Reported by: Gelogo, Joejelin M. Moya, Kenneth P. Solinap, Julius M.

Cellulose is not only the most abundant organic substance available, it is a major component of woody plants and is constantly replaceable. Its conversion to paper products is the function of the pulp and paper industries which manufacture thousands of useful items from it.

Before paper can be made from wood, the cellulose fibers must be freed from the matrix of lignin which cements them together. The fibers may be separated by mechanical procedures or by solution of the lignin by various chemicals. The pulp thus formed has its fibers recemented together to form paper when suitable additives are used. Pulp made by mechanical or thermomechanical means is inferior in quality to that produced chemically; much of it goes into newsprint. The kraft process dominates the field with semimechanical means a poor second.

Cotton and linen rags, once the major sources of fibers for paper have now been largely supplanted by fibers from wood. Both hard (deciduous) and soft (coniferous) wood are used to make pulp, but softwood is preferred because the fibers are longer. Bark cannot be used because it is not fibrous and is difficult to bleach. Bark is removed at the pulp mill by one of two debarking methods. The first abrades off the bark utilizing friction between pulpwood logs tumbled about in a rotating, cylindrical drum. Stationary drums using cams to move the logs about utilize the same principle.

The bark is carried away in a stream of water, strained out, and usually burned. The more generally used method is hydraulic debarking. Here a jet of high-pressure water (at about 10 MPa) is directed tangentially to the log and strips away the bark cleanly, breaks it up, and sluices it away. Recovered bark is often compressed before burning to reduce the water content and facilitate combustion.

All processes used for pulping have the same goalto release the fibrous cellulose from its surroundings lignin while keeping the hemicelluloses and celluloses intact, thereby increasing the yield of useful fibers. The fibers thus obtained are naturally colored and must be bleached before they can be used for paper. Here again, the goal is to obtain good color without degradation and loss of yield.

Kraft, or sulfate, pulping is an alkaline process by which most pulp is presently made. It is an outgrowth of the obsolete soda process which cooked with a strong (12%) solution of NaOH and Na2CO3. The soda process gave low yields and work well only with short-fibered hardwoods. The material added to the cooking liquor for the kraft process is Na2SO4, hence the common name of the sulfate process. The cooking, however, is done with a solution containing Na2S, NaOH, and Na2CO3 formed from the sulfate during preparation and recovery of the cooking liquor. Although all sorts of woods can be cooked by the kraft process and the fibers obtained are bleachable and strong, it is very important that the chemicals used can be recycled and regenerated, reducing or even eliminating stream pollution. Odoriferous materials released during cooking are, however, strong air polluters and difficult to control.

An essential factor in the Kraft process has been the recovery of the spent liquor from the cooking process. The black liquor removed from the pulp in the pulp washer, or diffuser, contains 95 to 98% of the total chemicals charged to the digester. Organic sulfur compounds are present in combination with sodium sulfide. Sodium carbonate is present, also small amounts of sodium sulfate, salt, silica, and traces of lime, iron oxide, alumina, and potash. Total solids usually average about 20%. This black liquor is concentrated, burned, and limed. In the smelting furnace any remaining organic compounds are broken down, the carbon burned away, and the inorganic chemicals melted. At the same time, the reaction Na2SO4 + 2C ->Na2S + 2CO2 takes place. The carbon (reducing agent) comes from the organics in the wood.

Soda pulping is brought about by a procedure similar to that used for sulfate pulp, except that the dissolving agent is NaOH/Na2CO3 and the make-up chemical is Na2CO3 instead of Na2SO4. Its importance is too small to warrant additional details here.

 Sulfite pulp

The quantity of pulp made by this process steadily diminishes despite its high quality, because of the water pollution problems which it causes. Although spruce is the wood most commonly employed, appreciable quantities of hemlock and balsam are also used. The wood is barked, cleaned, and chipped as described for sulfate pulp, the resulting chips being about 1.5 cm in length. It is then conveyed to storage bins above the digesters preparatory to being cooked.

 The usual sulfite process consists of digestion of the

wood in an aqueous solution containing calcium by sulfite and an excess of sulfur dioxide. The sulfite process involves two principal types of reactions, which are probably concurrent: (1) sulfonation and solubilizing of lignin with the bisulfate, and (2) hydrolytic splitting of the cellulose-lignin complex. The hemicelluloses are also hydrolyzed to simpler compounds and the extraneous wood components acted on. Since disposal of waste liquor (more than half of the raw material entering the process appears here as dissolved organic solids) creates a serious water pollution problem, concerted attention has been turned to its removal or utilization.

 . A Slurry of magnesium oxide is substituted for lime,

because then chemical and heat recovery are possible, and a solution to the disposal problem of the waste liquor is also provided. Sodium and ammonia have also been substituted for calcium as a pulping base in a limited way. The waste liquor from the calcium sulfite process cannot have its values used over again, since the calcium sulfite does not decompose to sulfur dioxide, whereas magnesium sulfite does. CaSO4 is formed and lost.

 . Hence the newer and technically more acceptable

sulfite process is based on magnesium bisulfate rather than the earlier used, corresponding calcium compound, resulting in a greater concentration and more active combined sulfur dioxide, without danger of precipitation and with a quicker separation and solution of the noncellulose wood constituents. (Lignin and hemicelluloses)

 The essential reactions involved in the preparation on

the cooking liquor are quite simple: S +O2 -------> SO2 2SO2 + H2O + CaCO3-------> Ca(HSO3)2 + CO2

or 2SO2 + H2O + MgCO3-------> Mg(HSO3)2 + CO2 2SO2 + Mg(OH)2------> Mg(HSO3)2 or SO2 + H2O + NH3 -------> NH4HSO3

Calciu-based sulfite waste liquor does not permit recovery and reuse of either the Ca or S content. Magnesium- and ammonium-based liquor can be recovered simply, but the ammonia cannot be recovered. Sodium-based can be recovered, but the recovery process is complex. Only the magnesium base is conveniently and simply handled, and this explains the reason why it is preferred. Until recently, it was common practice to use calcium base and simply dump the waste liquor into the nearby stream. A combination of public attention to water pollution and the necessity for recovering expensive chemicals has stopped this. Fig.33.2 shows the method of recovery and reused of magnesia-based was liquor. The dissolved organic matter is used to provide heat for the process.

 Neutral sulfite semi chemical (NSSC) pulping

uses substantially less chemical in pulping than the full chemical processes. The yield of pulp obtained from a given wood is, however, much higher. Most such pulps are used in linerboard and corrugating paper. Yields of pulp are as high as 65 to 80 percent, which makes for better use of the wood. Quality and bleachability are, of course, somewhat poorer. Continuous and batch digester are both used.

 The idea is to make a mild cook weaken the

binding material between the fibers, the separate them by mechanical means. Sodium sulfite buffered with sodium carbonate is the usual cooking medium, but other pulping agents, such as kraft green liquor can also be used, along with elevated temperatures to give enough softening to permit mechanical refining. The high yields obtained reduce stream pollution problems.

 Stone ground wood involves no chemical treatment.

Soft coniferous species such as spruce and balsam are the chief woods employed. Debarked logs are held at an acute angle against a rotating stone so that the fibers will be torn apart rather than broken. Water is provided to remove the heat of friction and to carry the dislodged fibers away. Pocket around the face of the grindstone hold logs against it under pressure from hydraulic cylinder. The freed fibers are dropped into a container known as the stock sewer and passed along to a sliver screen.

 Here the fine material passes through into the stock

pit and the coarser particles are separated and sent to some type of refiner, then returned to the screens. The fines are concentrated in thickeners, yielding mechanical pulp. The water overflow from the thickeners contains 15 to 20% of the original fiber and is recirculated to the grinders and used to facilitate flow in the stock sewers. As the process continues to operate, it is necessary to add fresh water to the system to keep the temperature down, so some white water must be removed. After staining out its valuable fibers, it is sent to the waste. The only chemical change occurring during the process is a slight hydration of the cellulose due to its long contact with warm water.

 Solvent pulping with a variety of solvents

such as ethanol, phenol, and other delignifying solvents that contain no sulfur continue to be suggested. The holopulping process uses chlorine dioxide as a pulping agent. Straight oxygen and nitric acid pulping has also been suggested.

 Batch processes are usually used. The

collected material is repulped in water, cleansed of objectional dirt and contaminants, deinked with alkali, washed, cooked lightly with mild alkali, bleached, screened, and handled like any other pulp.

 The oldest material used for making paper, and

the material still used for the finest grade, is cotton in a form of rags or cotton linters. Old rags make pulp suitable only for felts, so clipping from textile manufacturing plants and clothing manufacturers are the major sources of raw material. Rags must be chopped and cooked to remove sizing materials and then are treated in small batches in horizontal rotary cookers 2 to 10 h at around 300kPa. Paper made from rags has a much longer storage life than that made from the wood fiber.

 Dissolving pulp is made by post treatment

of high quality sulfite pulp with sodium hydroxide or from pre-hydrolyzed sulfate pulp. Such purified cellulose commands a premium price.

 Wet Process

Dry Process

Specialty papers are often coated with wax or plastic materials to impart special properties such as printability or resistance to fluids. Functional coatings are especially important for food products. The principal types of processes and equipment required for coatings are discussed in the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Monographs.

There are hundreds of uses for paper and as many hundreds of types produced, all classified according to the broad use. Special industrial papers are those not falling into the specific broader-use categories, and among them are the following: cigarette; filter; glassine; food containers such as paper plates, cans, cups, and wrappers coated with plastic or aluminum foil. To preserve flavor and texture, prevent contamination, or inhibit moisture; Sanfordized bag material called Clupak; vegetable parchment; wallpaper and surface-waxed paper.

 The classification of boards made from wood particles

is not standardized in the United States, and the terms fireboard, particle board, flakeboard, and oriented board all frequently

The END Thank You...(: