Techlink

ANDREW JACKSON In concluding a 2009 survey of optical brightening agents (OBAs)1, I wrote that, despite the difficulties faced by both producers and customers during an economic downturn, there was every reason to believe that OBAs would have a bright future. In some ways, little has changed in the intervening years, despite the highly competitive market in which we find ...

Tissue products have a long association with good health and quality of life. So it’s no surprise that for one of Europe’s largest tissue companies the idea of sustainability extends beyond production and distribution to include long-term social and environmental advantages for stakeholders at every stage of the value chain. The Sofidel Group is headquartered in Porcari, in the Italian ...

From a startup base in North America, the new offering will go global, providing mills with comprehensive protection. GRAEME RODDEN As pulp and paper mills concentrate increasingly on their core business of making product, the onus for maintaining chemical reliability is often shifted onto the suppliers. It is not a responsibility that suppliers have shirked and often it has become ...

In Part 1 of this 2-part series, we’ll look at changing our worldview about what defines failure. JAY SHELLOGG Many years ago, while completing my degree in engineering, I was forced to take a class in philosophy. To this day I can’t give a good reason for why this was required; most likely it was to provide some needed funding ...

One company is using data analytics to improve advanced control performance, lifetime management of consumable components, and predictive maintenance. MARK WILLIAMSON The Industrial Internet—or the Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, big data, cloud computing, and analytics—are attention-getting terms that are hard to escape these days. A flood of projections cite these related concepts as “the way of the future” for ...

The amount of visible dirt in pulp, paper, or paperboard can critically affect its usefulness and value. A high number of visible dirt specks, and/or specks that are easily noticed in visual examination, may detract more from the usefulness of the paper material than would a lower number of specks, or specks that are less easily noticed. For a mill ...

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The papers summarized here are from the April 2017 issue of TAPPI Journal and the May 2017 issue, featuring peer-reviewed content from TAPPI’s 2016 PEERS conference. TAPPI Journal is an online publication of relevant and timely peer-reviewed research delivered via email and free to all TAPPI members. To receive TAPPI Journal, join TAPPI at www.tappi.org.  APRIL NANOTECHNOLOGY Novel thin functional ...

MURRAY ELLIS One of the most rewarding and enjoyable parts of my career in the pulp and paper industry has been the opportunity to investigate and solve problems. The problem-solving process means that you are discovering, adapting, and generating new information to address the problem at hand. In simple terms, you are acquiring knowledge in the pursuit of a solution. ...

RAMAZAN ATAMAN When Mondi began planning a major rebuild of the PM 5 sack kraft paper machine at its Štĕtí mill in the Czech Republic, one major goal was to eliminate the maintenance-intensive and trouble-prone wheel housing drive. In October 2015, the mill produced kraft paper for the first time with the help of a newly-installed direct drive system. Within ...