Manufacture of paper and paperboard
Preparation of stock
Mechanical squeezing and pounding of cellulose fibre permits water to
penetrate its structure, causing swelling of the fibre and making it
flexible. Mechanical action, furthermore, separates and frays the
fibrils, submicroscopic units in the fibre structure. Beating reduces
the rate of drainage from and through a mat of fibres, producing dense
paper of high tensile strength, low porosity, stiffness, and rattle.
An important milestone in papermaking development, the Hollander
beater consists of an oval tank containing a heavy roll that revolves
against a bedplate. The roll is capable of being set very accurately
with respect to the bedplate, for the progressive adjustment of the roll
position is the key to good beating. A beater may hold from 135 to 1,350
kilograms (300 to 3,000 pounds) of stock, a common size being about 7
metres (24 feet) long, 4 metres (12 feet) wide, and about 1 metre (3.3
feet) deep. A centre partition provides a continuous channel.
Pulp is put into the beater, and water is added to facilitate
circulation of the mass between the roll and the bedplate. As the
beating proceeds, the revolving roll is gradually lowered until it is
riding full weight on the fibres between it and the bedplate. This
action splits and mashes the fibres, creating hairlike fibrils and
causing them to absorb water and become slimy. The beaten fibres will
then drain more slowly on the paper machine wire and bond together more
readily as more water is removed and the wet web pressed. Much of the
beating action results from the rubbing of fibre on fibre. Long fibres
will be cut to some extent.
The beater is also well-adapted for the addition and mixing of other
materials, such as sizing, fillers, and dyes. By mounting a perforated
cylinder that can rotate partially immersed in the beater stock, water
can be continuously removed from the beater, and the stock therefore can
be washed.
Although many design modifications have been made in the Hollander
beater over the years, the machine is still widely used in smaller mills
making specialty paper products. For large production modern mills have
replaced the beater by various types of continuous refiners.
In mills that receive baled pulp and use refiners, the pulp is
defibred in pulpers. While there are a number of variations in basic
design, a pulper consists essentially of a large, open vessel, with one
or more bladed, rotating elements that circulate a pulp-water mixture
and defibre or separate fibres. The blades transform the pulp or
wastepaper into a smooth mixture. Unlike beaters and refiners, pulpers
do not reduce freeness and cause fibrillation in the fibres. A typical
pulper has a capacity of 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds) of fibre in 6
percent solution and requires 150 horsepower to drive it.
The original continuous refiner is the Jordan, named after its
19th-century inventor. Like the beater, the Jordan has blades or bars,
mounted on a rotating element, that work in conjunction with stationary
blades to treat the fibres. The axially oriented blades are mounted on a
conically shaped rotor that is surrounded by a stationary bladed element
(stator).
Like other refiners, the disk refiner consists of a rotating bladed
element that moves in conjunction with a stationary bladed element. The
disk refiner's plane of action, however, is perpendicular to the axis of
rotation, simplifying manufacture of the treating elements and
replacement. Since the disk refiner provides a large number of working
edges to act upon the fibre, the load per fibre is reduced and fibre
brushing, rather than fibre cutting, may be emphasized.
Sizing has been described above as the treatment given paper to
prevent aqueous solutions, such as ink, from soaking into it. A typical
sizing solution consists of a rosin soap dispersion mixed with the stock
in an amount of 1 to 5 percent of fibre. Since there is no affinity
between rosin soap and fibre, it is necessary to use a coupling agent,
normally alum (aluminum sulfate). The acidity of alum precipitates the
rosin dispersion, and the positively charged aluminum ions and aluminum
hydroxide flocs (masses of finely suspended particles) attach the size
firmly to the negatively charged fibre surface.
Paper intended for writing or printing usually contains white
pigments or fillers to increase brightness, opacity, and surface
smoothness, and to improve ink receptivity. Clay (aluminum silicate),
often referred to as kaolin or china clay, is commonly used, but only in
a few places in the world (Cornwall, in England, and Georgia, in the
United States) are the deposits readily accessible and sufficiently pure
to be used for pigment. Another pigment is titanium dioxide (TiO2),
prepared from the minerals rutile and anatase. Titanium dioxide is the
most expensive of the common pigments and is often used in admixture
with others.
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3), also used as a filler, is prepared by
precipitation by the reaction of milk of lime with either carbon dioxide
(CO2) or soda ash (sodium carbonate, Na2CO3). Calcium carbonate as a
paper filler is used mainly to impart improved brightness, opacity, and
ink receptivity to printing and magazine stocks. Specialty uses include
the filling of cigarette paper, to which it contributes good burning
properties. Because of its reactivity with acid, calcium carbonate
cannot be used in systems containing alum.
Other fillers are zinc oxide, zinc sulfide, hydrated silica, calcium
sulfate, hydrated alumina, talc, barium sulfate, and asbestos. Much of
the filler consumed is used in paper coatings (see below).
Since most fillers have no affinity for fibres, it is necessary to
add an agent such as alum to help hold the filler in the formed sheet.
The amount of filler used may vary from 1 to 10 percent of the
fibre.
The most common way to impart colour to paper is to add soluble dyes
or coloured pigment to the paper stock. Many so-called direct dyes with
a natural affinity for cellulose fibre are highly absorbed, even from
dilute water solution. The so-called basic dyes have a high affinity for
groundwood and unbleached pulps.
Various agents are added to paper stock to enhance or to modify the
bonding and coherence between fibres. To increase the dry strength of
paper, the materials most commonly used are starch, polyacrylamide
resins, and natural gums such as locust bean gum and guar gum. The most
common type of starch currently used is the modified type known as
cationic starch. When dispersed in water, this starch assumes a positive
surface charge. Because fibre normally assumes a negative surface
charge, there is an affinity between the cationic starch and the
fibre.
The natural cellulose interfibre bonding that develops as a sheet of
paper dries is considered to be due to interatomic forces of attraction
known to physical chemists as hydrogen bonding or van der Waals forces .
Because these attractive forces are neutralized or dissolved in water,
wet paper has practically no strength. Although this property is
convenient for the recovery of wastepaper, some papers require wet
strength for their intended use. Wet strength is gained by adding
certain organic resins to the paper stock that, because of their
chemical nature, are absorbed by the fibre. After formation and drying
of the sheet, the resins change to an insoluble form, creating
water-resistant bonds between fibres.
Formation of paper sheet by machines
In a paper machine, interrelated mechanisms operating in unison
receive paper stock from the beater, form it into a sheet of the desired
weight by filtration, press and consolidate the sheet with removal of
excess water, dry the remaining water by evaporation, and wind the
traveling sheet into reels of paper. Paper machines may vary in width
from about 1.5 to 8 metres (5 to 26 feet), in operating speed from a few
hundred metres to 900 metres (about 3,000 feet) per minute, and in
production of paper from a few tons per day to more than 300 tons per
day. The paper weight (basis weight) may vary from light tissue, about
10 grams per square metre (0.03 ounce per square foot), to boards of
more than 500 grams per square metre (1.6 ounces per square foot).
Traditionally, paper machines have been divided into two main types:
cylinder machines and Fourdrinier machines . The former consists of one
or more screen-covered cylinders, each rotating in a vat of dilute paper
stock. Filtration occurs by flow action from the vat into the cylinder,
with the filtrate being continuously removed. In the Fourdrinier machine
a horizontal wire-screen belt filters the stock. In recent years a
number of paper machines have been designed that depart greatly from
traditional design. These machines are collectively referred to as
"formers." Some of these formers retain the traveling screen belt but
form the sheet largely on a suction roll. Others eliminate the screen
belt and use a suction cylinder roll only. Still others use two screen
belts with the stock sandwiched between, with drainage on both
sides.
In a typical modern Fourdrinier machine the various functional parts
are the headbox; stock distribution system; Fourdrinier table, where
sheet formation and drainage of water occur; press section, which
receives the wet sheet from the wire, presses it between woolen felts,
and delivers the partially dried sheet to the dryer section; dryer
section, which receives the sheet from the presses and carries it
through a series of rotating, steam-heated cylinders to remove the
remaining moisture; size press, which permits dampening the sheet
surface with a solution of starch, glue, or other material to improve
the paper surface; calender stack, for compressing and smoothing the
sheet; and the reel.
The function of the headbox is to distribute a continuous flow of wet
stock at constant velocities, both across the width of the machine and
lengthwise of the sheet, as stock is deposited on the screen. Equal
quantities of properly dispersed stock should be supplied to all areas
of the sheet-forming surface. The early headbox, more commonly called a
flowbox or breastbox, consisted of a rectangular wooden vat that
extended across the full width of the machine behind the Fourdrinier
breast roll. The box was provided with baffles to mix and distribute the
stock. A flat metal plate extending across the machine (knife slice)
improved dispersion of the fibre suspension, providing distribution of
flow across the machine, and also metered the flow to produce a sheet of
uniform weight. To accommodate increased speed in modern headboxes, the
knife slice is designed to develop a jet of liquid stock on the moving
wire. Modern headboxes are enclosed, with pressure maintained by
pumping.
The Fourdrinier table section of a paper machine is a large framework
that supports the table rolls, breast roll, couch roll, suction boxes,
wire rolls, and other Fourdrinier parts. The wire mesh upon which the
sheet of fibre is formed is a continuous rotating belt that forms a loop
around the Fourdrinier frame. The wire, not a permanent part of the
machine, is delicate and requires periodic replacement. It is a finely
woven metal or synthetic fibre cloth that allows drainage of the water
but retains most of the fibres. The strands of the Fourdrinier wire are
usually made of specially annealed bronze or brass, finely drawn and
woven into a web commonly in the range of 55 to 85 mesh (strands per
inch). Even finer wires are used for such grades as cigarette paper,
coarser wires for heavy paperboard and pulp sheets. Various types of
weave are used to obtain maximum wire life.
The table rolls, in addition to supporting the wire, function as
water-removal devices. The rapidly rotating roll in contact with the
underside of the wire produces a suction or pumping action that
increases the drainage of water through the wire.
The dandy roll is a light, open-structured unit covered with wire
cloth and placed on the wire between suction boxes, resting lightly upon
the wire and the surface of the sheet. Its function is to flatten the
top surface of the sheet and improve the finish. When the dandy roll
leaves a mesh or crosshatch pattern, the paper is said to be "woven."
When parallel, translucent lines are produced, it is said to be "laid."
When names, insignia, or designs are formed, the paper is said to be
"watermarked." Paper watermarks have served to identify the makers of
fine papers since the early days of the art. A watermark is actually a
thin part of the sheet and is visible because of greater transmission of
light in its area compared with other areas of the sheet. Because light
transmission can be varied by degrees, it is possible to produce
watermarks in the form of portraits or pictures.
The final roll over which the formed sheet passes, before removal
from the Fourdrinier wire, is the couch roll. Prior to the transferring
operation, the couch roll must remove water from and consolidate the
sheet to strengthen it. In modern machines the couch roll is almost
always a suction roll.
The press section increases the solids content of the sheet of paper
by removing some of the free water contained in the sheet after it is
formed. It then carries the paper from the forming unit to the dryer
section without disrupting or disturbing sheet structure and reduces the
bulk or thickness of the paper.
The first two functions are always necessary. Pressing always results
in compaction, and this may or may not be desirable depending upon the
grades being made.
Felts for the press section act as conveyor belts to assist the sheet
through the presses, as porous media to provide space and channels for
water removal, as textured cushions or shock absorbers for pressing the
moist sheet without crushing or significant marking, and as power
transfer belts to drive nondriven rolls or parts.
Woven felts of wool, often with up to 50 percent synthetic fibres,
are made by a modified woolen textile system. Selected grades of wool
are scoured, blended, carded, and spun into yarn. The yarn is woven into
flat goods, leaving a fringe at each end. The ends are brought together
and joined to produce an endless, substantially seamless belt.
Paper machine felts have a limited life ranging from about a week to
several months. Their strength and water-removal ability is gradually
lost through wear and chemical and bacterial degradation and by becoming
clogged with foreign material.
Press rolls must be strong, rigid, and well-balanced to span the
wide, modern machines and run at high speed without distortion and
vibration. Solid press rolls consist of a steel or cast iron core,
covered with rubber of various hardnesses depending upon the particular
service required. Suction press rolls consist of a bronze or stainless
steel shell two inches (five centimetres) or more in thickness and
usually covered with one inch of rubber.
Paper leaving the press section of the machine has a solids content
or dryness of 32 to 40 percent. Because of the relatively high cost of
removing water by evaporation, compared with removing it by mechanical
means, the sheet must be as dry as possible when it enters the dryers.
The dryer section of a conventional paper machine consists of from 40 to
70 steam-heated drying cylinders. After passing around the cylinders,
the sheet is held in intimate contact with the heated surfaces by means
of dryer felts.
Until recent years, relatively heavy, rather impermeable cloths
composed of wool, cotton, asbestos, or combinations of these materials
covered the dryer portion of the paper machine. Such cloths are termed
dryer felts, though felting or fulling process is rarely used in their
manufacture. Relatively lightweight, highly permeable cloths called
dryer fabric also are employed.
For conventional dryer felts, cotton is still the most commonly used
fibre, although it is seldom used alone. The main difference between the
conventional dryer felt and the open-mesh dryer fabric is air or vapour
permeability. High permeability is desirable because it allows the
escape of the water vapour from the sheet.
For every ton of paper dried on the paper machine, approximately two
tons of water are evaporated into the atmosphere. About 50 to 60 tons of
air are required to remove the water vapour, with about 2,700 kilograms
(6,000 pounds) of steam required by the dryers.
Finishing and converting
The rolls of paper produced by the paper machine must still undergo a
number of operations before the paper becomes useful to the consumer.
These various operations are referred to as converting or finishing and
often make use of intricate and fast-moving machinery.
There are two distinct types of paper conversion. One is referred to
as wet converting, in which paper in roll form is coated, impregnated,
and laminated with various applied materials to improve properties for
special purposes. The second is referred to as dry converting, in which
paper in roll form is converted into such items as bags, envelopes,
boxes, small rolls, and packs of sheets. A few of the more important
converting operations are described here.
Paper has been coated to improve its surface for better reproduction
of printed images for over 100 years. The introduction of half-tone and
colour printing has created a strong demand for coated paper. Coatings
are applied to paper to achieve uniformity of surface for printing inks,
lacquers, and the like; to obtain printed images without blemishes
visible to the eye; to enhance opacity, smoothness, and gloss of paper
or paperboard; and to achieve economy in the weight and composition of
base paper stock by the upgrading effect of coating.
The chief components of the water dispersion used for coating paper
are pigment, which may be clay, titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate,
satin white, or combinations of these; dispersants to give uniformity to
the mixture or the "slip"; and an adhesive binder to give coherence to
the finished coating. The latter may be a natural material such as
starch or a synthetic material such as latex.
Equipment installed between dryer sections on the paper machine can
apply the coating (on-machine coating), or it can be done by a separate
machine, using rolls of paper as feed stock (off-machine coating).
The extrusion-coating process, a relatively new development in the
application of functional coating, has gained major importance in the
past 20 years. The process is used to apply polyethylene plastic
coatings to all grades of paper and paperboard. Polyethylene resin has
ideal properties for use with packaging paper, being waterproof;
resistant to grease, water vapour, and gases; highly stable; flexible in
heat sealing; and free from odour and toxicity.
In the extrusion-coating machine, the polyethylene resin is melted in
a thermoplastic extruder that consists of a drive screw within an
electrically heated cylinder. The cylinder melts and compacts the resin
granules and extrudes the melt in a continuous flow under high pressure.
The resin is discharged through a film-forming slot die. The die has
electric heaters with precision temperature controls to give uniform
temperature and viscosity to the plastic melt. The slot opening can be
precisely adjusted to control film uniformity and thickness.
The hot extruded film is then stretched and combined with paper
between a pair of rolls, one of which is a rubber-covered pressure roll
and the other a water-cooled, chromium-plated steel roll. The
combination takes place so rapidly that a permanent bond is created
between the plastic film and the paper before they are cooled by the
steel roll.
The most widely used package for commodities and manufactured
products is the corrugated shipping container. A corrugated box consists
of two structural elements: the facings (linerboard) and the fluting
structure (corrugating medium).
Linerboard facings are of two general types: the Fourdrinier kraft
liner is made of pine kraft pulp, usually unbleached, in an integrated
mill as a continuous process from the tree to the paper web; and the
cylinder liner is made from reprocessed fibres, generally from used
containers, providing a content of about two-thirds kraft.
The operation begins by unwinding the single-face liner and
corrugating medium from holders, threading the medium into the fluting
rolls, applying adhesive to the tips, and bringing the medium in contact
with the liner to form a single-face web. Next, the single-face web
passes another glue roll that applies adhesive to the exposed flute tips
of the medium. The second face liner is brought in contact with the
single-face web, and the combined board travels through a hot plate
section between belts to set the bond, to a cooling section, and then to
a slitter-scorer.
The world paper industry
The paper industry tends to be concentrated in those countries that
are industrially advanced and have abundant supplies of fibrous raw
material, especially wood. There is a large-scale international trade in
wood pulp, pulpwood, and paper flowing from those countries with large
forest resources to those countries with less or that are as yet
undeveloped.
Paper properties and uses
Used in a wide variety of forms, paper and paperboard are
characterized by a wide range of properties. In the thousands of paper
varieties available, some properties differ only slightly and others
grossly. The identification and expression of these differences depend
upon the application of standard test methods, generally specified by
industry and engineering associations in the papermaking countries of
the world.
Substance and quantity measurement
Weight or substance per unit area, called basis weight, is a
fundamental property of paper and paperboard products. From the first
uses of paper in the printing trades, it has been measured in reams,
originally 480 sheets (20 quires) but now more commonly 500 sheets (long
reams). The term ream weight commonly signifies the weight of a lot or
batch of paper. Since the printing trades use a variety of sheet sizes,
there can be numerous ream weights for paper having the same basis
weight.
The table gives basis weight ranges for some common papers.
To determine basis weight, the sample is brought to equilibrium under
standard conditions (24º C or 75º F; 50 percent relative humidity). The
paper specimens must consist of at least 10 sheets with a total area of
not less than about 600 square centimetres (100 square inches). Since
the properties of paper change with moisture content, all tests are
conducted under standard conditions.
The caliper (thickness) of paper or paperboard in fractions of a
millimetre or inch is measured by placing a single sheet under a steady
pressure of 0.49 to 0.63 kilogram per square centimetre (seven to nine
pounds per square inch) between two circular and parallel plane
surfaces, the smaller of which has an area of 1.6 square centimetres
(0.25 square inch).
The density or specific gravity of paper is calculated from the basis
weight and caliper and may vary over wide limits. Glassine, for example,
may be 1.4 grams per cubic centimetre and creped wadding, used for
packaging breakables, only 0.1 gram per cubic centimetre. Most common
papers are in the range of 0.5 to 0.7 gram per cubic centimetre.
Strength and durability
The strength of paper is determined by the following factors in
combination: (1) the strength of the individual fibres of the stock, (2)
the average length of the fibre, (3) the interfibre bonding ability of
the fibre, which is enhanced by the beating and refining action, and (4)
the structure and formation of the sheet.
Resistance to rupture when subjected to various stresses is an
important property in practically all grades of paper. Most papers
require a certain minimum strength to withstand the treatment received
by the product in use; but even where use requirements are not severe,
the paper must be strong enough to permit efficient handling in
manufacture. Tensile strength is the greatest longitudinal stress a
piece of paper can bear without tearing apart. The stress is expressed
as the force per unit width of a test specimen.
Since the weight of the paper and the width of the test specimen
affect the force of rupture, a conventional method of comparing inherent
paper strength is the breaking length--that is, the length of a paper
strip in metres that would be just self-supporting. This value varies
from about 500 metres for extremely soft, weak tissue to about 8,000
metres for strong kraft bag paper, and to about 14,000 metres for sheets
of paper made under ideal laboratory conditions.
Because some paper products such as towels, sanitary tissues, and
filter paper are subjected to wetting by water in their normal use, wet
tensile testing has become important. This test is essentially the same
as that for dry tensile strength, except that the specimen is wetted.
Paper that has not been specifically treated to produce wet strength
possesses from about 4 to about 8 percent of its dry strength when
completely wetted. By treating paper as described above, wet strength
can be raised to about 40 percent of the dry strength.
One of the oldest and most widely used strength tests for paper and
paperboard is the bursting test, or Mullen test. It is defined as the
hydrostatic pressure (caused by liquids at rest) necessary to cause
rupture in a circular area of a given diameter. Other strength tests for
which standard methods exist are tearing strength and folding
endurance.
The resistance of paper to a bending force is evident in the various
operations of its manufacture and in its many uses. The range in this
property extends from very soft, flexible tissues to rigid boards.
Thicker and heavier sheets tend to be stiff, whereas soft, flexible
sheets are light and thin. Even at the same weight there is a
considerable difference in stiffness, chiefly due to the compactness and
the amount of bonding of the sheet.
Because paper is composed of a randomly felted layer of fibre, the
structure has a varying degree of porosity. Thus, the ability of fluids,
both liquid and gaseous, to penetrate the structure is a property both
highly significant to the use of paper and capable of being widely
varied by the conditions of manufacture.
Sizing paper with vegetable materials and rosinlike substances has
already been described. When paper began to be used for wrapping,
consumers demanded sizing treatments that could protect the contents of
the package from the effects of fluid transfer through the paper
wrapping. In some instances complete impermeability was required. In
another direction the use of paper as an absorbent medium for wiping up
liquids, for filtering, and for saturating has created a demand for
maximum wettability and permeability toward water and other fluids.
In certain types of packaging, paper must resist grease and oil
penetration. The resistance of paper to the penetration of water can be
increased by treatment of fibre with materials that lack affinity for
water, with little effect upon sheet porosity, but the penetration of
oil materials is little affected by such treatment. Oil and grease
resistance is attained, in fact, by reduction in porosity. So-called
greaseproof paper is made by beating an easily hydrated pulp to
extremely low freeness, which results in a dense sheet with very little
void space.
Absorbent papers such as toweling, sanitary tissue, and blotting and
filter paper are normally made from lightly beaten stock. Since
cellulose is naturally hydrophilic (i.e., has a strong affinity for
water), absorbent papers have a minimum of foreign materials associated
with the fibre. Of particular importance are the wood rosins that may be
present in pulp and produce a self-sizing effect, especially upon
aging.
Optical properties
The most important optical properties of paper are brightness ,
colour, opacity, and gloss.
The term brightness has come to mean the degree to which white or
near-white papers and paperboard reflect the light of the blue end of
the spectrum (i.e., their reflectance). This reflectance is measured by
an instrument that illuminates paper at an average angle of incidence of
45º and a wavelength of 457 (microns). Brightness measured in this way
is found to correlate closely with subjective estimates of the relative
whiteness of paper.
Opacity is one of the most desired properties of printing and writing
papers. Satisfactory performance of such papers requires that there be
little or no "show-through" of images from one side of the sheet to the
other. Satisfactory opacity in printing papers requires that white
mineral pigments be incorporated with the paper stock or applied as a
coating.
The terms gloss, glare, finish, and smoothness are used in describing
the surface characteristics of paper. The broad term finish refers to
the general surface characteristics of the sheet. Smoothness refers to
the absence of surface irregularities under either visual or use
conditions. Gloss refers to surface lustre and connotes a generally
pleasing aspect. Glare is used for a more intense reflection and a more
unpleasant effect. Calendering and coating are important paper-treating
methods that affect gloss. Gloss of paper is determined by measuring
percent reflectance at a low angle of incidence, 15 degrees (75 degrees
from the perpendicular).
Paper grades
Bond paper
Bond is characterized by a degree of stiffness, durability for
repeated handling and filing, resistance to the penetration and
spreading of ink, bright colour, and cleanliness. There are two groups
of bond papers: rag content pulp and chemical wood pulp. Rag content
bond may vary from 25 to 100 percent cotton fibre content. The principal
uses of bond paper are for letterhead stationery, advertising pieces,
announcements, leases, deeds, writs, judgments and other legal
documents, currency, certificates, and insurance policies.
Book paper
Most book papers are made of various combinations of chemical wood
pulp; for lower-priced grades groundwood, semichemical, and de-inked
wastepaper are also used. In addition to pulp, the "furnish" from which
book papers are made contains various amounts of sizing, fillers, and
dyes.
Uncoated book paper comes in four finishes: (1) antique or eggshell,
(2) machine finish, MF, (3) English finish, EF, and (4) supercalendered.
Antique has the roughest surface. High bulking pulps, such as soda pulp,
are used and only slightly beaten in stock preparation. The sheet is
lightly calendered (pressed between rollers) to provide a degree of
surface smoothness while preserving the antique or eggshell appearance.
Machine finish has a medium-smooth surface obtained for this finish from
a calender stack at the dry end of the machine. Machine finish book is a
relatively inexpensive general utility paper. It is principally used for
books, catalogs, circulars, and other matter using line etchings.
Machine finish book may be used for halftones up to a 100-line screen.
English finish is a step higher in the book paper scale; this finish is
distinguished from machine finish by a higher degree of stack beating,
by greater pressure between the rollers of a machine calender, and by
calendering at a greater moisture content of the sheet. Supercalendered
book is the smoothest surface that can be obtained without coating. The
finish is obtained by a special calendering operation after the paper
leaves the paper machine. The supercalender presses the paper between
successive sets of iron and compressed fibre rolls that make a smooth,
compact printing surface. It is used for books, brochures, and magazines
where halftone printing in the range of a 100-120 line screen is
required.
Coated book papers are produced to create surfaces suitable for the
printing of fine-screen halftones. Coated book paper must be uniformly
smooth, receptive to printing inks, have high brightness and gloss, and
be capable of folding without cracking.
Bible paper, as the name implies, was developed for lightweight,
thin, strong, opaque sheets for such books as bibles, dictionaries, and
encyclopaedias. Bible papers are pigmented (loaded) with such pigments
as titanium dioxide and barium sulfate and contain long fibres and
artificial bonding agents to maintain strength.
Bristol
The general term bristol refers to a group of stiff, heavy papers
with thicknesses ranging from 0.15 millimetre (0.006 inch) upward. These
grades are made from various combinations of chemical wood pulp. The
stock is beaten to a medium degree and usually well sized to prevent
penetration of moisture. Increasingly important in recent years has been
the use of bristols for the punch cards used in tabulating and sorting
machines.
Groundwood and newsprint papers
These are printing and converting grades containing varying amounts
of groundwood pulp, together with small percentages of chemical wood
pulp for strength and durability.
For many years newsprint was virtually the only use for groundwood
pulp, but more recently, due to improvements in the pulping process and
to the introduction of a bleaching process for this pulp, a class of
printing papers of broad utility has been developed. Magazines,
paperbound books, catalogs, directories, and general commercial printing
consume large quantities of these papers.
Groundwood papers are noted for an even, uniform formation and a high
degree of opacity. These papers tend to be bulky and are receptive to
printing ink. They do not have high whiteness and tend to turn yellow
when exposed to light and after long aging.
Kraft wrapping
Kraft wrapping, a heavy stock used for paper bags, is used in greater
volume than all other wrapping papers combined. It is composed of wood
pulp in unbleached condition made from softwoods, usually pine. It is
distinguished by outstanding tensile and tearing strength. Kraft
wrapping is sized to retard wetting when exposed to water. For wrapping
of wet materials, the paper may be given wet strength by treatment with
special resins. Multiwall sacks of kraft paper are used for shipment of
bulk materials.
Paperboards
The term paperboard is a general term that is descriptive of products
which are 0.30 millimetre (0.012 inch) or more in thickness, made of
fibrous materials on paper machines. Paperboard is commonly made from
wood pulp, straw, wastepaper, or a combination of these materials.
There are three main types of paperboard: (1) boxboards, used for
such products as food board, food trays, plates, and paper boxes, (2)
container boards, for the manufacture of corrugated and solid fibre
shipping containers, and (3) paperboard specialties, including such
items as binders board, electrical pressboard, and building
boards.
Sanitary papers
The group of papers known collectively as the sanitary grades include
toilet tissue, toweling, facial tissue, and napkins. These grades are
made from various proportions of sulfite and bleached kraft pulps with
relatively little refining of the stock to preserve a soft, bulky,
absorbent sheet. This sheet is further softened by machine creping, in
which the wet sheet is pressed upon a smooth drying roll and
subsequently removed by running against a flat stationary metal blade
(doctor blade). The sheet is piled up upon itself, thus producing a
creped effect. Facial tissue is dry-creped; that is, drying is complete
on the drying roll before the creping doctor blade. Toweling is
generally of heavier weight than the tissues and is usually creped while
still wet. Napkins are of somewhat heavier weight than tissues. The
plastic nature of paper fibres when slightly moist permits the
reproduction of surface patterns by embossing to a remarkable degree.
Paper napkins are an example of this art.
Because of the soft, bulky texture of sanitary papers, they are
relatively weak. Since they are often exposed to wetting in use, they
are often treated with resins to increase wet
strength.