Prevention of Pitch and Stickies Deposition on Paper Forming Wires via Adsorption of Cationic Polymer Associated with Anionic Species, 1996 Papermakers Conference Proceedings

Deposition of colloidally-dispersed pitch and stickies on hydrophobic polyester paper-forming wires is a common problem in paper manufacture. The problem is mainly due to the hydrophobic-hydrophobic interaction between pitch particles and /or stickies particles and paper-forming wires. Machine deposition may be significantly alleviated if the hydrophobicity of the forming wires and/ or the hydrophobicity and tackiness of the pitch and stickies particles are reduced. This paper focuses on a mechanism that reduces the hydrophobicity of paper forming wires via adsorption of complexes of a cationic polymer associated with anionic species on such surfaces A fundamental test method will be discussed which allows us to better understand how to modify the surface of paper-forming wires and to interpret why a cationic polymer works for pitch and stickies control. Surface tension, streaming potential, and contact angle measurements were employed to study the mechanism of preventing pitch and stickies deposition on a simulated paper machine wire (i.e., polyester coupon) in the presence of cationic polymers and naturally occurring water soluble anionic species. These measurements indicated that cationic polymers associated with anionic species and these complexes subsequently adsorbed on the polyester coupon, rendering it hydrophilic and hence preventing pitch and stickies deposition. The results correlated well with laboratory pitch/stickies detackification tests. The laboratory findings were also strongly supported by successful field applications.