries likely to provide pulp displaced by moving to recyclate, or used when switching from recyclate were identified for both the UK and China (the largest export market for UK-derived recyclate). Changes in forest carbon stores in each country were then assessed and attributed to the extraction of a unit of timber in each country where demand for pulp and paper was identified as a driver for change. The analysis shows that when switching from virgin to recycled content within the UK and China, no additional biogenic CO 2 emissions are avoided with the exception of Canadian pulp, where the data suggests that forests are being degraded, with associated carbon losses. When switching from recycled to virgin content, net biogenic CO 2 emissions are seen from most relevant countries. In the example of newsprint, this is equivalent to 2–23 tonnes CO 2 per tonne of newsprint. The exceptions to this are Chile and Russia, where demand for virgin fibre does not appear to be associated with deforestation. Despite limitations, the research highlights that biogenic carbon is a significant issue which may dominate the outcome of LCAs assessing the climate change impact of switching between virgin and recycled pulp.

The Scandinavian mechanical pulp and paper industry has been facing great challenges during the past decades, mainly because of declining demand for newsprint, and higher prices on raw material and energy. One way of increasing profitability is to produce more value-added products besides the production of pulp and paper. In this study, integration potentials of three possible future biomass gasification-based energy mills with an existing thermo-mechanical pulp (TMP) mill, co-located with a sawmill, have been evaluated. The product gas was utilized for electricity production in a gas turbine, for production of methanol or for production of Fischer–Tropsch (FT) liquids. Integration of the energy mills showed good potential as the TMP mill constitutes a heat sink for which the excess heat from the energy mills can be utilized all year round. However, since there is little excess heat from the TMP mill at the required level to be utilized for biomass drying, for example, heat integration is typically one way. It has also been shown that integration of biomass gasification with a TMP mill results in larger CO2 emissions reduction than stand-alone operation. Still, compared to co-firing biomass in a coal power plant, the energy mills all have lower potentials for CO2 emissions reduction.

A static energy model was developed to describe the conventional paper drying process for a multicylinder paper machine. The model is based on the mass and energy balance relationships written for fiber, steam, air, and water. With the purpose of developing a clear understanding of the paper drying process and evaluating its drying performance, the model developed was made up of seven basic blocks according to the technical art of paper drying. In this work, a multicylinder newsprint machine was chosen to illustrate the energy model. The module schematic and instructions are presented first, followed by mathematical descriptions for each block. In addition, paper drying models are reviewed. The specific drying rate, specific heat consumption, and energy efficiency are introduced to evaluate the drying performance. Experiments were conducted to measure the operating parameters and the newsprint drying process was simulated based on the model. A Sankey diagram is also presented. The results are compared wit...

The recovery and utilization of recovered paper have increased over past decades all over the world due to economic, environmental, and social issues. However, it is well known that an extended recovered paper collection is detrimental to its quality, either by the exploitation of lower quality sources such as households, or the spreading of commingled systems instead of selective collection systems. The influence of these two factors was assessed by analyzing the quality of different recovered paper grades used as raw material in a mill located in Madrid (Spain) producing newsprint and light weight coated paper from recovered paper. Part 1 of the paper deals with the impact of increased collection rates on the quality of recovered paper and Part 2 with the use of commingled collection systems. Results of Part 1 show that increased collection rates have a large impact on the quality of the recovered paper. The quality, measured as total unusable material and moisture contents, had deteriorated very rapidly in only four years (2005-2008) as a consequence of increased collection rates. Collection rates increased in Spain from 58.5% to 68.6% during this period, resulting in more than 50% increase of total unusable material and 25% of moisture content. The downgrading of the quality of recovered paper is one of the major threats for extending the current limits of paper recycling. Therefore, future challenge is to increase its availability but maintaining its quality.