Measuring the bonding ability distribution of fibers in mechanical pulps

• Currently, the pulp and paper industry mainly uses average values of   mechanical pulp properties to characterize fibers, while printing paper   grammages keep decreasing, making every fiber more important for   strength, surface, and structure properties. Because fibers are   inhomogeneous, average values of the whole pulp may not be enough for   proper fiber characterization. This paper reports results from the   development of a method to measure the distribution of fiber bonding   ability in mechanical pulps.   Fibers from two commercial TMPs were fractionated into five   hydrocyclone streams, using a four-stage hydrocyclone system. The fiber   bonding ability of Bauer McNett fractions R16, P16/R30 and P30/R50   collected from each stream was analyzed. Five different methods of   evaluating fiber bonding ability all showed that fibers were separated   in the hydrocyclones according to their bonding ability.   Long fiber handsheets of the highest bonding fibers had up to 2.5 times   higher tensile strength for the P16/1330 fraction than handsheets from   the lowest bonding fibers. We also found that both the degree of   fibrillation and collapse resistance index (CRI) of the fibers obtained   from optical measurements are sufficient to predict quite accurately   the tensile strength of handsheets made from fiber fractions. Further,   we propose how to describe the distribution in fiber bonding ability   for mechanical pulps, by combining some of these five different   methods. A method to calculate fracture toughness of long fiber   handsheets based on acoustic emission is also illustrated.   A more rapid way to characterize fibers in mechanical pulps with   respect to their bonding ability distribution needs to be developed in   the future. It appears that it is time to move on from characterizing   pulp suspensions and handsheet properties using conventional approaches   based on average values.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Pappers-, massa- och fiberteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Paper, Pulp and Fiber Technology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Cellulose and paper engineering

Cellulosa- och pappersteknik

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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