Materials For Pulp Industry

Raw materials
Requisites for Cellulose raw materials

Ample supply

Available to pulp mill throughout the year

Should not deteriorate in storage

High yield of quality fibre

Capable of being collected and stored in a small area and transported, if

necessary at low cost

Cost of conversion to paper must be low

Quality of paper made must be competitive

Must not have a higher priority use

Major inputs for pulp production

Fiber
softwood
hardwood
non wood fibres
recovered/recycled fibre

Chemicals

Energy

water

Fibres

Softwood

Contain more lignin than hardwoods

Longer and coarser fibre than hardwoods

Strength to withstand stretching and tearing

Improves the runnability of paper on the machine.

Greater amount of lignin means that more amount of chemicals and energy

Include coniferous and non coniferous woods .... E.g.: pine, spruce etc..

Hardwoods

Provide Smooth surface

Primarily used in the production of printing paper because short fiber pulp
improves the printing properties of paper

E.g...... Acacia, lemon, gum, birch, eucalyptus, pinus, patula, paper mulberry,
rubber plant wood etc..

Non wood fibres

Annual crops: flax, kenaf, hemp etc.- often grown especially for paper production

agricultural residues: rye, wheat straw, bagasse, etc.. ( vegetable wastes, fruit
pulp etc.. newer alternatives being researched on) - byproducts of crops grown
for other uses

Straw: rice, wheat, bagasse, barley, reeds, etc..

Grasses and reeds: lemon, panni, Ulla, siru, munji,

Sabai grass, bamboo etc...

ADVANTAGES OF NON WOOD FIBRES:

Non wood fibers can reduce the amount of chemicals needed for pulping as well
as shorten time, thus saving energy.

The high cellulose content of cotton linter (85% to 90%) compared to that of
wood (35% to 49% cellulose) and the low lignin content of hemp (3%) make
these non wood fibers valuable for papermaking

Chemicals

For chemical pulping:

Sodium sulfite, carbonate, or hydroxide.

In the kraft pulp process the active cooking chemicals (white liquor) are sodium
hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium sulfide (Na2S)

Energy

Half of the wood raw material is utilized as chemical pulp fiber. The other half is
utilized as fuel for electricity and heat generation. In fact, a pulp mill has two main
lines. Wood is turned into pulp on the fiber line.

Energy is produced on the chemical recovery line from the wood material cooked
in the liquor; the cooking chemicals are recovered for reuse. In the chemical
recovery line, the black liquor is evaporated and combusted in a recovery boiler,
and the energy content of the dissolved wood material is recovered as steam and
electricity.

The chemical pulping process generates more energy than it uses.

A pulp mill generates energy for its own use and energy to sell.

Water

Water is intricately associated with all the three stages of paper production
namely, pulp making, pulp processing, and paper/paper board manufacturing,
and their associated activities of cooking, bleaching, and washing.

With more than 17,000 gallons of water used for every ton of pulp produced, the
pulp and paper sector remains the largest user of industrial process water in the
U.S. and the second largest in Europe.

About 85 percent of the water consumed in the pulp and paper industry is used
only for processing, thus, leading to the generation of large volumes of
contaminated wastewater.

It is also one of the largest producers of wastewater. The paper and water
industries have worked closely for years to achieve enormous reductions in both
fresh water use and the contaminants in wastewater.

Ideal raw materials based on the requisites and

options available:

The largest paper producing countries like China, US, Germany, Japan, Canada,
use predominantly wood.

Bamboo is an ideal raw material. India is the first country in the world to use
bamboo as the basic raw material for making paper.

Bamboo and pulpable timber continue to be the basic raw materials for the paper
industry in India.

Fibrous raw materials:

Paper pulp: groundwood, chemical, semi chemical pulps- bleached or

unbleached

Reuse pulp: recycled or repulped paper products like newspapers, paperboard

etc..mixed with new pulp

Miscellaneous cellulose pulp: straw, linen, cotton, jute, rags

Speciality pulp: inorganic fibres such as asbestos and glass

Non fibrous raw materials:

For fillers, sizing and coating, finishing processes

Inorganic:

Clay, talc, titanium dioxide, zinc sulfide, calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate,
barium sulphate, alum etc..

Organic:

Rosin, glue, caesin, waxes, glycerol, dyestuff

Types of Pulping Processes

Pulp can be divided into two principal types:

chemical

mechanical pulp.

In fact there are more than two types of pulp . Pulp from recovered paper poses
a different challenge for the papermaker as it often has to be de-inked and other
contaminants removed.

Mechanical pulping or Groundwood pulping

The two processes of mechanical pulping are stone groundwood (fiber is torn
from the side of short logs with grindstones) and refiner groundwood (wood chips
are passed through disc refiners). Mechanical pulping does not separate the
cellulose fiber from the lignin in the wood, while chemical pulping does.

In chemimechanical pulping, the wood is softened with chemicals before

grinding. There is also a process called thermomechanical pulping, where the
wood is softened with heat and then disc-refined under pressure.

Chemical Pulping

Chemical pulping uses chemicals to separate the cellulose from the lignin. This
creates pulps with different properties that can be used for higher quality paper.
The three types of chemical pulping are Kraft, Sulfite, and semichemical.

The Kraft process, also called the sulfate process, involves an alkaline treatment
with solutions of sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide. In 1987 Kraft pulping was
95% of the total chemical pulping.

Sulfite pulping began with the use of calcium as the sulfite liquor base. Today the
base has been changed to magnesium, ammonia, or sodium. This allows for the
recovery of spent liquor.

The semichemical pulping process involves cooking wood chips in a neutral

solution of sodium sulfite and sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide. Only some
of the lignin is removed, and then the pulp undergoes mechanical disintegration.

Sulphate (kraft) Pulp Process!!

1.) Debarking- is the process of removing bark from wood. Debarking generally
involves the use of industrial machinery into which the log or stake is placed. Generally
they are powered by hydraulic motors.
2.) Cooking-the wood chips are then cooked in pressurized vessels called digesters. In
a continuous digester, the materials are fed at a rate which allows the pulping reaction
to be complete by the time the materials exit the reactor. Digestion is done to remove
the lignin and hemicelluloses content.

3.) Blow down Valve & Blow Tank- Reduces the pressure of steam from 80 to 10 atm
before entering the blow tank. The steam from the hot slurry passing through the tank is
recovered. This steam is used for the preheating of chips. This tank has high
concentration of pulp slurry and low concentration of water.
4.) Screening- Screening of the pulp after pulping is a process whereby the pulp is
separated from large shives, knots, dirt and other undigested residues. The accept is
the pulp. The material separated from the pulp is called reject.
5.) Washing- Cooking liquors are separated from the cellulose fibers. Pulp washers
use counter current flow between the stages such that the pulp moves in the opposite
direction to the flow of washing waters.
6.) Bleaching- Bleaching of wood pulp is the chemical processing carried out on
various types of wood pulp to decrease the color of the pulp, so that it becomes whiter.
Traditionally chlorine based oxidizing agents were used for this process but due to the
formation of dioxins and other undesirable products, the usage of chlorine has been
discontinued. In the modern and improved bleaching stage, hydrogen peroxide is added
along with sodium hydroxide, which activates the peroxide.

ADVANTAGES of Kraft Process:

1.Pulp produced is stronger than that made by other pulping processes.
2. Acidic sulfite processes degrade cellulose more than the kraft process, which leads to
weaker fibers.
3. Mechanical pulping processes leave most of the lignin in the fibers.
4. The kraft process can use a wider range of fiber sources than most other pulping
processes.

FLOW SHEET

MULTI EFFECT EVAPORATOR

It is a series of single effect evaporators of 5-6 stages of calandria

equipment followed by disk evaporators .

After the first step the black liquor is about 20 - 30% solids. At this
concentration the rosin soap rises to the surface and is skimmed off.

. The weak black liquor is further evaporated to 65% or even 80% solids
and burned in the recovery boiler to recover the inorganic chemicals for
reuse in the pulping process. .

MIX TANK

Organic carbon burns in smelting furnace , supplying necessary heat and

CO2 .

The combustion is carried out such that sodium sulphate is reduced to

sodium sulphide by the reaction :

RECOVERY BOILER

Molten slag is produced

Here organic carbon present in black liquor is burned.

High pressure 28 atm to 30atm steam is produced.

DISSOLVING TANK

The molten salts from the recovery boiler are dissolved in a process water
known as weak wash.

This process water, also known as weak white liquor is composed of all liquors
used to wash lime mud and green liquor precipitates. The resulting solution of
sodium carbonate and sodium sulphide is known as "green liquor .

This liquid is mixed with calcium oxide , which becomes calcium hydroxide in
solution, to regenerate the white liquor used in the pulping process through an
equilibrium

CLARIFIER

A clarifier is used as a filter to remove solid particulates or suspended solids

from liquid

It separates as filtrate and sludge.

Filtering medium is monel metal .

WASHING TANK

Impurities are washed away in this tank after clarifying.

CAUSTICIZING TANK

Calcium carbonate precipitates from the white liquor and is recovered and
heated in a lime kiln where it is converted to calcium oxide (lime):

Calcium oxide (lime) is reacted with water to regenerate the calcium hydroxide
used in reaction :

It precipitates lime mud. Carbonate is causticized by adding Ca (OH) 2 .

Paper Industry
What is paper?
Paper is a thin material produced by pressing together moist fibers- cellulose pulp ,
derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets.

Basic raw materials include:

Fibrous : containing groundwood, paper products (recycled) , asbestos and glass
Non-Fibrous: clay, talc ,glue , waxes , glycerol ,titanium dioxide , zinc sulfide , calcium
carbonate

Method of paper making

The Fourdrinier press
Modern papermaking began in the early 1800s in Europe with the development of the
Fourdrinier machine, which produces a continuous roll of paper rather than individual
sheets. These machines have become very large, up to 500 feet in length, producing a
sheet 400 inches wide, and operating at speeds of over 60 mph (100 km/h).
Working
The Fourdrinier machine is made of four sections Forming Section or Wet End, Wet
Press Section, Dryer Section and Calendar Section.

Forming section / wet end

1.Headbox
Because wood pulp fiber has a strong tendency to clump, it needs to start off with a very
high percentage of water content, allowing the pulp to have an even distribution, the
slurry (or furnish) held in the Headbox which contains around 99% water.
2.Rollers
The furnish travels down the Slice onto the revolving Wire at the Breast Roller point of
contact and then over a series of relatively small, parallel rolls of steel or brass tubing
called "table rolls." It then passes over several suction boxes, under a roll covered with
woven or parallel wires, called a "dandy roll," and over one or more additional suction
boxes. Basic function-to keep the wire is at the desired degree of tightness
3.Forming board
device found under the wire on Fourdinier paper machines, just after the headbox;
used to prevent premature removal of too much water during sheet formation.
3.Wire
Fine mesh polyester fabric on which the paper sheet is formed by stock draining
through it
4.Suction boxes
aka Uhle Box is found in the press section; used to remove water and detergents
from the press felts.
5.Suction couch rolls

Suction rollers hold the furnish to the mesh and help remove the water content. By the
time the paper or web has reached the Wet Press Section the consistency has gone
from 0.5% pulp content to 25%.
6.Wire driving roll
It drives the wire with the furnish on top to the next section-the wet press

Wet press section

The Wet Press Section carries the wet web between a series of rollers under high
pressure to squeeze more water from the paper, much like a mangle.
The Felts (polymeric fabrics) support the web and also aid water removal by
absorption. As the web enters the third section the paper web consistency can be as
high as 40%.
Wet web strength factors:

Fiber lengths

Moisture content

Latency(kinked,curled fibers)

Inter fiber friction (affected by refining , surfactants )

Surface tension

Process variations

Drying section
Steam heated rollers in the Dryer Section cause further water removal
through evaporation . It is in the Dryer Section that the web will be treated with Sizing to
change the characteristics of the paper and via a coating unit, the surface will be
covered with calcium carbonate or china clay for coated papers such as gloss, silks and
velvet types. The stock is usually about 95% solids by the time it comes off the last
dryers.

Finishing

Calendering

A calender is a device with two or more rollers through which the paper is run.
The compression of the rollers and the application of heat give the paper its
smooth and glossy properties. 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

Coating
Coating improves the opacity, lightness, surface smoothness, lustre and colorabsorption ability of paper.
Coating means that a layer is applied to the paper, either directly in the papermaking
machine or separately.
Varieties of coated paper range from pigmented to cast-coated.
The coat consists of a mix of pigments, extenders such as china clay and chalk, and
binders such as starch or latex.
In addition, various chemicals are added to give the paper the desired characteristics.

Chemical additives
Why do we need to add additives?

Improves fiber to fiber bonding

Retain fiber & fines, giving better yield from the same raw material

Better glaze & stiffness

Increase in breaking length, double fold, tear factor & other strength properties
w.r.t. writing / printing paper industry.

Improves the formation of paper and fiber distribution

Types of additives

Wet strength additive: ensures that the paper retains its strength when wet.
Very important for making tissue papers. Chemicals used are urea
formaldehyde ,poly-

amines

Dry strength additive: chemicals which enhance the strength of the paper at its
normal condition. Includes compression strength, bursting strength, tensile
breaking strength etc. Typical chemicals used are as
cationic starch and polyacrylamide (PAM) derivatives--acts as binder of fibers

Colorants: Basically used to give the paper a specific color, improving the tone
of the paper at the same time.

Optical brightening agents: makes paper more white by absorbing UV light

from fluorescence and re-emits in the blue region

APPLICATIONS.

Paper can be produced with a wide variety of properties, depending on its

intended use.

For representing value: paper money, bank

note, cheque, security , voucher and ticket

For storing information: book, notebook, magazine, news paper, art & letters.

For communication: between individuals and/or groups of people.

For packaging: corrugated box, paper bag, envelope, Packing & Wrapping
Paper, and wallpaper.

For cleaning: toilet paper, handkerchiefs, paper towels and facial tissue

For construction: papier-mch, origami, paper planes, quilling, paper

honeycomb, used as a core material in composite materials, paper
engineering, construction paper and paper clothing

For other uses: emery paper, sandpaper, blotting paper, litmus paper, universal
indicator paper, paper chromatography, electrical insulation paper (see
also dielectric and permittivity) and filter paper

Why should we recycle paper?

Recycling 1 tonne of paper:
1. Saves approximately 17 trees.
2. Dont use approximately 380 gallons of oil.
3. Saves 4000KW of power.
4. Saves 3 cubic yards of landfill space.
5. 7000 galloons of water.

Polytechnic University of the Philippines

College of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Department

Report in Industrial Process

Pulp and Paper Manufacturing

Process

Reported by:
John Eduard S. Bernabe & Anton James M. Villacacan
Submitted to:
Engr. Armingol Morales