Fourdrinier machine
Encyclopedia
This article contains a glossary section at the end.
Most modern papermaking
machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Machine. It has been used in some variation since its inception. The Fourdrinier uses a specially woven plastic fabric mesh conveyor belt, known as a wire as it was once woven from bronze, in the wet end to create a continuous paper web transforming a source of wood pulp
into a final paper
product. The original fourdrinier forming section used a horizontal drainage area, referred to as the drainage table.
Paper machines have four distinct operational sections:
In 1799, Louis-Nicolas Robert
of Essonnes, France, was granted a patent
for a continuous paper making machine. At the time Robert was working for Saint-Léger Didot, with whom he quarrelled over the ownership of the invention. Didot thought that England was a better place to develop the machine. But during the troubled times of the French Revolution
, he could not go there himself, so he sent his brother in law, John Gamble, an Englishman living in Paris. Through a chain of acquaintances, Gamble was introduced to the brothers Sealy and Henry Fourdrinier
, stationers of London, who agreed to finance the project. Gamble was granted British patent 2487 on 20 October 1801.
With the help particularly of Bryan Donkin
, a skilled and ingenious mechanic, an improved version of the Robert original was installed at Frogmore, Hertfordshire, in 1803, followed by another in 1804. A third machine was installed at the Fourdriniers' own mill at Two Waters. The Fourdriniers also bought a mill at St Neots
intending to install two machines there and the process and machines continued to develop.
In the USA the first recorded paper machine was Gilpin's at Brandywine Creek, Delaware
in 1817. This machine was also developed in England, but it was a cylinder mould machine. The Fourdrinier machine was introduced into the USA in 1827.
and linen
were the major source of pulp for paper before wood pulp. Today almost all pulp is of wood fiber. Cotton fiber is used in specialty grades, usually in printing paper for such things as resumes and currency.
Sources of rags often appear as waste from other manufacturing such as denim fragments or glove cuts. Fibers from clothing come from the cotton boll. The fibers can range from 3 to 7 cm in length as they exist in the cotton field. Bleach and other chemicals remove the color from the fabric in a process of cooking, usually with steam. The cloth fragments mechanically abrade into fibers, and the fibers get shortened to a length appropriate for manufacturing paper with a cutting process. Rags and water dump into a trough forming a closed loop. A cylinder with cutting edges, or knives, and a knife bed is part of the loop. The spinning cylinder pushes the contents of the trough around repeatedly. As it lowers slowly over a period of hours, it breaks the rags up into fibers, and cuts the fibers to the desired length. The cutting process terminates when the mix has passed the cylinder enough times at the programmed final clearance of the knives and bed.
Another source of cotton fiber comes from the cotton ginning process. The seeds remain, surrounded by short fibers known as linter
s for their short length and resemblance to lint. Linters are too short for successful use in fabric. Linters removed from the cotton seeds are available as first and second cuts. The first cuts are longer.
The two major classifications of pulp are chemical and mechanical. Chemical pulps formerly used a sulfite process
, but the kraft process
is now predominant. Kraft pulp has superior strength to sulfite and mechanical pulps. Both chemical pulps and mechanical pulps may be bleached to a high brightness.
Chemical pulping dissolves the lignin
that bonds fibers to one another, and binds the outer fibril
s that compose individual fibers to the fiber core. Lignin, like most other substances that can separate fibers from one another, acts as a debonding agent, lowering strength. Strength also depends on maintaining long cellulose molecule chains. The kraft process, due to the alkali and sulfur compounds used, tends to minimize attack on the cellulose and the non-crystalline hemicellulose
, which promotes bonding, while dissolving the lignin. Acidic pulping processes shorten the cellulose chains.
Kraft pulp makes superior linerboard and excellent printing and writing papers.
Groundwood, the main ingredient used in newsprint
and a principal component of magazine papers (coated publications), is literally ground wood produced by a grinder. Therefore it contains a lot of lignin, which lowers its strength. The grinding produces very short fibers that drain slowly.
Thermomechanical pulp(TMP) is a variation of groundwood where fibers are separated mechanically while at high enough temperatures to soften the lignin.
Between chemical and mechanical pulps there are semi-chemical pulps that use a mild chemical treatment followed by refining. Semi-chemical pulp is often used for corrugating medium.
Bales of recycled paper (normally old corrugated containers) for unbleached (brown) packaging grades may be simply pulped, screened and cleaned. Recycling to make white papers is usually done in a deinking plant, which employs screening, cleaning, washing, bleaching and flotation. Deinked pulp is used in printing and writing papers and in tissue
, napkins and paper towel
s. It is often blended with virgin pulp.
At integrated pulp and paper mills, pulp is usually stored in high density towers before being pumped to stock preparation. Non integrated mills use either dry pulp or wet lap (pressed) pulp, usually received in bales. The pulp bales are slushed in a [re]pulper.
, softwood
or recycled fiber, and diluted to as uniform a constant as possible consistency. The pH is controlled and various fillers, such as whitening agents, size
and wet strength
or dry strength are added if necessary. Additional filler
s such as clay
or titanium dioxide
increase opacity
so printing on reverse side of a sheet will not distract from content on the obverse side of the sheet.
In the following process, different types of pulp, if used, are normally treated in separate but similar process lines until combined at a blend chest:
From high density storage or from slusher/pulper the pulp is pumped to a low density storage chest (tank). From there it is typically diluted to about 4% consistency before being pumped to an unrefined stock chest. From the unrefined stock chest stock is again pumped, with consistency control, through a refiner. Refining is an operation whereby the pulp slurry
passes between a pair of discs, one of which is stationary and the other rotating at speeds of typically 1000 or 1200 RPM for 50 and 60 Hz AC, respectively. The discs have raised bars on their faces and pass each other with narrow clearance. This action unravels the outer layer of the fibers, causing the fibril
s of the fibers to partially detach and bloom outward, increasing the surface area to promoting bonding. Refining thus increases tensile strength. For example, tissue paper is relatively unrefined whereas packaging paper is more highly refined. Refined stock form the refiner then goes to a refined stock chest, or blend chest, if used as such.
Hardwood fibers are typically 1 mm long and smaller in diameter than the 4 mm length typical of softwood fibers. Refining can cause the softwood fiber tube to collapse resulting in undesirable properties in the sheet.
From the refined stock, or blend chest, stock is again consistency controlled as it is being pumped to a machine chest. It may be refined or additives may be added en route to the machine chest.
The machine chest is basically a consistency leveling chest having about 15 minutes retention. This is enough retention time to allow any variations in consistency entering the chest to be leveled out by the action of the basis weight valve receiving feedback from the on line basis weight measuring scanner.(Note: Many paper machines mistakenly control consistency coming out of the machine chest, interfering with basis weight control).
Wood fibers have a tendency to attract one another, forming clumps, the effect being called flocculation. Flocculation is lessened by lowering consistency and or by agitating the slurry; however, defloccullation becomes very difficult at much above 0.5% consistency. Minimizing the degree of flocculation when forming is important to physical properties of paper.
The consistency in the headbox is typically under 0.4% for most paper grades, with longer fibers requiring lower consistency than short fibers. Higher consistency causes more fibers to be oriented in the z direction, while lower consistency promotes fiber orientation in the x-y direction. Higher consistency promotes higher caliper (thickness) and stiffness, lower consistency promotes higher tensile and some other strength properties and also improves formation (uniformity). Many sheet properties continue to improve down to below 0.1% consistency; however, this is an impractical amount of water to handle. (Most paper machine run a higher headbox consistency than optimum because they have been sped up over time without replacing the fan pump and headbox. There is also an economic trade off with high pumping costs for lower consistency).
The stock slurry, often called white water at this point, exits the headbox through a rectangular opening of adjustable height called the slice, the white water stream being called the jet and it is pressurized on high speed machines so as to land gently on the moving fabric loop or wire at a speed typically between plus or minus 3% of the wire speed, called rush and drag respectively. Excessive rush or drag causes more orientation of fibers in the machine direction and gives differing physical properties in machine and cross directions; however, this phenomenon is not completely avoidable on fourdrinier machines.
On lower speed machines at 700 feet per minute, gravity and the height of the stock in the headbox creates sufficient pressure to form the jet through the opening of the slice. The height of the stock is the head, which gives the headbox its name. The speed of the jet compared to the speed of the wire is known as the jet-to-wire ratio. When the jet-to-wire ratio is less than unity, the fibers in the stock become drawn out in the machine direction. On slower machines where sufficient liquid remains in the stock before draining out, the wire can be driven back and forth with a process known as shake. This provides some measure of randomizing the direction of the fibers and gives the sheet more uniform strength in both the machine and cross-machine directions. On fast machines, the stock does not remain on the wire in liquid form long enough and the long fibers line up with the machine. When the jet-to-wire ratio exceeds unity, the fibers tend to pile up in lumps. The resulting variation in paper density provides the antique or parchment paper look.
Two large rolls typically form the ends of the drainage section, which is called the drainage table. The breast roll is located under the headbox, the jet being aimed to land on it at about the top center. At the other end of the drainage table is the suction (couch) roll. The couch roll is a hollow shell, drilled with many thousands of precisely spaced holes of about 4 to 5 mm diameter. The hollow shell roll rotates over a stationary suction box, normally placed at the top center or rotated just down machine. Vacuum is pulled on the suction box, which draws water from the web into the suction box. From the suction roll the sheet feeds into the press section.
Down machine from the suction roll, and at a lower elevation, is the wire turning roll. This roll is driven and pulls the wire around the loop. The wire turning roll has a considerable angle of wrap in order to grip the wire.
Supporting the wire in the drainage table area are a number of drainage elements. In addition to supporting the wire and promoting drainage, the elements deflocculate the sheet. On low speed machines these table elements are primarily table rolls. As speed increases the suction developed in the nip of a table roll increases and at high enough speed the wire snaps back after leaving the vacuum area and causes stock to jump off the wire, disrupting the formation. To prevent this drainage foils are used. The foils are typically sloped between zero and two or three degrees and give a more gentle action. Where rolls and foils are used, rolls are used near the headbox and foils further down machine.
Approaching the dry line on the table are located low vacuum boxes that are drained by a barometric leg under gravity pressure. After the dry line are the suction boxes with applied vacuum. Suction boxes extend up to the couch roll. At the couch the sheet consistency should be about 25%.
A modification to the basic fourdrinier table by adding a second wire on top of the drainage table is known as a top wire former. The bottom and top wires converge and some drainage is up through the top wire. A top wire improves formation and also gives more drainage, which is useful for machines that have been sped up.
The Twin Wire Machine or Gap former uses two vertical wires in the forming section, thereby increasing the dewatering speed of the fiber slurry while also giving uniform two sidedness.
There are also machines with entire fourdrinier sections mounted above a traditional fourdrinier. This allows making multi-layer paper with special characteristics. These are called top fourdriniers and they make multi-ply paper or paperboard
. Commoly this is used for making a top layer of bleached fiber to go over an unbleached layer.
Another type forming section is the cylinder mould machine using a rotating cylinder partially immersed in a tank of fiber slurry in the wet end to form a paper web, giving a more random distribution of the cellulose
fibers. Cylinder machines can form a sheet at higher consistency, which gives a more three dimensional fiber orientation than lower consistencies, resulting in higher caliper (thickness) and more stiffness in the machine direction (MD). High MD stiffness is useful in food packaging like cereal boxes and other boxes like dry laundry detergent.
Tissue machines form the paper web on a special fabric that is pressed from the fabric directly onto a large diameter dryer called a yankee. The paper sticks to the yankee dryer and is peeled off with a scraping blade called a doctor. Tissue
machines operate at speeds of up to 2000 m/min.
s that support the sheet and absorb the pressed water. This is the most efficient method of dewatering the sheet as only mechanical pressing is required. Press felts historically were made from wool. However, today they are nearly 100% synthetic. They are made up of a polyamid woven fabric with thick batt applied in a specific design to maximise water absorption.
Presses can be single or double felted. A single felted press has a felt on one side and a smooth roll on the other. A double felted press has both sides of the sheet in contact with a press felt.
Single felted nips are useful when mated against a smooth top roll, which adds a two-sidedness—making the top side appear smoother than the bottom. Double felted nips increase roughness, as generally, press felts. Double felted presses are desirable for the first press section of heavy paperboard.
Conventional roll presses are configured with one of the press rolls is in a fixed position, with a mating roll being loaded against this fixed roll. The felts run through the nips of the press rolls and continues around a felt run, normally consisting of several felt rolls. During the dwell time in the nip, the moisture from the sheet is transferred to the press felt. When the press felt exits the nip and continues around, a vacuum box known as an Uhle Box applies vacuum (normally -60 kPa) to the press felt to remove the moisture so that when the felt returns to the nip on the next cycle, it does not add moisture to the sheet.
Some grades of paper use suction pick up rolls that use vacuum to transfer the sheet from the couch to a lead in felt on the first press or between press sections. Pickup roll presses normally have a vacuum box that has two vacuum zones (low vacuum and high vacuum). These rolls have a large number of drilled holes in the cover to allow the vacuum to pass from the stationary vacuum box through the rotating roll covering. The low vacuum zone picks up the sheet and transfers, while the high vacuum zone attempts to remove moisture. Unfortunately, at high enough speed centrifugal force
flings out vacuumed water, making this less effective for dewatering. Pickup presses also have standard felt runs with Uhle boxes. However, pickup press design is quite different, as air movement is important for the pickup and dewatering facets of its role.
Crown Controlled Rolls (also known as CC Rolls) are usually the mating roll in a press arrangement. They have hydraulic
cylinders in the press rolls that ensure that the roll does not bow. The cylinders connect to a shoe or multiple shoes to keep the crown on the roll flat, to counteract the natural "bend" in the roll shape due to applying load to the edges.
Extended Nip Presses (or ENP) are a relatively modern alternative to conventional roll presses. The top roll is usually a standard roll, while the bottom roll is actually a large CC roll with an extended shoe curved to the shape of the top roll, surrounded by a rotating rubber belt rather than a standard roll cover. The goal of the ENP is to extend the dwell time of the sheet between the two rolls thereby maximising the dewatering. Compared to a standard roll press that achieves up to 35% solids after pressing, an ENP brings this up to 45% and higher—delivering significant steam savings or speed increases. ENPs densify the sheet, thus increasing tensile strength and some other physical properties.
-heated cylinders that evaporate the moisture. Steam pressures may range up to 160 psig. Steam enters the end of the dryer head (cylinder cap) through a steam joint and condensate exits through a siphon that goes from the internal shell to a center pipe. From the center pipe the condensate exits through a joint on the dryer head. Wide machines require multiple siphons. In fast machines centrifugal force holds the condensate layer still against the shell and turbulence generating bars are typically used to agitate the condensate layer and improve heat transfer.
The sheet is usually held against the dryers by a long felt loop on the top and bottom of each dryer section. The felts greatly improve heat transfer. Dryer felts are made of coarse thread and have a very open weave that is almost see through, It is common to have the first bottom dryer section unfelted to dump broke on the basement floor during sheet breaks or when threading the sheet.
Paper dryers are typically arranged in groups called sections so that they can be run at a progressively slightly slower speed to compensate for sheet shrinkage as the paper dries. The gaps between sections are called draws.
The drying sections are usually enclosed to conserve heat. Heated air is usually supplied to the pockets where the sheet breaks contact with the driers. This increases the rate of drying. The pocket ventilating tubes have slots along their entire length that face into the pocket. The dryer hoods are usually exhausted with a series of roof mounted hood exhausts fans down the dryer section.
Additional sizing
agents, including resin
s, glue
, or starch
, can be added to the web to alter its characteristics. Sizing
improves the paper's water resistance, decreases its ability to fuzz, reduces abrasiveness, and improves its printing properties and surface bond strength. These may be applied at the wet (internal sizing) or on the dry end (surface sizing), or both. At the dry end sizing is usually applied with a size press. The size press may be a roll applicator (flooded nip) or a blade type. It is usually placed before the last dryer section. Some paper machines also make use of a 'coater' to apply a coating
of fillers such as calcium carbonate
or china clay usually suspended in a binder of cooked starch and styrene-butadiene
latex. Coating produces a very smooth, bright surface with the highest printing qualities.
After calendering, the web has a moisture content of about 6% (depending on the furnish). It is wound onto a roll called a tambour or reel, and stored for final cutting and shipping.
The roll hardness
should be checked, obtained and adjusted accordingly to insure that the roll hardness is within the acceptable range for the product.
consistency-the percent dry fiber in a pulp slurry.
couch-French meaning to lay down. Following the couch roll the sheet is lifted off the wire and transferred into the press section.
dandy roll-a mesh covered hollow roll that rides on top of the fourdrinier. It breaks up fiber clumps to improve the sheet formation and can also be used to make an imprint, as with laid paper
. See also watermark
.
fan pump-the large pump that circulates white water from the white water chest to the headbox. The flow may go through screens and cleaners, if used. On large paper machines fan pumps may be rated in tens of thousands of gallons per minute.
felt-a loop of fabric that goes between press rolls and serves as a place to receive the pressed out water. Felts also support the wet paper web and guide it through the press section. Felts are also used in the dryer section to keep the sheet in close contact with the dryers and increase heat transfer.
filler
-a finely divided substance added to paper in the forming process. Fillers improve print quality, brightness and opacity. The most common fillers are clay and calcium carbonate. Titanium dioxide is a filler but also improves brightness and opacity. Use of calcium carbonate filler is the process called alkaline sizing and uses different chemistry than acid sizing. Alkaline sized paper has superior aging properties.
formation-the degree of uniformity of fiber distribution in finished paper, which is easily seen by holding paper up to the light.
headbox-the pressure chamber where turbulence is applied to brake up fiber clumps in the slurry. The main job of the headbox is to distribute the fiber slurry uniformly across the wire.
nip-the contact area where two opposing rolls meet, such as in a press or calender
pH
-the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Alkaline paper has a very long life. Acid paper deteriorates over time, which caused libraries to either take conservation measures or replace many older books.
size
-a chemical (formerly rosin derived but now a different chemical) or starch, applied to paper to retard the rate of water penetration. Sizing prevents bleeding of ink during printing, improving the sharpness of printing.
slice-the adjustable rectangular orifice, usually at the bottom of the headbox, through which the whitewater jet discharges onto the wire. The slice opening and water pressure together determine the amount and velocity of whitewater flow through the slice. The slice usually has some form of adjustment mechanism to even out the paper weight profile across the machine (CD profile), although a newer methods is to inject water into the whitewater across the headbox slice area, thereby using localized consistency to control CD weight profile.
stock-a pulp slurry that has been processed in the stock preparation area with necessary additives, refining and pH adjustment and ready for making paper
web-the continuous flow of un-dried fiber from the couch roll down the paper machine
white water
filtrate from the drainage table. The white water from the table is usually stored in a white water chest from which it is pumped by the fan pump to the headbox.
wire-the woven mesh fabric loop that is used for draining the pulp slurry from the headbox. Until the 1970s bronze wires were used but now they are woven from coarse mono-filament synthetics similar to fishing line.
Most modern papermaking
Papermaking
Papermaking is the process of making paper, a substance which is used universally today for writing and packaging.In papermaking a dilute suspension of fibres in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by...
machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Machine. It has been used in some variation since its inception. The Fourdrinier uses a specially woven plastic fabric mesh conveyor belt, known as a wire as it was once woven from bronze, in the wet end to create a continuous paper web transforming a source of wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...
into a final paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
product. The original fourdrinier forming section used a horizontal drainage area, referred to as the drainage table.
Paper machines have four distinct operational sections:
- The forming section, commonly called the wet end, is where the slurry of fibers is filtered out on a continuous fabric loop to form a wet web of fiber.
- The press section where the wet fiber web passes between large rolls loaded under high pressure to squeeze out as much water as possible.
- The drying section, where the pressed sheet passes partly around, in a serpentine manner, a series of steam heated drying cylinders. Drying removes the water content down to a level of about 6%, where it will remain at typical indoor atmospheric conditions.
- The calender section where heavy steel rolls smooth the dried paper. Only one nip is necessary in order to hold the sheet, which shrinks through the drying section and is held in tension between the press section (or breaker stack if used) and the calender. Extra nips give more smoothing but at some expense to paper strength.
History of paper machines
Before the invention of continuous paper making, paper was made in individual sheets by stirring a container of pulp slurry and pouring it into a fabric sieve called a sheet mold. While still on the fabric in the sheet mold the wet paper is pressed to remove excess water and then the sheet was lifted off to be hung over a rope or wooden rod to air dry.In 1799, Louis-Nicolas Robert
Louis-Nicolas Robert
Louis-Nicolas Robert was a French soldier and mechanical engineer, who is credited with a paper-making invention that became the blueprint of the Fourdrinier machine....
of Essonnes, France, was granted a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for a continuous paper making machine. At the time Robert was working for Saint-Léger Didot, with whom he quarrelled over the ownership of the invention. Didot thought that England was a better place to develop the machine. But during the troubled times of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, he could not go there himself, so he sent his brother in law, John Gamble, an Englishman living in Paris. Through a chain of acquaintances, Gamble was introduced to the brothers Sealy and Henry Fourdrinier
Henry Fourdrinier
Henry Fourdrinier was a British inventor.He was born in 1766, the son of a paper maker and stationer. With his brother, Sealy, he invented and improved the Fourdrinier machine, a papermaking machine that could make continuous paper...
, stationers of London, who agreed to finance the project. Gamble was granted British patent 2487 on 20 October 1801.
With the help particularly of Bryan Donkin
Bryan Donkin
Bryan Donkin was an English engineer and industrialist. Of his six sons, John, Bryan, and Thomas also became engineers.-Early life:Born in Sandoe, Northumberland, his father was a surveyor and land agent...
, a skilled and ingenious mechanic, an improved version of the Robert original was installed at Frogmore, Hertfordshire, in 1803, followed by another in 1804. A third machine was installed at the Fourdriniers' own mill at Two Waters. The Fourdriniers also bought a mill at St Neots
St Neots
St Neots is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, approximately north of central London, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire . The town is named after the Cornish monk St...
intending to install two machines there and the process and machines continued to develop.
In the USA the first recorded paper machine was Gilpin's at Brandywine Creek, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
in 1817. This machine was also developed in England, but it was a cylinder mould machine. The Fourdrinier machine was introduced into the USA in 1827.
Pulp types and their preparations
Rags of cottonCotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
and linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
were the major source of pulp for paper before wood pulp. Today almost all pulp is of wood fiber. Cotton fiber is used in specialty grades, usually in printing paper for such things as resumes and currency.
Sources of rags often appear as waste from other manufacturing such as denim fragments or glove cuts. Fibers from clothing come from the cotton boll. The fibers can range from 3 to 7 cm in length as they exist in the cotton field. Bleach and other chemicals remove the color from the fabric in a process of cooking, usually with steam. The cloth fragments mechanically abrade into fibers, and the fibers get shortened to a length appropriate for manufacturing paper with a cutting process. Rags and water dump into a trough forming a closed loop. A cylinder with cutting edges, or knives, and a knife bed is part of the loop. The spinning cylinder pushes the contents of the trough around repeatedly. As it lowers slowly over a period of hours, it breaks the rags up into fibers, and cuts the fibers to the desired length. The cutting process terminates when the mix has passed the cylinder enough times at the programmed final clearance of the knives and bed.
Another source of cotton fiber comes from the cotton ginning process. The seeds remain, surrounded by short fibers known as linter
Linter
Linter is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Drieslinter, Melkwezer, Neerhespen , Neerlinter, Orsmaal, Overhespen and Wommersom. On January 1, 2006 Linter had a total population of 7,037...
s for their short length and resemblance to lint. Linters are too short for successful use in fabric. Linters removed from the cotton seeds are available as first and second cuts. The first cuts are longer.
The two major classifications of pulp are chemical and mechanical. Chemical pulps formerly used a sulfite process
Sulfite process
The sulfite process produces wood pulp which is almost pure cellulose fibers by using various salts of sulfurous acid to extract the lignin from wood chips in large pressure vessels called digesters. The salts used in the pulping process are either sulfites , or bisulfites , depending on the pH...
, but the kraft process
Kraft process
The kraft process describes a technology for conversion of wood into wood pulp consisting of almost pure cellulose fibers...
is now predominant. Kraft pulp has superior strength to sulfite and mechanical pulps. Both chemical pulps and mechanical pulps may be bleached to a high brightness.
Chemical pulping dissolves the lignin
Lignin
Lignin or lignen is a complex chemical compound most commonly derived from wood, and an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants and some algae. The term was introduced in 1819 by de Candolle and is derived from the Latin word lignum, meaning wood...
that bonds fibers to one another, and binds the outer fibril
Fibril
Fibril is a fine fiber approximately 1 nm in diameter.Cytoplasmic fibrils are observed on the protoplasmic cylinders found in most spirochetal species, although no function of the cytoplasmic fibrils has been ascribed....
s that compose individual fibers to the fiber core. Lignin, like most other substances that can separate fibers from one another, acts as a debonding agent, lowering strength. Strength also depends on maintaining long cellulose molecule chains. The kraft process, due to the alkali and sulfur compounds used, tends to minimize attack on the cellulose and the non-crystalline hemicellulose
Hemicellulose
A hemicellulose is any of several heteropolymers , such as arabinoxylans, present along with cellulose in almost all plant cell walls. While cellulose is crystalline, strong, and resistant to hydrolysis, hemicellulose has a random, amorphous structure with little strength...
, which promotes bonding, while dissolving the lignin. Acidic pulping processes shorten the cellulose chains.
Kraft pulp makes superior linerboard and excellent printing and writing papers.
Groundwood, the main ingredient used in newsprint
Newsprint
Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper most commonly used to print newspapers, and other publications and advertising material. It usually has an off-white cast and distinctive feel. It is designed for use in printing presses that employ a long web of paper rather than individual sheets of...
and a principal component of magazine papers (coated publications), is literally ground wood produced by a grinder. Therefore it contains a lot of lignin, which lowers its strength. The grinding produces very short fibers that drain slowly.
Thermomechanical pulp(TMP) is a variation of groundwood where fibers are separated mechanically while at high enough temperatures to soften the lignin.
Between chemical and mechanical pulps there are semi-chemical pulps that use a mild chemical treatment followed by refining. Semi-chemical pulp is often used for corrugating medium.
Bales of recycled paper (normally old corrugated containers) for unbleached (brown) packaging grades may be simply pulped, screened and cleaned. Recycling to make white papers is usually done in a deinking plant, which employs screening, cleaning, washing, bleaching and flotation. Deinked pulp is used in printing and writing papers and in tissue
Tissue paper
Tissue paper is a lightweight paper or, light crêpe paper. Tissue can be made both from virgin and recycled paper pulp.-Properties:Key properties are: strength, absorbency, basis weight, thickness , brightness, stretch, appearance and comfort....
, napkins and paper towel
Paper towel
A paper towel is an absorbent textile made from paper instead of cloth. Unlike cloth towels, paper towels are disposable and intended to be used only once. Paper towels soak up water because they are loosely woven which enables water to travel between them, even against gravity...
s. It is often blended with virgin pulp.
At integrated pulp and paper mills, pulp is usually stored in high density towers before being pumped to stock preparation. Non integrated mills use either dry pulp or wet lap (pressed) pulp, usually received in bales. The pulp bales are slushed in a [re]pulper.
Stock (pulp) preparation
Stock preparation is the area where pulp is usually refined, blended to the appropriate proportion of hardwoodHardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
, softwood
Softwood
The term softwood is used to describe wood from trees that are known as gymnosperms.Conifers are an example. It may also be used to describe trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches....
or recycled fiber, and diluted to as uniform a constant as possible consistency. The pH is controlled and various fillers, such as whitening agents, size
Sizing
Sizing or size is any one of numerous specific substances that is applied to or incorporated in other material, especially papers and textiles, to act as a protecting filler or glaze....
and wet strength
Wet strength
Wet strength of paper is a measure of how well the fibreweb is holding together upon a force of rupture. Wet strength is routinely expressed as the ratio of wet to dry tensile force at break.-Mechanism:...
or dry strength are added if necessary. Additional filler
Filler (materials)
Fillers are particles added to material to lower the consumption of more expensive binder material or to better some properties of the mixtured material...
s such as clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
or titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium oxide or titania, is the naturally occurring oxide of titanium, chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6, or CI 77891. Generally it comes in two different forms, rutile and anatase. It has a wide range of...
increase opacity
Opacity (optics)
Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation, especially visible light. In radiative transfer, it describes the absorption and scattering of radiation in a medium, such as a plasma, dielectric, shielding material, glass, etc...
so printing on reverse side of a sheet will not distract from content on the obverse side of the sheet.
In the following process, different types of pulp, if used, are normally treated in separate but similar process lines until combined at a blend chest:
From high density storage or from slusher/pulper the pulp is pumped to a low density storage chest (tank). From there it is typically diluted to about 4% consistency before being pumped to an unrefined stock chest. From the unrefined stock chest stock is again pumped, with consistency control, through a refiner. Refining is an operation whereby the pulp slurry
Slurry
A slurry is, in general, a thick suspension of solids in a liquid.-Examples of slurries:Examples of slurries include:* Lahars* A mixture of water and cement to form concrete* A mixture of water, gelling agent, and oxidizers used as an explosive...
passes between a pair of discs, one of which is stationary and the other rotating at speeds of typically 1000 or 1200 RPM for 50 and 60 Hz AC, respectively. The discs have raised bars on their faces and pass each other with narrow clearance. This action unravels the outer layer of the fibers, causing the fibril
Fibril
Fibril is a fine fiber approximately 1 nm in diameter.Cytoplasmic fibrils are observed on the protoplasmic cylinders found in most spirochetal species, although no function of the cytoplasmic fibrils has been ascribed....
s of the fibers to partially detach and bloom outward, increasing the surface area to promoting bonding. Refining thus increases tensile strength. For example, tissue paper is relatively unrefined whereas packaging paper is more highly refined. Refined stock form the refiner then goes to a refined stock chest, or blend chest, if used as such.
Hardwood fibers are typically 1 mm long and smaller in diameter than the 4 mm length typical of softwood fibers. Refining can cause the softwood fiber tube to collapse resulting in undesirable properties in the sheet.
From the refined stock, or blend chest, stock is again consistency controlled as it is being pumped to a machine chest. It may be refined or additives may be added en route to the machine chest.
The machine chest is basically a consistency leveling chest having about 15 minutes retention. This is enough retention time to allow any variations in consistency entering the chest to be leveled out by the action of the basis weight valve receiving feedback from the on line basis weight measuring scanner.(Note: Many paper machines mistakenly control consistency coming out of the machine chest, interfering with basis weight control).
Sections of the paper machine
There are four main sections on this paper machine. In practice calender rolls are normally placed vertically in a stack.Forming section or wet end
From the machine chest stock is pumped to a head tank, commonly called a stuff box, whose purpose is to maintain a constant head (pressure) on the stock as it feeds the basis weight valve. The stuff box also provides a means allowing air bubbles to escape. The basis weight valve meters the stock to the recirculating stream of water that is pumped, by the fan pump, form a whitewater chest through the headbox. On the way to the headbox the pulp slurry may pass through centrifugal cleaners, which remove heavy contaminants like sand, and screens, which break up fiber clumps and remove over sized debris.Wood fibers have a tendency to attract one another, forming clumps, the effect being called flocculation. Flocculation is lessened by lowering consistency and or by agitating the slurry; however, defloccullation becomes very difficult at much above 0.5% consistency. Minimizing the degree of flocculation when forming is important to physical properties of paper.
The consistency in the headbox is typically under 0.4% for most paper grades, with longer fibers requiring lower consistency than short fibers. Higher consistency causes more fibers to be oriented in the z direction, while lower consistency promotes fiber orientation in the x-y direction. Higher consistency promotes higher caliper (thickness) and stiffness, lower consistency promotes higher tensile and some other strength properties and also improves formation (uniformity). Many sheet properties continue to improve down to below 0.1% consistency; however, this is an impractical amount of water to handle. (Most paper machine run a higher headbox consistency than optimum because they have been sped up over time without replacing the fan pump and headbox. There is also an economic trade off with high pumping costs for lower consistency).
The stock slurry, often called white water at this point, exits the headbox through a rectangular opening of adjustable height called the slice, the white water stream being called the jet and it is pressurized on high speed machines so as to land gently on the moving fabric loop or wire at a speed typically between plus or minus 3% of the wire speed, called rush and drag respectively. Excessive rush or drag causes more orientation of fibers in the machine direction and gives differing physical properties in machine and cross directions; however, this phenomenon is not completely avoidable on fourdrinier machines.
On lower speed machines at 700 feet per minute, gravity and the height of the stock in the headbox creates sufficient pressure to form the jet through the opening of the slice. The height of the stock is the head, which gives the headbox its name. The speed of the jet compared to the speed of the wire is known as the jet-to-wire ratio. When the jet-to-wire ratio is less than unity, the fibers in the stock become drawn out in the machine direction. On slower machines where sufficient liquid remains in the stock before draining out, the wire can be driven back and forth with a process known as shake. This provides some measure of randomizing the direction of the fibers and gives the sheet more uniform strength in both the machine and cross-machine directions. On fast machines, the stock does not remain on the wire in liquid form long enough and the long fibers line up with the machine. When the jet-to-wire ratio exceeds unity, the fibers tend to pile up in lumps. The resulting variation in paper density provides the antique or parchment paper look.
Two large rolls typically form the ends of the drainage section, which is called the drainage table. The breast roll is located under the headbox, the jet being aimed to land on it at about the top center. At the other end of the drainage table is the suction (couch) roll. The couch roll is a hollow shell, drilled with many thousands of precisely spaced holes of about 4 to 5 mm diameter. The hollow shell roll rotates over a stationary suction box, normally placed at the top center or rotated just down machine. Vacuum is pulled on the suction box, which draws water from the web into the suction box. From the suction roll the sheet feeds into the press section.
Down machine from the suction roll, and at a lower elevation, is the wire turning roll. This roll is driven and pulls the wire around the loop. The wire turning roll has a considerable angle of wrap in order to grip the wire.
Supporting the wire in the drainage table area are a number of drainage elements. In addition to supporting the wire and promoting drainage, the elements deflocculate the sheet. On low speed machines these table elements are primarily table rolls. As speed increases the suction developed in the nip of a table roll increases and at high enough speed the wire snaps back after leaving the vacuum area and causes stock to jump off the wire, disrupting the formation. To prevent this drainage foils are used. The foils are typically sloped between zero and two or three degrees and give a more gentle action. Where rolls and foils are used, rolls are used near the headbox and foils further down machine.
Approaching the dry line on the table are located low vacuum boxes that are drained by a barometric leg under gravity pressure. After the dry line are the suction boxes with applied vacuum. Suction boxes extend up to the couch roll. At the couch the sheet consistency should be about 25%.
Variations of the fourdrinier forming section
A second headbox may be added to a conventional fourdrinier to put a different fibre blend on top of a base layer. A secondary headbox is normally located at a point where the base sheet is completely drained. This is not considered a separate ply because the water action does a good job of intermixing the fibers of the top and bottom layer. Secondary headboxes are common on linerboard.A modification to the basic fourdrinier table by adding a second wire on top of the drainage table is known as a top wire former. The bottom and top wires converge and some drainage is up through the top wire. A top wire improves formation and also gives more drainage, which is useful for machines that have been sped up.
The Twin Wire Machine or Gap former uses two vertical wires in the forming section, thereby increasing the dewatering speed of the fiber slurry while also giving uniform two sidedness.
There are also machines with entire fourdrinier sections mounted above a traditional fourdrinier. This allows making multi-layer paper with special characteristics. These are called top fourdriniers and they make multi-ply paper or paperboard
Paperboard
Paperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...
. Commoly this is used for making a top layer of bleached fiber to go over an unbleached layer.
Another type forming section is the cylinder mould machine using a rotating cylinder partially immersed in a tank of fiber slurry in the wet end to form a paper web, giving a more random distribution of the cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
fibers. Cylinder machines can form a sheet at higher consistency, which gives a more three dimensional fiber orientation than lower consistencies, resulting in higher caliper (thickness) and more stiffness in the machine direction (MD). High MD stiffness is useful in food packaging like cereal boxes and other boxes like dry laundry detergent.
Tissue machines form the paper web on a special fabric that is pressed from the fabric directly onto a large diameter dryer called a yankee. The paper sticks to the yankee dryer and is peeled off with a scraping blade called a doctor. Tissue
Tissue paper
Tissue paper is a lightweight paper or, light crêpe paper. Tissue can be made both from virgin and recycled paper pulp.-Properties:Key properties are: strength, absorbency, basis weight, thickness , brightness, stretch, appearance and comfort....
machines operate at speeds of up to 2000 m/min.
Press section
The second section of the paper machine is the press section, which removes the most water via a system of nips formed by rolls pressing against each other aided by press feltFelt
Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size....
s that support the sheet and absorb the pressed water. This is the most efficient method of dewatering the sheet as only mechanical pressing is required. Press felts historically were made from wool. However, today they are nearly 100% synthetic. They are made up of a polyamid woven fabric with thick batt applied in a specific design to maximise water absorption.
Presses can be single or double felted. A single felted press has a felt on one side and a smooth roll on the other. A double felted press has both sides of the sheet in contact with a press felt.
Single felted nips are useful when mated against a smooth top roll, which adds a two-sidedness—making the top side appear smoother than the bottom. Double felted nips increase roughness, as generally, press felts. Double felted presses are desirable for the first press section of heavy paperboard.
Conventional roll presses are configured with one of the press rolls is in a fixed position, with a mating roll being loaded against this fixed roll. The felts run through the nips of the press rolls and continues around a felt run, normally consisting of several felt rolls. During the dwell time in the nip, the moisture from the sheet is transferred to the press felt. When the press felt exits the nip and continues around, a vacuum box known as an Uhle Box applies vacuum (normally -60 kPa) to the press felt to remove the moisture so that when the felt returns to the nip on the next cycle, it does not add moisture to the sheet.
Some grades of paper use suction pick up rolls that use vacuum to transfer the sheet from the couch to a lead in felt on the first press or between press sections. Pickup roll presses normally have a vacuum box that has two vacuum zones (low vacuum and high vacuum). These rolls have a large number of drilled holes in the cover to allow the vacuum to pass from the stationary vacuum box through the rotating roll covering. The low vacuum zone picks up the sheet and transfers, while the high vacuum zone attempts to remove moisture. Unfortunately, at high enough speed centrifugal force
Centrifugal force
Centrifugal force can generally be any force directed outward relative to some origin. More particularly, in classical mechanics, the centrifugal force is an outward force which arises when describing the motion of objects in a rotating reference frame...
flings out vacuumed water, making this less effective for dewatering. Pickup presses also have standard felt runs with Uhle boxes. However, pickup press design is quite different, as air movement is important for the pickup and dewatering facets of its role.
Crown Controlled Rolls (also known as CC Rolls) are usually the mating roll in a press arrangement. They have hydraulic
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
cylinders in the press rolls that ensure that the roll does not bow. The cylinders connect to a shoe or multiple shoes to keep the crown on the roll flat, to counteract the natural "bend" in the roll shape due to applying load to the edges.
Extended Nip Presses (or ENP) are a relatively modern alternative to conventional roll presses. The top roll is usually a standard roll, while the bottom roll is actually a large CC roll with an extended shoe curved to the shape of the top roll, surrounded by a rotating rubber belt rather than a standard roll cover. The goal of the ENP is to extend the dwell time of the sheet between the two rolls thereby maximising the dewatering. Compared to a standard roll press that achieves up to 35% solids after pressing, an ENP brings this up to 45% and higher—delivering significant steam savings or speed increases. ENPs densify the sheet, thus increasing tensile strength and some other physical properties.
Dryer section
The dryer section of the paper machine, as its name suggests, dries the paper by way of a series of internally steamSteam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
-heated cylinders that evaporate the moisture. Steam pressures may range up to 160 psig. Steam enters the end of the dryer head (cylinder cap) through a steam joint and condensate exits through a siphon that goes from the internal shell to a center pipe. From the center pipe the condensate exits through a joint on the dryer head. Wide machines require multiple siphons. In fast machines centrifugal force holds the condensate layer still against the shell and turbulence generating bars are typically used to agitate the condensate layer and improve heat transfer.
The sheet is usually held against the dryers by a long felt loop on the top and bottom of each dryer section. The felts greatly improve heat transfer. Dryer felts are made of coarse thread and have a very open weave that is almost see through, It is common to have the first bottom dryer section unfelted to dump broke on the basement floor during sheet breaks or when threading the sheet.
Paper dryers are typically arranged in groups called sections so that they can be run at a progressively slightly slower speed to compensate for sheet shrinkage as the paper dries. The gaps between sections are called draws.
The drying sections are usually enclosed to conserve heat. Heated air is usually supplied to the pockets where the sheet breaks contact with the driers. This increases the rate of drying. The pocket ventilating tubes have slots along their entire length that face into the pocket. The dryer hoods are usually exhausted with a series of roof mounted hood exhausts fans down the dryer section.
Additional sizing
Sizing
Sizing or size is any one of numerous specific substances that is applied to or incorporated in other material, especially papers and textiles, to act as a protecting filler or glaze....
agents, including resin
Resin
Resin in the most specific use of the term is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. Resins are valued for their chemical properties and associated uses, such as the production of varnishes, adhesives, and food glazing agents; as an important source of raw materials...
s, glue
Glue
This is a list of various types of glue. Historically, the term "glue" only referred to protein colloids prepared from animal flesh. The meaning has been extended to refer to any fluid adhesive....
, or starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
, can be added to the web to alter its characteristics. Sizing
Sizing
Sizing or size is any one of numerous specific substances that is applied to or incorporated in other material, especially papers and textiles, to act as a protecting filler or glaze....
improves the paper's water resistance, decreases its ability to fuzz, reduces abrasiveness, and improves its printing properties and surface bond strength. These may be applied at the wet (internal sizing) or on the dry end (surface sizing), or both. At the dry end sizing is usually applied with a size press. The size press may be a roll applicator (flooded nip) or a blade type. It is usually placed before the last dryer section. Some paper machines also make use of a 'coater' to apply a coating
Coated paper
Coated paper is paper which has been coated by a compound to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness or reduced ink absorbency. Kaolinite or calcium carbonate are used to coat paper for high quality printing used in packaging industry and in magazines...
of fillers such as calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate
Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found in rocks in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, coal balls, pearls, and eggshells. Calcium carbonate is the active ingredient in agricultural lime,...
or china clay usually suspended in a binder of cooked starch and styrene-butadiene
Styrene-butadiene
Styrene-Butadiene or Styrene-Butadiene-Rubber is a synthetic rubber copolymer consisting of styrene and butadiene. It has good abrasion resistance and good aging stability when protected by additives, and is widely used in car tires, where it may be blended with natural rubber...
latex. Coating produces a very smooth, bright surface with the highest printing qualities.
Calender section
A calender consists of a number of rolls, where pressure is applied to the passing paper. Calenders are used to make the paper surface extra smooth and glossy. It also gives it a more uniform thickness. The pressure applied to the web by the rollers determines the finish of the paper.After calendering, the web has a moisture content of about 6% (depending on the furnish). It is wound onto a roll called a tambour or reel, and stored for final cutting and shipping.
The roll hardness
Roll hardness tester
A roll hardness tester is a device to measure the roll hardness, hardness profile and hardness variation of paper rolls.-Method:In the preparation phase, the plunger, guide bar and guide disk are pushed forward by the compression spring. At the end of the movement the hammer mass is hooked by the...
should be checked, obtained and adjusted accordingly to insure that the roll hardness is within the acceptable range for the product.
Glossary
broke-waste paper made during a sheet break. It is gathered up and put in a repulper for recycling back into the process.consistency-the percent dry fiber in a pulp slurry.
couch-French meaning to lay down. Following the couch roll the sheet is lifted off the wire and transferred into the press section.
dandy roll-a mesh covered hollow roll that rides on top of the fourdrinier. It breaks up fiber clumps to improve the sheet formation and can also be used to make an imprint, as with laid paper
Laid paper
Laid paper is a type of paper having a ribbed texture imparted by the manufacturing process. In the 19th century its use diminished as it was largely supplanted by wove paper...
. See also watermark
Watermark
A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...
.
fan pump-the large pump that circulates white water from the white water chest to the headbox. The flow may go through screens and cleaners, if used. On large paper machines fan pumps may be rated in tens of thousands of gallons per minute.
felt-a loop of fabric that goes between press rolls and serves as a place to receive the pressed out water. Felts also support the wet paper web and guide it through the press section. Felts are also used in the dryer section to keep the sheet in close contact with the dryers and increase heat transfer.
filler
Filler (materials)
Fillers are particles added to material to lower the consumption of more expensive binder material or to better some properties of the mixtured material...
-a finely divided substance added to paper in the forming process. Fillers improve print quality, brightness and opacity. The most common fillers are clay and calcium carbonate. Titanium dioxide is a filler but also improves brightness and opacity. Use of calcium carbonate filler is the process called alkaline sizing and uses different chemistry than acid sizing. Alkaline sized paper has superior aging properties.
formation-the degree of uniformity of fiber distribution in finished paper, which is easily seen by holding paper up to the light.
headbox-the pressure chamber where turbulence is applied to brake up fiber clumps in the slurry. The main job of the headbox is to distribute the fiber slurry uniformly across the wire.
nip-the contact area where two opposing rolls meet, such as in a press or calender
pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
-the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Alkaline paper has a very long life. Acid paper deteriorates over time, which caused libraries to either take conservation measures or replace many older books.
size
Sizing
Sizing or size is any one of numerous specific substances that is applied to or incorporated in other material, especially papers and textiles, to act as a protecting filler or glaze....
-a chemical (formerly rosin derived but now a different chemical) or starch, applied to paper to retard the rate of water penetration. Sizing prevents bleeding of ink during printing, improving the sharpness of printing.
slice-the adjustable rectangular orifice, usually at the bottom of the headbox, through which the whitewater jet discharges onto the wire. The slice opening and water pressure together determine the amount and velocity of whitewater flow through the slice. The slice usually has some form of adjustment mechanism to even out the paper weight profile across the machine (CD profile), although a newer methods is to inject water into the whitewater across the headbox slice area, thereby using localized consistency to control CD weight profile.
stock-a pulp slurry that has been processed in the stock preparation area with necessary additives, refining and pH adjustment and ready for making paper
web-the continuous flow of un-dried fiber from the couch roll down the paper machine
white water
filtrate from the drainage table. The white water from the table is usually stored in a white water chest from which it is pumped by the fan pump to the headbox.
wire-the woven mesh fabric loop that is used for draining the pulp slurry from the headbox. Until the 1970s bronze wires were used but now they are woven from coarse mono-filament synthetics similar to fishing line.
External links
- Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry
- Institute of Paper Science and Technology at Georgia Tech
- Fourdrinier machine description from Paper Manufacturing in the United States, 1916
- Biography of Henry Fourdrinier from Dictionary of National Biography, 1889
- British Association of Paper Historians
- Video: Frogmore Mill in Apsley; Victorian era Fourdrinier machine
- Quality Control System QCSQuality Control System QCS for paper, board and tissue machinesA quality control system refers to a system used to measure and control the quality of moving sheet processes on-line; e.g. the paper produced by a paper machine. Generally, a control system is concerned with measurement and control of one or multiple properties in time;i.e. in a single dimension...