Analysis explores extra energy-efficient paper manufacturing – Uplaza

Dewatering throughout paper manufacturing is a extremely energy-intensive course of. New analysis, revealed in BioResources, reveals how the method could be made extra environment friendly regarding power consumption.

“In my research, I have looked at the manufacturing of grease-proof paper,” says Björn Öman, an industrial doctoral pupil in chemical engineering. Grease-proof paper is extraordinarily compact, sufficient to behave as a barrier to fats, grease, and water. The extra compact the paper, the extra power is used for dewatering.

Throughout dewatering, the paper passes via a number of vacuum suction bins, usually 5 to eight bins. This creates an issue of rewetting, that’s, the paper has time to soak up already eliminated water once more, earlier than being transported to the following step.

“Tests on a laboratory scale have been carried out at Karlstad University, where we have simulated a multi-slit vacuum suction box. Through increasingly higher vacuum levels without breaks between levels, we have achieved increased dryness and lower energy consumption. This new laboratory-scale dewatering strategy will hopefully reduce the energy requirement, resulting in higher dryness for full-scale grease-proof production. This will be especially important for grease-proof paper as it is much more difficult to dewater.”

Supplied by
Karlstad College