Tissue World: What are the most important recent developments or products that you have introduced for tissue making? And what are the benefits to the customer?
John Stitt, Buckman: Fiber modification
enzymes that fibrillate fiber without increasing
fines, and provide increased strength and softness,
reduce refining energy, sometimes allow use of
lower quality, lower cost fibers.
Enzymatic stickies control for secondary fiber. Much simpler than use of the dispersantcoagulant technology and in most processes is quite effective.
High temperature creping adhesives that allow for much harder Yankee dryer drying thus saving drying energy.
New adhesive extenders that significantly increase sheet contact with the coating at the pressure roll. This technology is also highly beneficial for processes such as Voith's ATMOS and TAD machines where the sheet contact with the coating is much lower than on dry crepe.
Ian Padley, Hercules: Hercules has new developments and offerings in the following categories:
Machine Operation: Hercobond® paper performance additive and Perform® SP process improvement aid are products proven to improve tissue machine efficiency by increasing speed, reducing breaks and cleaning downtime; and reducing the addition of other strength chemicals as well as reducing energy costs.
Hercobond® paper performance additive has benefited tissue makers by offering a technology which cannot only replace traditional dry strength offerings, but will also improve tissue machine drainage and organic contamination control in the same package. Recorded benefits include increased speed, reduced refining, reduced breaks and reduced cleaning downtime as well as reduced energy consumption.
PerForm® SP process improvement aid may be used as an adjunct to Hercobond®, or on wet-strength grades, to further improve sheet dewatering and hence reduce the machines energy consumption.
Yankee Operation: New, plasticized Yankee coatings in the Crepetrol® crepe aid product range offer improved creping and doctoring performance and enhanced doctor blade life.
The new generation Crepetrol® crepe aids greatly improve Yankee cylinder cleanliness especially with recycled or high hardwood furnishes by improving the doctoring performance of the Yankee coating without supplemental modifiers. The benefits include fewer breaks and a reduced need for doctor blade changes. Products are available at different adhesion levels and include high temperature options.
Tissue Converting: In the Americas, Dimension™ converting adhesives offer a complete range of tissue converting adhesives including core and case adhesive, laminating and tail tie. Our applications and technology group are able to specify customized adhesives for special or novel converting customer specific applications. Also in this range is a unique and exclusive product, Dimension™ L1700S additive which has been designed to improve the biodegradability of tissue in septic systems. Benefits achieved utilizing Dimension™ converting adhesives include the ability to tailor make adhesives for specific applications which many customers find useful. The Dimension™ L1700S additive has helped customers capture new market share by being able to offer a differentiated biological active toilet paper (BATP) in either the away-from-home or consumer sector.
Larry Bonday, Nalco: Nalco’s SMART Solutions® for coatings – Coating Space™ concept – has been an important development for us in the area of Yankee coating technology. The Coating Space concept allows the tissue maker to visualize the Yankee coating in a three-dimensional space of durability, adhesion, and softness. The Coating Space concept brings a more scientific approach to selecting and operating Yankee coating programs. this concept and recognizing the interdependencies of machine design, fiber source and sheet structure, Nalco is able to design a program that addresses the interrelated properties of durability of the coating, the degree of adhesion and the coating softness. This allows Nalco and the tissue maker to customize a Yankee coating program that provides the appropriate sheet properties while also maximizing machine efficiency.
Eric Padovani, EKA Chemicals: In April 2007 we introduced a new wet strength, the latest improvement of the so-called second generation. This technology exhibits a very high efficiency and allows for high wet over dry strength ratio.
Benefits for the users are obviously a reduction in consumption of wet strength chemicals, a more robust process while manufacturing wet strength grades and the development of new grades . More than 25 machines have been converted since April this year.
Knut Möller, KAPPCHEMIE: KAPP-CHEMIE is mainly active in supplying chemicals for tissue converting. Recent developments have been
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Ink concentrates for colouring laminating glues showing superior bleeding resistance |
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Inks for micro-embossing |
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High intensity process inks for kitchen towels |
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Laminating glues (also coloured) for design embossing having extremely low soiling tendency. |
TW: How widely have these solutions been adopted in the industry and can you give any examples of their use in customer operations?
Padley: Hercobond® paper performance additive has been successfully introduced in the European market and commercial operations have also commenced in North America, South America and trials are planned in 2007 in Asia. PerForm® SP process improvement aid has been commercialized in Europe and is in the trial phase in North America and Latin America.
New generation Crepetrol® crepe aids are available in Americas and Europe with launch planned in Asia later in 2007.
Dimension™ converting adhesives are currently only available in North and Central America with a number of evaluations in progress. Dimension™ L1700S additive is available in Europe and Americas currently, with a successful customer product launch already complete in Europe.
Hercules policy is not to divulge proprietary information from customer trials, and in many of the above cases, we would not be at liberty to discuss these innovations as Hercules’ new product introductions are frequently part of a customers overall product development process.
However, we can make an exception in the case of the Dimension™ L1700S additive as details of this product are available on the Lucart (Carteria Lucchese) website (www.lucart.it/catalog/defaultEn.asp). This product won 'best Innovation' award at the recent Purlire Cleaning Products Exhibition in Verona, Italy.
Möller: All products are widely accepted in the European tissue industry. Since KAPP-CHEMIE is bound to secrecy and exclusivity agreements with most customers, we unfortunately cannot provide references.
Padovani: Eka started manufacturing a full line of tissue chemicals in its site in Ambès in Q2 2007. These additives are yankee coatings: adhesives, modifiers and release. The introduction of these technologies started midchemicals 2005 and we have now two production lines dedicated to the tissue industry in Europe. The clear leader is our Eka Soft B15 which has replaced competitive products on over 20 machines. Taylorisation is also possible to respond to any specific needs or machine. Documented benefits can be numerous such as uniform crepe, higher crepe frequency leading to improved bulk softness…
Bonday: The Nalco Coating Space concept has been widely accepted within the industry at the R&D and mill management levels. Further training is necessary at the mill to give the operator a better understanding and control of their Yankee coating program.
Stitt: Each of our four developments is currently in use in multiple production operations.
TW: How are you tackling the energy challenge?
Bonday: Nalco is focused on mild RDF (retention, drainage, and formation) programs for the tissue maker. We are leveraging our expertise in RDF across all papermaking grades to bring this valuable technology to the tissuemaker. Nalco RDF programs stabilize the wet end, allow further water closure of the mill, and reduce fiber and energy cost.
Additionally, our PARETO™ wet-end optimization technology offering is a patent pending feeding technology for Nalco RDF and wet end chemistry applications. This environmentally friendly technology allows substantial reduction in fresh water usage and the associated drying and energy costs, effectively improving operational efficiency. PARETO makes usage of process water for the post-dilution of retention-aids possible, ensuring their optimal mixing and distribution within the stock stream.
Stitt: ATMOS technology in our partnership with Voith Tissue. This technology produces TAD quality tissue and towels at significantly reduced energy consumption. TADs are very inefficient dryers, while ATMOS has much better effiency.
Ultra-high-temperature Yankee dryer coating packages allow mills making soft tissue to use more Yankee dryer steam for drying and less in the hoods. Traditionally favoring hood drying produced softer tissue, and Yankee drying made the tissue crisper and harder. With the development of new coating packages like our Bubond 2620 we are able to crepe well with high softness on Yankees with up to 150ºC. surface temperature.
Möller: KAPP-CHEMIE always puts a lot of effort into finding alternative raw material sources and optimising production processes to reduce or at least stabilise energy and material costs.
Padovani: No comments for the energy issue. We focus on other grades as packaging, liner, coated grades and fine paper. There our Compozil system provides a production gain at the same energy consumption or a steam usage reduction at equivalent production.
Padley: Hercules is committed to helping customers reduce their energy costs and Hercobond® paper performance technology and PerForm® SP process improvement technology are our main platforms for accomplishing this. Documented energy savings have been achieved by a combination of reduced refining, improved dewatering and drying; and reduced dependence on drainage retarding dry strength additives.
In the context of Tissue World’s coverage of emerging markets in this issue, we would like to note that the above product innovations are closely integrated into its strategy of supporting emerging markets in Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Brazil.
TW
