Fractionation of OCC. How Can It Help You?, 1998 Recycling Symposium Proceedings

Fractionation is a process by which fiber streams are split into 2 fractions, a longer fiber fraction and a shorter fiber fraction. The use of barrier screen technology for fractionation has been developed and used in Europe and other parts of the world for more than 20 years. There are several interrelated benefits that can be gained from using fractionation to process recycled fiber. These are: strength improvements allowing for the use of lower cost materials, reduced energy consumption by selective cleaning, refining and dispersion of the long fiber fraction, and reduced stock variability.

For a single machine mill, the strength benefits from fractionation are derived from engineering a multiply sheet structure which makes maximum use of the characteristics of each fiber stream. When fractionated OCC is selectively refined and recombined into a single ply sheet, there are marginal if any strength improvements. The available literature is reviewed and new data is discussed to see if Fractionation is a viable tool to reduce costs and improve product quality.