The use of minerals in fiber-based packaging and pulp molding, TAPPI Journal January 2024

 


Application: Molded fiber products have attracted increasing attention due to their sustainable advantages. Minerals, when added as a filler to these molded fiber articles, can bring additional benefits for the molded fiber producers, including, but not limited to, significant productivity gains.

TAPPI conference proceedings and presentations, technical papers, and publication articles provide technical and management data and solutions on topics covering the Pulp, Paper, Tissue, Corrugated Packaging, Flexible Packaging, Nanotechnology and Converting Industries.

Simply select the quantity, add to your cart and your conference paper, presentation or article will be available for immediate download.
Author: Eli Gaskin; Greg Reed; Janet Preston; and Peter Biza
The use of minerals in fiber-based packaging and pulp moldin
ABSTRACT: Minerals are widely used in the pulp and paper industry for aiding the processing, economics, and final quality of fiber-based products. Among these, calcium carbonate, talc, and kaolin are widely used as fillers, and these can have varying brightness, particle size distributions, and aspect ratios. For the molded fiber area, these minerals can raise the solids content of the pulp mixture and improve throughput and lower energy requirements for drying. Talc is also widely used as a process control agent, picking up pitch and stickies and improving productivity by lowering machine cleaning time.The replacement of single use plastic with fiber-based replacements is a global trend; however, it does come with some significant challenges, such as grease and moisture proofing. Previously, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used to provide functions such as water and grease repellency, but regulatory demands have seen its demise in the packaging industry. Therefore, water holdout is now generally achieved by addition of alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) sizing. Wax additives are being developed and tested as PFAS replacements for oil and grease resistance. Rather than strongly repelling lipids from the fiber surface, these PFAS alternatives restrict flow pathways and react with food oils to alter their flow characteristics to prevent penetration through the substrate. During studies incorporating both PFAS substitutes and minerals, no detrimental interactions were observed. This paper addresses the different needs of the molded fiber market by including mineral fillers in molded fiber articles and will be presented as a series of different case studies. In all studies, we show that the trends observed when mineral filler is added to molded fiber are broadly similar to those seen in conventional paper and paperboard applications. Mineral addition in all studies gave improvements in productivity and optical appearance. With its organophilic surface, hydrophobic talc had the additional advantage of pitch and sticky control, and although a small decrease in strength was always observed when filler was added, the final articles still retained sufficient strength for their particular application. This small strength reduction should be balanced against the productivity gains.
0.00

New Releases

TAPPI PRESS Catalog eBook 2024


Experience the Power of Publications in the 2024 TAPPI Press Catalog


Open
 

Kraft Recovery Boilers, Third Edition  


Sponsored by the Recovery Boiler Program R&D Subcommittee of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) and published by TAPPI Press.


Purchase
 

Handbook For Pulp and Paper Technologists (The SMOOK Book), Fourth Edition

The best-selling text to introduce the entire technology of pulp and paper manufacture.

Purchase
 

Guidelines for Safe Assessment and Operation of Yankee Dryers  


A project of the Yankee Dryer Safety & Reliability Committee.

Purchase
 

Check our newest additions.


TAPPI Press offers some of the most in-depth resources and references for the forest products and related industries. 

See More
   
 

Available for Purchase – Conference Proceedings


TAPPI maintains a record of key conference papers, presentations, and other conference publications, available for purchase in a variety of formats.

See More