Squid Inkjets Blog: 10/06/07

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The Making of Paper

This blog contains the process of making paper from beginning to end.

The first process of paper making is the fiber processing. Woods are composed of fibers, which are attaching to one another. During the pulping process, the fibers are separated by chemicals or a mechanical process or the combination of both processes.

The intention of the chemical process is to break down the chemical structure of lignin from the wood. Lignin binds the fibers together. This chemical process unbinds the fibers and creates the pulp. The pulp is then bleached to generate a white paper for commonly used for writing and the purpose of printing. Unbleached pulp produces strong papers utilized for bags and boxes. However, the chemical process is more expensive than the mechanical process. The mechanical process only produces a low yield of approximately 40% - 50% from the original wood, whilst the chemical process produces stronger papers because it conserves the fibers length. Another benefit of this process is that the main heat and electricity to carry out this process is produced by the burning of the lignin in the removal process. The papers produced by this process are known as "woodfree" papers.

There are two types of mechanical pulping, they are thermomechanical pulp and mechanical pulp. The former is known as TMP and the latter is known as groundwood process within America. In thermomechanical pulp, woods are chipped and then tossed into steam heated refiners, the chips will be squeezed and fiberized. The lignin is not removed in this mechanical process, therefore the yield is very high, more than 95%. However, this process results in the papers becoming yellow and brittle. This type of pulp has a short fiber and produces weak papers. Although a large amount of electricity is required, the cost is much less than the chemical process.

Paper recycled can be produced by either the chemical or mechanical process. It is created by applying water and the mechanical action in order to break down the hydrogen bond and separate the fibers. Most recycled papers contain good quality fibers.

The pulp may contain some kind of filler such as chalk or china clay to improve the quality of papers for writing and the purpose of printing. Other additives for the sizing purpose can be mixed in the pulp during the manufacturing process. The sizing purpose is to reach a certain level of surface absorbency to suit the ink.

The drying process varies, depending on the paper making process. However the concept is similar, it can be done by pressing the sheet to remove the water by force. On the paper machine, when the water is removed, an absorbent called felt is utilized to collect the water in the paper machine. When making papers by hand, blotter sheets are utilized. In this case drying involves air and heat to remove the water. In the earlier time of papers, drying was done by hanging the paper like in a laundry. In the modern time, various drying machines are utilized for the drying process of papers. The most common one is the steam-heated can dryer.

After the drying process, the papers then go through the sizing process in order to reach certain physical properties for the various purposes it will be used for.

by Mary and Ali

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