09-28-2021, 07:42 AM
On the paper machine, the size press is used to apply surface size to dried paper.182,183 Starch is the most frequently used binder in surface sizing. Besides raising surface strength, starch also imparts stiffness, lowers water sensitivity, reduces dimensional changes and raises air leak density of the sheet. In conventional practice, the sheet passes through a pond of starch dispersion held above the nip between two large rotating cylinders. In the nip a high, transient, hydrostatic pressure is developed. Excess starch dispersion is drained from the ends of the nip. The surface size is transferred to paper by capillary penetration, pressure penetration and by hydrodynamic force during nip passage.
The quantity of starch transferred to paper by a size press depends on several factors: concentration of dispersed starch in the surface size; viscosity of the starch dispersion; diameter of the size press rolls; size press pond height; cover hardness of the size press rolls; size press nip loading pressure; fluting corrugated paper machine speeds; wet-end sizing of the sheet; and water content of the sheet. The concentration of starch in the surface size liquid can range from 2% to ∼15%, depending on product requirements. Frequently, pigments and other materials are added, which further increases total dispersed and suspended solids content. The viscosity ranges from water thin to several hundred cP (mPa·s).
Viscosity of the starch dispersion is the primary rate-determining parameter for dynamic sorption of starch into paper during surface sizing. Surface size penetration into the capillaries of paper proceeds in lateral and normal directions. Lateral flow takes the shape of an ellipse, according to the bias of fiber orientation in machine direction.184 Contributions by wetting and capillary penetration decrease with increasing paper machine speed, while the contribution by hydrodynamic force increases with speed. As a consequence, starch pick-up will pass through a minimum at a specific speed. The hydrodynamic force depends on the angle of convergence (which is determined by the diameter of the rolls), by the nip length (which is influenced by the hardness of the roll covers), by the paper machine speed and by the opposing loading force between the two rolls. High liquid viscosity, large roll diameter, soft roll covers and high newspaper machine speed increase starch transfer, while high nip pressure counteracts these drivers. Starch cationization has no affect on pressure-driven penetration, provided the hydrostatic pressure is high and the viscosity of the dispersion is low.The same basic test liner paper machine used to produce writing and printing paper are also used to form paperboard. However, modern paper machines are limited in their ability to produce a single-layer paper sheet with a grammage above 150 g m−2. There are a number of reasons for this limitation. Primarily, thicker single-layer sheets are more difficult to dewater requiring excessive reductions in machine speed. Furthermore, the increased drainage forces applied to thicker sheets in the forming section would cause greater fines removal from the bottom of the sheet resulting in a rougher surface. The topside of a very thick sheet would also be adversely affected since paper is formed on fourdrinier machines layer by layer from the wire side up, which would allow extra time for the fibers in the top layer to flock and produce a ‘hill and valley’ appearance. The combination of these two effects would produce an unacceptably two-sided product.Although starch is usually added at the wet end of the coated board duplex paper machine as a liquid feed directly to the furnish, other systems which place the starch directly on the formed sheet while it is still on the wire of the Fourdrinier machine or on the felt of the cylinder machine may be used. Advantages claimed are improved retention and better distribution of starch throughout the sheet, while permitting the use of low-cost unmodified starch.
The quantity of starch transferred to paper by a size press depends on several factors: concentration of dispersed starch in the surface size; viscosity of the starch dispersion; diameter of the size press rolls; size press pond height; cover hardness of the size press rolls; size press nip loading pressure; fluting corrugated paper machine speeds; wet-end sizing of the sheet; and water content of the sheet. The concentration of starch in the surface size liquid can range from 2% to ∼15%, depending on product requirements. Frequently, pigments and other materials are added, which further increases total dispersed and suspended solids content. The viscosity ranges from water thin to several hundred cP (mPa·s).
Viscosity of the starch dispersion is the primary rate-determining parameter for dynamic sorption of starch into paper during surface sizing. Surface size penetration into the capillaries of paper proceeds in lateral and normal directions. Lateral flow takes the shape of an ellipse, according to the bias of fiber orientation in machine direction.184 Contributions by wetting and capillary penetration decrease with increasing paper machine speed, while the contribution by hydrodynamic force increases with speed. As a consequence, starch pick-up will pass through a minimum at a specific speed. The hydrodynamic force depends on the angle of convergence (which is determined by the diameter of the rolls), by the nip length (which is influenced by the hardness of the roll covers), by the paper machine speed and by the opposing loading force between the two rolls. High liquid viscosity, large roll diameter, soft roll covers and high newspaper machine speed increase starch transfer, while high nip pressure counteracts these drivers. Starch cationization has no affect on pressure-driven penetration, provided the hydrostatic pressure is high and the viscosity of the dispersion is low.The same basic test liner paper machine used to produce writing and printing paper are also used to form paperboard. However, modern paper machines are limited in their ability to produce a single-layer paper sheet with a grammage above 150 g m−2. There are a number of reasons for this limitation. Primarily, thicker single-layer sheets are more difficult to dewater requiring excessive reductions in machine speed. Furthermore, the increased drainage forces applied to thicker sheets in the forming section would cause greater fines removal from the bottom of the sheet resulting in a rougher surface. The topside of a very thick sheet would also be adversely affected since paper is formed on fourdrinier machines layer by layer from the wire side up, which would allow extra time for the fibers in the top layer to flock and produce a ‘hill and valley’ appearance. The combination of these two effects would produce an unacceptably two-sided product.Although starch is usually added at the wet end of the coated board duplex paper machine as a liquid feed directly to the furnish, other systems which place the starch directly on the formed sheet while it is still on the wire of the Fourdrinier machine or on the felt of the cylinder machine may be used. Advantages claimed are improved retention and better distribution of starch throughout the sheet, while permitting the use of low-cost unmodified starch.