Topic 8 Papermaking

Introduction

James Olson
Mechanical Engineering

Quick Facts

• 10(+)m wide
• 100m long
• 100 km/hr
• $500M+

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 Paper / Fibre Quality
Measurements

Zero Span Tensile Strength

• This is a test to measure the
strength of individual fibres
• Jaws of tensile tester are
spaced about 0.2mm apart
• Fibres are then stressed to
breaking point

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 Canadian Standard Freeness
• Ability of water to drain
through the pulp
CHAMBER
• Measured as volume of
water draining through
side-orifice (units of mL)
• Function of surface area,
coarseness, fibrillation,
flexiblity, fines content, FUNNEL
others …

Handsheets
• Laboratory-made 6” diameter paper sheets
• Very uniform fibre distribution
• Formed, dried, tested under standard conditions
– British Standard Handsheet Machine
– Constant temperature (23%) and humidity (RH=50%)
• Strength and optical properties of handsheets used
to assess pulp quality

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 Tensile, stretch and tensile
energy absorption
FR Rupture

ER
Elongation (mm)

Tensile Index Breaking Length

• L: Breaking length (km,
FR Length of paper required
T to rupture under its own
wR length)
• g: acceleration due to
• T: Tensile Index (Nm/g)
gravity
• FR: Load at Rupture (N)
• W: Width of specimen (m, FR  10 3 wLRg
standard is 0.015 m)
• R: Basis weight of test 103 FR F
sheet (mass per unit area, L 101.97 R
wRg wR
g/m2
L 101.97T

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 Burst Index
• Burst is measured by
clamping a specimen in a P
circular ring and applying B
pressure through a R
diaphragm until the
specimen bursts • B: Burst index (kPa/ g/m2)
• Mostly significant in • P: Burst strength (kPa)
boxboard, containerboard • R: Basis weight (g/m2)
or sack applications
• Its been suggested that
burst is related tensile by

P  KF E R R
1/ 2

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 Tear Strength
Ft
TI 
• Tear is a measure of
the force required to
continue a tear on a
R
sample in which a slit
has been cut. • TI: Tear Index (mN
• Typically more than m2/g)
one (say 4) specimen • Ft: force to continue
is torn together. tear (mN)
Multi-ply tear test. • R: basis weight

Brightness
• Diffuse light reflectance • Quantified as a
from a handsheet with a percentage of that
457 nm (blue) light.
reflected from a
• Established to determine
perfect reflecting,
efficiency of bleaching.
diffuse surface.
• 457 nm chosen because
bleaching agents influence
spectrum in this region of
the spectrum

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 Opacity
• Relative measure of • Ratio of two reflectances
light transmission • R0: reflectance from a
single sheet with a black
through a paper backing
sample • Rinfinity: reflectance of the
• Effects read-through same sheet over a pad of
similar sheets thick
of a piece of paper enough that adding
printed on both sides another sheet doesn’t
effect reading
R0
Opacity  100
R