Fibre morphology affects the bonding and densification of hot-pressed thermomechanical pulp-based paper

• A successful way to increase the strength properties for pulps based on lignin-rich fibres is to compress the fibre structure at high temperature by means of hot-pressing technology. The fundamental knowledge of how the fi-bre morphology influences the mechanical properties when a paper sheet is hot-pressed is still scarce. Paper sheets based on thermomechanical pulp (TMP) produced with single disc and double disc refiners were compared. The effect of degree of refining was studied as well as the effect of fibre shapes by fractionating pulp with hydrocyclones. Additionally, the effect of fines was studied. All pulps were produced at the Holmen Bra-viken Mill, Norrköping, Sweden with Norway Spruce (Picea abies) as raw material. Handsheets (100 g/m2) with 62% ± 3 dryness were hot-pressed at temperatures up to 260°C at a pressure around 8MPa. The hot-press-ing increased both dry and wet strength for all pulps studied. This was true even for pulps with low fines con-tent and low refining energy. Even thick-walled fibres normally giving lower strength showed an increase of 100% when hot-pressed. In summary, hot-pressing technology can make it possible to use different TMPs to produce strong packaging materials for use in dry and wet conditions.

Ämnesord

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Trävetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Wood Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

hot-pressing

fibre morphology

TMP

strength

wet stability

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)