Agricultural Based Solvent Cleaners for the Pulp and Paper Industry, PaperCon '09 Conference

Please Note: This document will be available in PDF format in the "My Electronic Documents" link on the home page once your order has been completed. Please make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat Reader. Click on the Acrobat Reader icon to check for the latest version, it’s FREE. To print a hardcopy of a PDF file correctly you must have a postscript printer. If you are not sure if your printer is a postscript printer please refer to your owner’s manual.

The paper industry continues to increase the use of recycled fiber. At the same time the quality of this recycled fiber is deteriorating and the number of different grades utilizing recycled fiber is increasing. This causes more problems in controlling the stickies that result. Currently, the most efficient and widely used cleaners for stickies and coating components contain aliphatic hydrocarbons or terpenes which have low flash points, high levels of volatile organic carbon (VOC), and a strong odor. These solvents also have high costs and have been subject to supply disruptions. The recent interest in biofuels has made available a number of agricultural based solvents which may be used to replace the terpenes and aliphatic solvents we have traditionally used. This paper illustrates that in many cases, these agricultural solvents perform as well as or better than the traditional solvents. These new solvents are non-flammable, low odor, and have much lower VOCs. They are based on renewable resources that have a more stable supply and price structure than traditional solvents.