Dewatering of Softwood Kraft Pulp with Additives of Microfibrillated Cellulose and Dialcohol Cellulose.

Sjöstrand, Björn; Barbier, Christophe; Ullsten, Henrik; Nilsson, Lars

The addition of nano- and micro-fibrillated cellulose to conventional softwood Kraft pulps can enhance the product performance by increasing the strength properties and enabling the use of less raw material for a given product performance. However, dewatering is a major problem when implementing these materials to conventional paper grades because of their high water retention capacity. This study investigated how vacuum dewatering is affected by different types of additives. The hypothesis was that different types of pulp additions behave differently during a process like vacuum suction, even when the different additions have the same water retention value. One reference pulp and three additives were used in a laboratory-scaled experimental study of high vacuum suction box dewatering. The results suggested that there was a linear relationship between the water retention value and how much water that could be removed with vacuum dewatering. However, the linear relationship was dependent upon the pulp type and the additives. Additions of microfibrillated cellulose and dialcohol cellulose to the stock led to dewatering behaviors that suggested their addition in existing full-scale production plants can be accomplished without a major redesign of the wire or high vacuum section.

BioResources, 2019, Vol 14, Issue 3, p6370

1930-2126

Academic Journal

10.15376/biores.14.3.6370-6383