Effects of Salts on the Performance of Cationic Flocculants Used as Retention Aids for Alkaline Fine Paper, 1996 Papermakers Conference Proceedings

The performance of cationic flocculants with charge densities of 0.14, 0.65, 1.19 and 2.78 meq/g were examined as single component retention aids in alkaline fine paper furnish under varying salt concentrations. The motivation for these studies stems from the higher process water salt concentrations which are expected as paper mills increase water reuse. Because the furnish used here is relatively “clean,” these studies isolate the effects of high salt concentrations on flocculant performance in the absence of other interfering substances. Thus, this data serves as a foundation for further studies in all applications where extensive water reuse produces high salt levels and high anionic trash levels. The results indicate that, with no starch in the furnish, the spread in the performance of these cationic flocculants is small with the low salt furnish, but grows wider as the salt levels increase. At the highest salt levels examined, the 0.65 and 1.19 meq/g cationic flocculants maintained a high level