Names:

DonaldStanleyIII,EmmaBrodman,JacobGroth,KaylynFisher
Professor:
Dr.Coffin
Date:
May6,2016
CPB202DesignChallenge
Introduction
Thepurposeofthisdesignchallengewastocreatefivehandsheetsthatwouldmaximizethe
valueofatermX.Xwasdependentonfourvalues:smoothness,tearstrength,tensilestrength,
andtaberstiffnessandwastobecalculatedusingtheequation:
X = (tensile)(tear)(bendingstiffness)0.5(smoothness)0.25
Materials
90/10softwood/hardwoodmixofpulp,blottingpapers,GPCChargemasterL435/L340starches

Methods
BrainstormingandMaterials
Whenfirstpresentedwiththedesignchallengewethoughtthatsoftwoodfiberwouldincrease
thepropertiesinthecompositevalue,X.Wewerethinkingthatusingadifferentfibersource
thanthatoftheothergroupsmightbeagoodidea,sowerequested5kg(4kgSWD,1kgHWD)
fromGlatfelterinChillicothe,OH.Theysentusneverdriedpulpthatwaslabeledas46.03%
solids.

Basedontheappearanceofthepulpwequestioneditsstatedconsistencyanddecidedtodoa
trialtodeterminetheactualpercentsolids.Wedidthisbydilutingtheneverdriedpulpinthe

valleybeater,whilekeepingtrackofvolumeofwateradded,untilthestockresembledthe0.3%
solidsthinstocknormallyusedtoproducehandsheets.Thisstockwasthenuseddirectlyfrom
thebeatertoproducehandsheets,withoutfurtherdilution.Tocalculatetheoriginalactual
consistencyoftheneverdriedpulpfromtheexpectedvalueof46.03%,weusedtheratioof
expected/actualhandsheetgrammagealongwithourrecordeddilutionamounts.Theconsistency
wasdiscoveredtobe13.17%.Thus,wedidnotendupusingthispulpinthechallengeaswedid
nothaveanamountsufficienttodomultiplerunsofthevalleybeater.

Research
Thefirstthingourgroupdecidedtodoresearchonwastheeffectofmixinghardwoodand
softwoodpulpsinpaper.FromCPB201,weknewthatsoftwoodpulpcontainslongerfibers
thanitshardwoodcounterpartandcanincreasestrengthpropertiesofresultingpaper.This
informationwasbackedupbyouronlinesources,whichindicatedthatusingtheselongerfibers
wouldincreaseourXvaluethroughthetear,tensile,andtaberpropertiesattheexpenseof
smoothness(Nugroho,51).Incontrast,hardwoodpulpsandtheirshorterfibersaregoodfor
increasingsmoothnessandcreatingbulkinpaper.Forourapplicationsweestimatedthata90/10
mixwouldgiveuspropertiesclosetothosethatwewanted,withouttotallysacrificing
smoothness.Unfortunately,duetotimeconstraintsandourdesiretonaildownourbeatingtime
andstarchapplication,wedidnotdoatrialtodeterminethebestmixofpulptypestouse.To
getenoughdatatocompareSW/HWwouldhaverequiredmultipleextrarunsofthevalley
beater,andanadditionalroundoftesting,andsowedecidedtoholdthis90/10mixconstantfor
theremainderofourtrials.

Thenexttopicweresearchedwaswhatkindofwetendadditive(s)weshoulduseinorderto
increasethestrengthpropertiesofourpaper.Ourresearchpointedustowardcationicstarch:
accordingtoanonlinearticlefromNCState,
IntheUScationicstarchisthemostpopular
drystrengthadditive.(Hubbe).Thisledtoanonlinesearchforcompaniesthathadonline
methodsofrequestingsamplesofcationicstarches.
WereachedouttoGrainProcessing
Corporationthroughanonlineinquiryformtorequestinformationonandsamplesoftheirlines
ofcationicstarches.TheyprovideduswithGPCChargemasterL435&L340cationicstarch
pastes,aswellasadviceonhowtousethem.

Contacts
JoeFajerski:GlatfelterProcessEngineerII10PM
ShannonSaluga:Glatfelter10PMTechServiceCoop
JoeandShannonprovidedourgroupwith4kgofSWDand1kgofHWDwetpulpforwhichwe
usedinarunofhandsheets,buttheconsistencywasunknownandwedidnotendupusingthe
pulpinourtrialorfinalhandsheets.

BradleyDavis:BusinessDevelopmentManager,GrainProcessingCorporation
BradreachedouttousinresponsetoouronlineinquiryaboutGPCsproductsbyrecommending
theirlineofChargemastercationicstarchpastes,astheywouldnotrequireactivationandwould
beeasiertouseforourapplications.OnbehalfofGPC,Bradprovideduswithtestingsamples
ofboththeL435andL340Chargemastercationicstarchpastes.

Trial1
Inourfirstroundsevenhandsheetswerepreparedforeachtimeintervalandstarchvariationto
createabeatingcurve.Thiswasdonesothatoutlierscouldberemovedandsotherewouldbe
moresamplesavailablethanwasrequiredtomeetthetappistandardsofeachtest.These
handsheetswerepreparedwith380g(360gOD)ofsoftwoodpulpandnohardwoodpulp.The
pulpwasaddedtothebeaterwith23Lofwatertodevelopaconsistencyof1.57%solids.
Samplesweretakenat0,15,30,45minuterefiningtimes.Starchwasthenaddeddirectlytothe
beaterwiththepulpfor5,15,and25lb/tonallatthe45minuterefiningtime.Foreachofthe
refiningtimesandstarchconcentrations,1200mLofthestockfromthebeaterwasaddedto5
litersofwatertocreatethinstockat0.3%solids.HandsheetsweremadeonBritishhandsheet
moldsusing500mLofthismixtureforthedesired1.5gpersheet.

Trial2
ForthesecondroundwetestedbothGPCChargemasterL435andL430starchpastes,eachat10
lb/ton,20lb/ton,and30lb/tonagainstacontrolgroupwithnoadditionofstarch.Seven
handsheetswerepreparedforeachvaryingamountofstarch.Thesehandsheetsweremadewitha
90/10softwood/hardwoodmixtureusing342gsoftwoodand38ghardwood,andwererefinedfor
30minutesinthevalleybeater.AttherecommendationofourGPCcontactBradleyDavis,the
starchpasteswereeachdilutedwith5litersofwaterratherthanbeingaddeddirectlytothe
beatersothattheywouldattachtomorefibersandwouldbedistributedmoreevenly.Pulpfrom
thebeaterwasthenaddedtothebucketsfordilutionin1200mLamounts,andhandsheetswere
madewith500mLofthemixtureforadesiredweightof1.5g.

Trial3&FinalSheets
Handsheetswereagainmadeusing342gofsoftwoodand38gofhardwoodtomakea90/10
mixtureoffibers.Thefiberswererefinedfor30minutes.Refinedfiberswereaddedtobuckets
containing20lb/tonofGPCChargemasterL435.Fifteenhandsheetswerepreparedusing350,
400,450,and500mLofthepulpmixturefordesired1.05,1.2,1.35,1.5gsheetsrespectively.It
wasunknownhowmuchofthestarchwasattachingtothefibersofthehandsheets,soitwasnot
possibletoestimatethegrammageofthesheetsbasedontheconcentrationoffibers.

Thetestsconductedoneachsetofhandsheetswerethatofgrammageaswellasthepropertiesof
thedesiredXcompositevalue,whichincludedsmoothness,tensilestrength,tear,andtaber
stiffness.

TestingMethods
GrammagewasdeterminedforeachhandsheetfollowingTappiStandardT410.
TappiStandardT538describesthesheffieldmethodwhichwasusedtodeterminethe
smoothnessofthehandsheets.ThistestwasperformedusingaTechnidyne
PROFILE/Plussmoothnesstester.
TensilestrengthwasdeterminedinaccordancewithTappiStandardT494.Samplesof
15mmwidthweretestedonanInstronconstantelongationsinglecolumntabletoptensile
tester.
TappiStandardT414wasfollowedinordertodeterminetheforcerequiredtopropagate
atearthroughastackofsheets.5plysampleswereusedforeachtest,andthetestswere

repeatedfourtimesforeachvariableinthehandsheets.Teartestingwasperformedona
ThwingAlbertteartester.
BendingstiffnesswasdeterminedusingtheTeledyneTaber150Bbendingstiffness
testeraccordingtoT566standardsforlowstiffnesssheets.Acompensatorweightof10g
wasaddedtoincreasetherangeinwhichthetaberstiffnesstestercouldreadanda
smallerclampedlengthwasused.Themeasuredstiffnesswasthendividedby10to
accountforthecompensatorweight.

Alltestswereperformedwithroomconditionsof50%relativehumidityand69degrees
Fahrenheit.

Results
Tests
OurfirstroundofhandsheetsweremadeusingthewetpulpprovidedbyGlatfelter.Duetothe
limitedamountofpulp,andtheunknownconsistency,wedecidedtoonlydeterminethe
grammageofthesheetsanduseittocalculatetheoriginalconsistencyofthepulp.Therewere
notenoughhandsheetsmadetotesttheotherphysicalpropertiesofthepaperandmeettappi
standards.

Round1
ThegoalofthefirstroundoftestingwastodeterminehoweachofthefourcomponentsofX
wereaffectedbytherefiningtime.BasedonwhatwehadlearnedinCPB201weexpected
tensilestrengthtoincreasewithrefiningtimebutthetearstrengthtodecreasewithtime.We
neededtodeterminehowmuchwecouldallowteartodecreasesothatthetensilestrengthcould
beincreased.ThisdatacouldbeusedtofindtheidealrefiningtimetomaximizethevalueofX.
TheresultsfromthisfirstroundofhandsheetscanbeseeninTable1andagraphoftheXvalue
withrespecttorefiningtimecanbefoundinChart1.

Inthisroundoftesting,theGPCChargemasterL435wasalsoexperimentedwithinordertoget
anideaofwhateffectswecouldexpectfromitsapplication.Thestarchwasaddeddirectlytothe
beateratincreasingconcentrationstomakesheetswith5lb,15lb,and25lbofstarchpertonof
pulp.Welaterlearnedfromourcontact,BradleyDavisfromGrainProcessingCorporation,that
therewasamoreeffectivemethodofaddingthestarchtothepulp.Uponbeingtoldaboutour
applicationmethodsforthestarches,hesuggestedwedilutetheconcentratedstarchpastewith
thethinstockratherthanaddingittobeater,asthiswouldhelpwiththedistributionofthestarch
anditsattachmenttofibers.

Animportantnoteaboutthefirstroundoftestingisthattaberstiffnesswasnotmeasuredin
accordancewiththepreviouslycitedTAPPIStandardT566,asalongerclampedlengthwas
used.Thisresultedinlowerthannormalreadingsfortaber.InallupcomingtrialsT566was
adheredtoandtaberstiffnesswasappropriatelymeasuredandrecorded.

Table1:1stTesting
Time
(min)

Grammage
(g/sm)

Smoothness
(SU)

Tensile
(maxload,N)

Taber
(TU)

Tear
(mN/ply)

Xvalue
(100,000s)

76.50

326.10

24.2

0.60

1390.9

1.153579942

15

78.63

241.38

72.5

0.59

1028.5

2.5404657

30

79.37

197.07

80.9

0.68

986.9

2.893720283

45

76.88

92.02

85.7

0.55

935.2

2.631895411

45+5lb

80.38

105.08

98.9

0.73

840.2

3.153058478

45+15lb

77.12

86.52

97.4

0.51

768.1

2.36055479

45+25lb

75.12

93.89

99.3

0.68

756.3

2.723105392

Table&Chart1:ThedatafromthefirstroundoftestingshowedanincreaseintheXvalueupto
30minutesofrefining,andadropinthevaluebeyondthispoint.Basedonthisinformation,30
minuteswaschosenastherefiningtimeforfuturetrials.

TheCanadianStandardFreeness(CSF)allowsonetodeterminehowwellwatercanpass
throughthepulpfeltedontoascreen.Thespeedatwhichwaterpassesthroughthesheetwill
changetherateatwhichthepaperwilldry,andinturnaffectthemechanicalpropertiesofthe
paper.TheCanadianStandardFreenesswasdeterminedthroughoutthefirstroundofhandsheet
preparation.Chart2showshowthemeasuredCSFvariedwithbeatingtime.

Chart2:Asexpected,theCanadianStandardfreenessdecreasedasthebeatingtimeincreased.

Round2
ThesecondroundoftestingwastoconfirmthatGPCChargemasterL435wouldbemore
effectivethanL340asourcontacthadsaid.Theresultsoftestingwouldalsoshowhowmuch
starchshouldbeaddedtomaximizethevalueofX.Sevensheetsweremadeforeach
concentrationofstarchaswellasacontrolgroup.Theresultsfromthisroundoftestingcanbe
foundinTable2.TheXvaluewasseentoincreaseupontheadditionofstarch,anditcontinued
toincreaseuntiltheconcentrationwas20lb/ton.AfterthispointtheXvaluebegantodecline.

Table2:SecondTesting
StarchContent Grammage Smoothness
Tensile
Taber
Tear
(lb/ton)
(g/sm)
(SU)
(maxload,N) (TU) (mN/ply)

Xvalue
(100,000s)

84.16

180.89

93.9

2.48

1074.8

7.087748998

10
(L435)

94.22

133.51

108.0

3.21

1058.3

9.09583288

20
(L435)

99.50

146.48

119.3

3.86

1031.7

10.7826868

30
(L435)

91.41

174.84

108.0

3.01

922.6

7.721523056

10
(L340)

89.39

131.39

102.4

2.81

1014.4

7.722704989

20
(L340)

98.48

131.56

112.4

3.59

1097.6

10.35866019

30
(L340)

93.75

136.11

108.6

3.21

1008.9

8.719474038

Table2:Allofthegrammagesinthisroundaregreaterthanthemaximumgrammage.TheL435
increasedtheXvaluesignificantlymorethantheL430pulpforthe10lb/tonand30lb/ton,but
lesssignificantlyforthe20lb/tontrial.

BecauseitwasimportanttodeterminehowthetwostarchescontributedtothevalueX,the
concentrationofthestarchwasplottedagainsttheperspectiveXvalue.Theresultingtrendlines
canbeviewedinChart3below.GPCL435wasexpectedtoperformbetterthanGPCL340,and
thiswasseeninourdata.Bothstarchesappearedtobecomelessefficientatconcentrationsmuch
above20lb/ton.By30lb/ton,GPCL435wasgivinganegligibleincreasetothecontrolgroups
valueofX.Basedontheresultsfromthesecondroundoftesting,itwasdeterminedthat20lb/ton
ofL435wouldmaximizethevalueofX.

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Chart3:Atrendlinewasgiventothisgraphtoallowonetomoreeasilyseetheriseandfallof
theXvalueunderthegivenconditions.Moredatapointswouldbenecessarybeforeonecould
concludethatthesepolynomialsareaccurateforinterpolatingthevalueofX.

ThesheetsfromRound2hadsignificantlyhighergrammagesthanwasexpectedorallowed.
Thisneededtobecorrectedbeforebeginningthefinalroundoftesting,sothatthefinalsheets
wouldbewithinthenecessaryrange.Onepossiblecontributorforthehighgrammagewasthe
massofthestarch.Ourpredictedgrammageshadbeenbasedontheassumptionthatthestarch
wouldhaveanegligibleeffectontheoverallgrammage.Ifalargeamountofthestarchremained
connectedtothesheet,thanthisassumptionwouldbeinvalid.Anotherpossibleexplanationis
inaccuracyinthemeasurementatvariousstagesinourprocess.Ourpredictionswerebasedon
exactly23Lofwaterinthebeater,5Linthebucket,andspecificamountofpulpremovedfrom
thebucketforeachhandsheet.Ifanyofthesemeasurementswereoutofprecision,the
grammageswouldnotbeasexpected.

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Round3
Thegoalofthefinalroundofhandsheetswastodeterminetheidealgrammagetomaximizethe
valueofXwithoutexceedingthemaximumgrammageof80g/sm.Enoughsheetsweremadein
thistrialsothatthesheetstosubmitforgradinggoodbetakenfromthesheetsmade.Basedon
whatwehadseenandlearnedpreviously,weexpectedthattheXvaluewouldcontinueto
increaseasthegrammagedidsothattheheaviestsheetsthatwerestillbelowthemaximum
grammagewouldgivethebestresults.Theresultsofthisfinalroundoftestingcanbeseenin
Table3.

Table3:FinalTesting
Type

Grammage
(g/sm)

Smoothness
(SU)

Tensile
(maxload,N)

Taber
(TU)

Tear
(mN/ply)

Xvalue
(100,000s)

56.93

237.50

57.9

0.89

610.4

1.465118933

68.19

260.34

72.0

1.55

735.9

2.929863061

78.67

201.90

85.5

2.08

888.1

4.852304864

84.44

190.48

93.1

2.64

983.0

6.580532488

Table3:Thefourdifferenttypesofsheetreferstotheamountofpulpthatwasaddedtothe
handsheetmoldtomakethesheets.Theamountswere350mL,400mL,450mL,and500mLforA,
B,C,andDrespectively.ThegrammagefortypeDexceedingthemaximumgrammage,andthus
couldnotbesubmittedasthefinalsheets.

Asexpected,thevalueofXincreasedasthegrammageofthesheetsdid.ThetypeCsheets
maximizedthevalueofXwithoutexceedingthemaximumgrammage.Duetothis,fivetypeC
sheetswillbesubmittedasthefinalproductofthepaperdesignchallenge.

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ConclusionandPredictions
Anadditionalconsiderationthatcouldhavebeenmadeisthedifferingimpactofrefiningonthe
hardwoodandsoftwoodfibers.Wehadmadethedecisiontorefinethebothtypesoffibers
togetherduetotimeconstraints.Ifthesetwokindsoffiberswererefinedseparately,wecould
havefounduniquerefiningtimesthatwouldmaximizethestrengthpropertiesofallofthefibers.
Wecouldthencombinethesetwogroupsofrefinedfiberstopotentiallycreateastrongersheet
thenwewereabletowithourcurrentmethod.

Anotherconsiderationwouldhavebeentovarytheratioofsoftwoodtohardwoodpulpinthe
fibermix.Onceagain,becauseoftimeconstraints,the90/10ratiowecameupwithbeforewe
startedourtrialsremainedfortheentiretyoftheprojectandcouldhavebeenoptimizedwith
furtherexperimentation.

ThefinalsetofsheetssubmittedtothecompetitionwereproducedonBritishhandsheetmolds
usinga90%softwoodand10%hardwoodmixtureofmarketpulpfromDomtar,asisavailable
inourlaboratories.Thepulpwasrefinedfor30minutesinavalleybeater,andtreatedupon
dilutionwithGPCL435cationicstarchpasteataconcentrationof20lb/ton.Basedonthedata
thatwecollectedinourfinalroundoftesting,wewouldexpectthepropertiesofthesefivefinal
sheetstobeabout200SU,86N,2.0TUand890mN/plyrespectivelyforsmoothness,tensile,
taberstiffness,andtear.

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WorksCited
Hubbe,M.(n.d.).CationicStarch.RetrievedMay06,2016,from
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~hubbe/CST.htm
Nugroho,D.D.(2012).
LOWCONSISTENCYREFININGOFMIXTURESOFSOFTWOOD&
HARDWOODBLEACHEDKRAFTPULP:EFFECTSOFREFININGPOWER
(Unpublishedmaster'sthesis).AsianInstituteofTechnology,Thailand.Retrievedfrom
http://fibrelabmech.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2012/07/LCRefining_MixedSoftwoodHardwo
od_DimasThesis_.pdf

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