Date of Award
12-1994
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Chemical and Paper Engineering
Department
Paper Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Imaging
First Advisor
Dr. E. H. Shriver
Second Advisor
Dr. R. L. Janes
Third Advisor
Dr. John Crowell
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of steam explosion on the optical properties of recycled fibers, i.e., brightness, opacity, scattering and absorption coefficients, and to find out whether explosive discharge caused fiber damage and affected fiber bonding ability.
Laser printed paper was pulped by the steam explosion process. Addition of two different chemicals, residence time, pressure, and dispersant level were varied during the steam explosion experiments. All factors were kept at two levels.
Full factorial design and regression analysis were applied to determine the effect of different factors on steam explosion pulp. The data indicate that steam explosion removed the toner from the laser paper and dispersed these particles in the pulp. As a consequence of high scattering coefficient and low absorption coefficient of the steam exploded pulp, the sheet brightness and opacity were higher compared to unexploded pulp. The fiber bonding ability of steam exploded pulp was reduced which resulted in lower tensile strength and relative bonded area compared to unexploded pulp. Zero span breaking length of steam exploded pulp was lower than exploded pulp which means that steam explosion caused damage to the fibers.
Recommended Citation
Sharma, Arvind Kumar, "Physical and Optical Properties of Steam Exploded Laser Printed Paper" (1994). Masters Theses. 4915.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4915