Fractionation of Mixed Office Waste Part 1, 1998 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

Fractionation of fiber streams is done to enhance certain qualities of the fiber source for the most desirable fiber qualities. The goal of this project was to determine the benefits of fractionation on a Mixed Office Waste (MOW) furnish by evaluating contaminant, pulp, fiber and optical properties. Two different quality Mixed Office Waste grades (MOW) were used for the base conditions. Grade I was classified as a high quality MOW containing 85% sorted white ledger and 15% sorted colored ledger. Grade 2 was classified as a low quality MOW containing 50% sorted white ledger and the remaining 50% consisting of sorted colored ledger and ground wood. A bale from each office grade was physically examined and characterized into its components for reference. The first part of the fractionation study used Grade 1 and Grade 2 quality waste as feed stock for the fractionator. A commercial fractionator using a bump style rotor was operated with approximately the same feed flow and consistency throughout the trial. A basket with holes (1.45mm) and one with slots (.25mm) was used to look at the effect of the basket on fractionated fiber properties. The mass splits of the fractionator were varied from 30% short fiber / 70% long fiber to 70% short fiber / 30% long fiber to study the effects of hydraulics on fractionation. The data presented reflects the impact of furnish, fractionator configuration and flow conditions on fractionation.