Dynamic Swelling Characteristics of Fibers Recovered from Post-Consumer Waste Paper, 1993 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

Mutomobo Muvundamina, Thomas J. Berg

Many investigations have shown that the swelling property, and subsequently the ability for fibers to conform in a mat, is lower for dried cellulosic fibers than it is for virgin pulps. Poor fiber conformability is one major reason for the low strength which is most often observed for paper made from recycled pulps. Because of the lack of monitoring systems, it is not always possible to accurately assess the swelling ability for fibers that have been previously dried. Currently, there exist no technique that allows the measurement of the swelling characteristics of fibers during the treatment of waste paper. The methods commonly utilized to evaluate the fiber swelling properties are not able to easily provide the dynamic or time-related information. This paper discusses a technique based upon the application of the Wilhelmy principle to obtain dynamic data for several types of fibers recovered from post-consumer paper, and relates the collected information to the waste paper treatment during the recycling process.