How do you quickly measure cell wall thickness or simulate fibre network deformation? These were among the questions addressed at the Progress in Paper Physics Seminar in Montreal in June. Organized b…
How do you quickly measure cell wall thickness or simulate fibre network deformation? These were among the questions addressed at the Progress in Paper Physics Seminar in Montreal in June. Organized by FPInnovations, the event attracted about 60 delegates from universities, research institutes and various segments of the paper industry.
Topics included paper structure modeling, experimental methods, manufacturing and characterization of tissue, lignocellulosic composites, paper properties, and ink-paper interactions.
According to Norayr Gurnagul of FPInnovations, one of the seminar organizers, the technical highlights of the event are:
• A novel and rapid technique for determining cell wall thickness and S2 fibril angle of intact wood pulp fibres using circularly-polarized-light microscopy has been developed. This patented technology is now being commercialized in the new generation of on-line fibre quality analyzers and will allow mills to relate pulp quality variations to fibre properties.
• Simulations of wet fibre network deformation show that sheet stretch shows very significant statistical variations and the variations are affected by specimen size and fibre geometry. Since the stretch variations control wet sheet breaks in the open draw, the result has an important implication to paper machine runnability.
• Surface topography and formation can only account for 55% of the total variance of print density in flexo printing of packaging paper. In fact surface topography alone accounts for 49% of the total variance; this suggests that formation alone is not a dominant factor in controlling print mottle.
Keynote addresses and special sessions covered topics such as new nanostructured functional materials based on cel-lulose, a review of successes and failures in paper physics, a review of what has been learned from new characterization tools over the last decade, as well as new and emerging fields in materials science and engineering.
A boat cruise on the St. Lawrence River was the spectacular setting for the seminar banquet.
PPC
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