Life Sciences Commons^™

Optimizing Biocides To Control Microorganisms, Josh Taube

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Microorganisms can cause many problems during the papermaking process. These problems include slime deposits, corrosion, felt plugging, holes, and additive contamination. An effective biocide program can reduce the numbers of microorganisms resulting in a reduction of these associated problems. This study focuses on the control of microorganisms on the paper machine and the relevant sources of water. Observation of the paper machine began with bleach being pumped into the headboxes, AES screen rotating shower water system and Bel-Bond showers. There was approximately 250 ml/min of bleach being pumped into each of these systems. The amount of bleach being pumped into …

Silica Gel: An Experiment In Surface Area, Scott Vermullen

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Within the paper industry today, there are advancements in technology every year, every month, most likely every day as well. These new technologies work to obtain the same major goals. These goals include faster machine speeds for improved output. They-include less, pollution, and in fact are working towards a pollutant free system. And finally, product quality for today's high demanding consumer market.

To realize these goals, paper makers must effectively utilize the most amount of fiber and filler possible in their sheet. That is, they must bind up fines and filler within the sheet rather than sending it to the …

Md Ribbing Instability Of Air Knife Coating Application, Bradley W. Fadden

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The coating application process is an area of great concern for most mills that produce a coated media. During the roll application of the coating onto the sheet, the fluid that is passed to the sheet from the roll, goes through a process known as film splitting. Film splitting is the mechanism for the transfer of the fluid from the application roll to the sheet. Instead of smoothly transferring onto the sheet, the film splits away from the roll and then onto the substrate. Without even transfer and leveling of the coating fluid, the splitting results in stripes or ribs …

The Effect Of Antioxidant Addition On Lightfastness Of Color Ink Jet Printing, Jennifer M. Siuda

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Fluorescent office lighting has been shown to fade ink jet colors. Fading of ink jet dyes is a problem when the shelf life of documents is important. For effective, low cost ink jet printing, the color quality of the printed paper must be maintained for a duration of time. Research in hot melt adhesives has shown a reduction of color loss associated with the use of antioxidants.

During this thesis, a coating formulation was tested with and without an antioxidant present. The antioxidants tested were alpha tocopherol I vitamin E, and sodium thiosulfate. The addition rate was varied at 2.65 …

Effect Of Borax On Drying And Strength Properties Of Paper, Melanie J. Robydek

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Sodium tetraborate, the most common of the borate minerals, is a salt believed to promote crosslinking among cellulose and hemicellulose fibers. Samples of bleached Burgess hardwood pulp (45% maple, 25% birch, 15% beech, 15% poplar) obtained from Crown Vantage were treated with borax at three different levels: 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0%. The pulp was pre-soaked with borax at 10% consistency, for one hour, prior to refining in a PFI mill. The drying and strength properties of the paper produced from the control and treated pulps were tested according to standard TAPPI procedures and analyzed statistically. The addition of borax resulted …

Cationic Polymeric Microparticle Retention Systems And Fines Retention, Derek Maddox

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

A new cationic polymeric microparticle (CPMP), which is not yet commercialized, has been developed as a retention and flocculation aid. To study the effectiveness of this new cationic polymeric microparticle as a retention aid it was used in conjunction with both a cationic polyacrylamide (CPAM) and an anionic polyacrylamide (APAM). Laboratory evaluation involved using a Britt Dynamic Drainage Jar, two different furnishes and multiple retention system addition levels to test for fines retention. The two systems were then evaluated individually and compared.

It was found that both the CPMP-APAM and CPMP-CPAM systems were beneficial in retaining both fiber and filler …

The Effects Of Repeated Recycle On Paper Strength, William T. Byrd

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

As society stresses the need to recycle to reduce the amount of waste sent to our municipality landfills every year, the effect of secondary fiber on the papers that we produce becomes greater and greater. One of the largest effects that these fibers have is to change the strength properties in the sheets which contain them. Most studies have shown a decrease in the tensile strength of paper as fibers pass repeatedly through a series of recycle. The reason of this tendency is believed to be a loss of bonding potential between fibers as they become shorter and stiffer through …

A Study Of The Use Of Borates In Semi-Chemical Pulping, Dan Hebner

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The purpose of this project was to identify sodium metaborate as a pulping chemical in semi-chemical pulping with soda ash. The experimental design included four digester cooks with 0%, 10%, 20%, and 40% addition of.the borate compound. The resulting yields were 81. 3 %, 79. 2%, 77.4 %, and 7 4. 5% respectively. Therefore, under the definition of pulping, sodium metaborate was considered a pulping chemical. The pulps were mechanically refined. The resulting screened rejects increased with increasing borate addition. Handsheets were made and tested for strength and optical properties. The tensile and mull en strengths of the handsheets increased …

The Effect Of Deinking Variables On Flotation Deinking Of Electrographic Toners, Joel E. Jacobs

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Concern for the environment has grown dramatically over the last two decades. In response to this concern, flotation deinking has become a popular way to recycle paper, reduce waste, and achieve a relatively white pulp without cutting down more trees and operating a bleach plant. However, the inks are becoming more and more difficult to deink. With the rise of photocopiers and laser printers the amount of electrographic toner in recycled paper has increased dramatically. Therefore, research on how best to remove these inks from paper is required.

The effects of pH, surfactant concentration, surfactant charge, and toner charge on …

The Effect Of Varying Drying Temperatures On The Recyclability Of Thermomechanical Pulps, Jeffry J. Collegnon

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

There has been conflicting data regarding the effects of recycling on pulps. Strength properties go down for chemical pulps after being recycled, but the strength properties go up for mechanical pulps after recycling. The objective of the thesis will be to study the effects of varying the drying temperature on the recycled fiber properties of thermomechanical pulp.

A never-dried thermomechanical pulp furnish was obtained, from which three samples were separated out. Pulp sample one was air dried at approximately 77°F, sample two was dried at a temperature of 155°F, and the third sample was dried at a temperature of 250°F. …

The Optimization Of A Recycled Thermomechanical Paper Using Fractionation, Michael J. Felker

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The initial recycling of thermomechanical pulp leads to the flattening and increased flexibility of the fibers. Further recycling of the pulp leads to the unraveling of the fibers. The treatment of the fibers increases the bond potential of fibers while it decreases the fiber strength. Recycling of the fibers also leads to shortening of the fibers. The overall effect of recycling is the degradation of the finished product.

By varying the short fiber ratio the papers strength, physical, and optical properties can be directly affected. The strength properties dependent on bond potential are increased by adding short fiber and recycling. …

The Effects Of Recycling Of Mechanical Pulps, Bill D. Draze

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The recycle movement is now bigger than ever, with more reasons than ever. Recycling has the potential to save the world's landfills millions of cubic feet per year of precious space, as well as preserve our natural supply of virgin timbers. The recycling effort has sparked many questions over the years for papermakers. One big question is "how will repeated beating of fibers affect recycling potential?, and how will the effects differ between chemical and mechanical pulps"?

Chemical pulps have been found to lose strength from recycling. By becoming stiffer, chemically pulped fibers lose critical bonding area and flexibility, whereas, …

The Effects Of Recycling On The Hygroexpansivity Of Thermomechanical Pulp, Derek M. Depuydt

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The objectives of this thesis were 1) to determine the effects of recycling and increased drying temperature on the hygroexpansivity of the fibers and 2) to investigate the role of beating on the hygroexpansivity of the fibers.

A never-dried thermomechanical pulp was obtained and separated into three samples. Handsheets were produced, dried, and placed in a conditioning room. Sample one was air dried (77°F), sample two was dried at 155°F and sample three was dried at 250°F, respectively. Five handsheet samples at each varying temperature were taken and the hygroexpansivity was tested and calculated for each sheet using the equation …

The Effect Of Silica Surface Area On Microparticle Retention Systems, Jason P. Hoffmann

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Retention of fines and fillers has always been a concern in the paper industry. There has been many different types of retention aids in the past, but they lack performance under the vigorous conditions in today's paper mills. High shear forces associated with high speed paper of recycled materials into the mill brought along with it high fines content and a lot of anionic trash which readily reacts with cationic polymers. Consequently, the dosage must be increased which can lead to poor formation and increased chemical cost. A new retention aid was needed to combat these problems. Microparticle retention systems …

The Efficiency Of Surfactants On Xerographic Ink, Andrew Mclaughlin

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Surfactants are used in the deinking process for the dispersion of ink particles, collection of ink particles, and reduction of surface tension. Surfactant characteristics are vital in understanding the efficiency of a surfactant on ink particles. Evaluation on the efficiency of surfactants and on toner particles is critical to optimize a deinking process and improve selection of deinking surfactant candidates.

By deinking xerographic inks with series of nonionic, anionic, and cationic surfactants, the efficiency was reported. By using the HLB (hydrophile-lipophile balance) empirical method of rating surfactants, the efficiency was correlated to structure and other surfactant properties. Normally when the …

The Effect Of Aerobic Biological Treatment On Hydrogen Sulfide Emissions, Linh Ly

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Sulfides from Kraft mills and other processes are an odor problem. Using Thiobacillus thiooxidans as bacteria to be inoculated into an aerobic biological reactor can be an alternative to reducing the quantity and improving the quality of effluent gases. Approximately, two to three months was needed to insure that the Thiobacillus thiooxidans were growing in chains and colonies. So, this thesis was not fully completed due to the fact that the bacteria did not have enough time to grow. No conclusion can be made on the feasibility of using an aerobic biological reactor with an inert packing to degrade or …

Feasibility Of Sodium Carbonate Pulping Of Kenaf For Corrugating Medium, Jennifer A. Lechlitner

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The pulp and paper industry is showing an increasing amount of interest in the use of nonwood fiber sources for the production of paper. Research is being performed that involves the use of kenaf which is a nonwood fiber source that is grown in warm climates. The outer portion of kenaf, the bast, consists of long fibers similar to softwood fibers and the inner portion, the core, consists of short fibers similar to hardwood fibers. Paper properties that result by the use of kenaf pulp are similar to those of softwood and hardwood.

Once fiber is continuously reused as recycling …

The Use Of Wood Based Aerobic Bioreactor To Oxidize Hydrogen Sulfide, Wade C. Rayner

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The central focus of this thesis was to study the possibility of and carry out an experiment dealing with biological oxidation of hydrogen sulfide. The biological reactor was to be a 5 inch in diameter, 14 inch tall PVC pipe filled with pine chips as a growth medium. The growth medium was to be seeded with thiobacillus thioxidans, a strain of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. Hydrogen sulfide gas at approximately 50 parts per million was to be introduced into the reactor at a rate of 1.8 L/min, resulting in a retention time of approximately 60 seconds. Inlet and outlet gas samples were …

Viability Of Wood Pallets As A Significant Fiber Source, Marcus J. Tironi

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The rationale for this study came about from, among other things, the amount of wood waste in landfills and the decreasing amount of landfill space and increasing tipping fees. Annually, 315 pounds per capita of waste is landfilled and 20% to 30% of this is wood waste. This equals close to 9.8 million tons of wood waste per year in the United States.¹

The problem with the disposal of municipal solid waste is not the amount of waste that must be disposed of but this amount in relation to available disposal capacity. The two main disposal options for municipal …

The Effects Of Styrene-Butadiene Latex Binder On The Properties Of A Coated Sheet, Bryan J. Wiltzius

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The objective of this thesis proposal is to determine the effect of a varying latex binder on the physical and optical characteristics of a coated sheet with different binder addition levels. A total of nine separate coating formulations were made up of three different styrene to butadiene ratios and three different binder addition levels. The optical properties that were tested include opacity, brightness, paper gloss, and K&N ink absorption. The adhesive properties were evaluated by testing the physical properties of pick strength, abrasion resistance, and wet rub. The porosity and roughness characteristics were also tested.

One liter of each coating …

Image Analysis And Rating Of Ink Jet Printing, Wendy S. Woodbury

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Correlation between image analysis measurements and visual ranking of ink jet printing was established. Human rating was determined by the use of an all-pair comparison. A camera driven image analysis system and NIH image analysis software with a scanner was used to analyze printed samples. Three sets of printed samples were evaluated for print density. and single dot attributes.

Analyzing the mean gray scale value (GSV) as a tool for evaluating ink jet print quality is limited. Large differences between samples will contribute to the perception of quality, but small differences are overruled by other factors.

Using the standard deviation …

New Mechanisms Of Micro-Fiber Flocculation And Computer Simulation Of Headbox Flow, Erik M. Standerfer

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

The objectives of this thesis are 1) to investigate the physical reasons of flocculation, which contribute to nonuniformity in the CD through interactions between fibers in a turbulent flow and 2) to study the effects of velocity profiles in the headbox on variations in the CD by utilizing a computer simulation.

Fluid velocities emerging from the headbox vary greatly due to the turbulence generating tube banks. As the fluid exits the tube bank and enters the converging portion of the headbox, patterns formed from the bottom tubes are extended throughout this convergence. This velocity profile is caused by fluid flow …

The Effects Of Refining On Thermomechanical Recycle, Richard Michael Verbrugge

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

Mechanical and chemical pulps are the dominant pulping methods used throughout the pulping industry. The increasing demand for the use of recycled fiber both by public and government legislation provides incentive for research concerning recycle fiber use. Currently, research has been performed on chemical pulps and only very little on mechanical pulps. The focus of this experiment was to determine the subsequent effects of refining on recycled pulp and paper without thermal interaction. From the majority of the data analysis, a conclusion concerning the optimum number of times a fiber could be recycled before severe degradation was three. Determination regarding …

Estimating The Treatability Of Mill Process Streams Using Bod Rate Constants, Sara J. Cox

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

This thesis estimates and compares the treatability of several internal mill process streams. This is important to the paper industry due to increasingly stringent regulations being placed on the effluent that is discharged from pulp and paper mills. The treatability of the process streams provides an indication of what processes are most effective on which process streams, identifies the major sources of COD, determines the treatability of the major sources, and will be very useful for emerging regulations regarding internal process streams. Samples from six different process streams within an integrated, bleach kraft mill employing their own wastewater treatment plant …

Detection Of Stickies Using Infrared Thermography, Daniel D. Finkler

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

With the growth in use of recycled material for the production of paper has come the problem of contaminants. The contaminants cause all sorts of problems in the paper making system. The most problematic and costly group of contaminants are known as "stickies." The current methods for detecting stickies are both time consuming and subjective to operator opinions. With the use of infrared thermography, both of these problems can be solved.

Handsheets containing various contaminants were made to two different weights, on two different handsheet formers. These handsheets were placed in an oven to raise their temperature to 105°F. The …

The Effects Of Base Sheet Properties On Blade Forces In Beveled Blade Coating, Derek Denzer

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

When coating on a beveled blade coater, the coat weight applied to the base paper is influenced by the doctoring action of the blade. The final coat weight varies as a function of the blade deflection. The blade deflection can be determined by the balance of forces, external and dynamic. The external is the mechanical force applied to the blade, this is also known as the blade loading. The dynamic forces derive from the pressure forces (speed induced), the impulse force (momentum dependent) and finally the hydrodynamic forces. How the roughness of the base sheet affects the blade forces is …

The Effect Of A Reduction/Oxidation Filter On Pilot Plant Effluent, Matthew R. Mcnamara

Paper Engineering Senior Theses

This project was concerned with the effects of a reduction/oxidation filter on water quality in Western Michigan University's Pilot Paper Plant. The filter was installed after the clarifier in the pilot deinking system. In other applications the filter has been found to remove heavy metals, chlorine, and also reduce the amount of scaling in a system. This application of the filter showed inconsistant results with no definite beneficial trends.