Stickies Removal Across the Float Cell, 2001 Pulping Conference Proceedings

D. Glover, J. Fitzhenry, P. Hoekstra--Dirt can be removed effectively by flotation. It has been speculated that stickies can be effectively removed in a similar manner. There have been laboratory studies predicting good removal of stickies using flotation (Nerez). Now, with recent advances in measurement technology, stickies removal can be documented at various points in the paper recycling process including the float cell. How the float cell is operated and the chemistry used plays an important part in removal of stickies.

Flotation, in particular, is a critical step in the recycling operation as it can remove troublesome sized stickies. Flotation removes the stickies that are too large to be washed out and too small to be screened out. Removal of this intermediate size range of stickies can lead to reductions in stickies later in the process. Removal of the intermediate sized or floatable stickies at the float cell prevents accumulation in the water systems, which reduces the overall amount of stickies that may eventually agglomerate.

This paper examines one mill that improved flotation conditions and chemistry to remove more stickies. These process and chemistry improvements led to lower amounts of floatable stickies at the float cell and lower amounts of total stickies at each point forward in the process.