Pulping process

CeUulose is the most abundant polymer, an estimated 10 t being produced aimuaUy by natural processes. SuppUes for the rayon industry can be obtained from many sources, but in practice, the wood-pulping processes used to supply the needs of the paper and board industries have been adapted to make the necessary speciaUy pure grade. Of the 3 x 10 t of wood used by the paper and board industry (13) in 1989, about 6 x 10 t were purified to provide the 2.5 x 10 t of dissolving pulp required by the viscose processes. 

Fig. 3. The changes in coniferous hemicellulose as a result of pulping processes and before bleaching.

S. A. Rydhokn, Pulping Processes, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1965. 

Terpenes, specifically monoterpenes, are naturally occurring monomers that are usually obtained as by-products of the paper and citms industries. Monoterpenes that are typically employed in hydrocarbon resins are shown in Figure 2. Optically active tf-limonene is obtained from various natural oils, particularly citms oils (81). a and P-pinenes are obtained from sulfate turpentine produced in the kraft (sulfate) pulping process. Southeastern U.S. sulfate turpentine contains approximately 60—70 wt % a-pinene and 20—25 wt % P-pinene (see Terpenoids). Dipentene, which is a complex mixture of if,/-Hmonene, a- and P-pheUandrene, a- and y-terpinene, and terpinolene, is also obtained from the processing of sulfate Hquor (82). 

The most commonly used reinforcement for high pressure decorative and industrial laminates is paper (qv). The strong substrate layers, or filler, are kraft paper. Kraft is a brown paper made from a sulfate pulp process (8). It consists of both short cellulose fibers from hardwoods and long fibers from conifers. The long fibers impart most of the wet strength required for resin saturation processes. 

Substitution Reactions on Side Chains. Because the benzyl carbon is the most reactive site on the propanoid side chain, many substitution reactions occur at this position. Typically, substitution reactions occur by attack of a nucleophilic reagent on a benzyl carbon present in the form of a carbonium ion or a methine group in a quinonemethide stmeture. In a reversal of the ether cleavage reactions described, benzyl alcohols and ethers may be transformed to alkyl or aryl ethers by acid-catalyzed etherifications or transetherifications with alcohol or phenol. The conversion of a benzyl alcohol or ether to a sulfonic acid group is among the most important side chain modification reactions because it is essential to the solubilization of lignin in the sulfite pulping process (17). 

Rotary kilns and, to a lesser extent, Fluo-SoHds kilns are used to calcine a wet precipitated calcium carbonate filter cake in the kraft or sulfate paper-pulp process (15). Lime is regenerated for use as a causticization reagent in recovering caustic soda for pulp digestion. Losses in lime recovery are replaced by purchased lime (see Paper Pulp). 

Dry-Laid Pulp. A principal objective of using air to form webs from natural and synthetic fiber pulps is to produce relatively lofty, porous stmctures from short fibers, without using water. Early technical developments in air-laid pulp processing were made by Kroyer in Denmark. 

Fiber Analysis. Paper may be composed of one or several types of fibers, eg, animal, vegetable, mineral, and synthetic (see Eibers). Paper is generally composed of woody vegetable fibers obtained from coniferous (softwood) and deciduous (hardwood) trees. QuaUtative and quantitative methods have been developed to determine the fibrous constituents in a sheet of paper (see TAPPI T401). However, the proliferation in the number and types of pulping processes used have made the analysis of paper a much more complex problem. Comprehensive reviews of the methods are given in References 20 and 23. 

Some hquid defoamers are preemulsified relatives of paste defoamers. In addition to the fatty components mentioned above, kerosene [8008-20-6] or an organic cosolvent such as 2-propanol have been used to enhance stabiUty of the oil—water emulsion and the solubiUty of the defoamer s active ingredients. These cosolvents are used less frequently as concerns increase about volatile organic emissions (VOCs) from the paper machine. Additionally, the use of ultrapure mineral oil in defoamers has become commonplace. Concern about the creation of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD) and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF) in the pulping process has led to the discovery of unchlorinated precursor molecules, especially in recycled mineral oil and other organic cosolvents used in defoamer formulations (28). In 1995 the mineral oil that is used is essentially free of dibenzodioxin and dibenzofuran. In addition, owing to both the concern about these oils and the fluctuating cost of raw materials, the trend in paper machine defoamers is toward water-based defoamers (29). 

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