Paper and paperboard makers are nowadays using in the manufacturing process increasing amounts of old corrugated containers (OCC) as a source of inexpensive fiber. However, using OCC can introduce unwanted contaminants such as pressure sensitive (PSAs) and hot melts adhesives into the manufacturing process. Despite the use by the mills of mechanical screens and cleaners to remove the majority of these contaminants, some remain as dissolved and colloidal matter in the process waters from which they eventually separate out to cause sticky deposits on the paper machine components. These deposits ultimately are the cause of manufacturing inefficiencies and end product defects. It is well known in the industry that the sticky deposits problem occurs more frequently in mills reusing process waters because of the contaminants concentration build up resulting from reduced fresh water usage. Consequently, a need exist in the paper industry for analytical tools that would enable the OCC users determine both the contaminants' composition and concentration in process waters. With this information on hand, papermakers can be more proactive in abating deposit problems. With this goal in mind, a new reliable analytical method, based on GC/MS spectroscopy, was developed in this work to quantify the contaminants such as PSAs and hot melts adhesives present in process water. The results obtained with this new method are presented and discussed.
展开▼
