Reformulation of Paperboard Coatings for Optimized Quality and Cost Efficiency

摘要

Paper and board producers continuously look for the best combination of quality and cost performance. With respect to coating, cost saving opportunities can be found in minimizing the amount of binder and replacing expensive pigments such as titanium dioxide, calcined clay and hydrous clay with the more affordable Ground Calcium Carbonate (GCC). Increasing the solids content of GCC-rich formulations offers a further opportunity to save cost, as a result of reduced energy costs for drying. This paper describes an approach to significantly increase the portion of GCC and thereby achieve significant cost savings. In this context, it is crucial to optimally control the solids content and the water retention of the coating colour to ensure trouble-free coater runnability, as well as desired surface properties and print quality.