Effect of Surrounding Conditions on Paper Properties

Standard Conditions of Measurement

Strength and Surrounding Conditions

Strength of paper may be affected very significantly due to variation of temperature and relative humidity of atmosphere Consequences : - Paper/board suitable at one place may not serve the same purpose at another place and may fail. - Measurement of properties at some specified temperature and RH conditions.

 Variation of moisture content in paper due to temperature and RH of atmosphere. Effect on fiber-fiber bonding due to moisture content in paper

 Variation of moisture content is due to hygroscopic nature of cellulose fiber 25-65% RH -1% increase per 10% change in RH RH>65%, faster increase RH~100%, - Moisture ~ 27-30%

Moisture Content vs Conditioning Time

Rate at which paper achieves moisture equilibrium depends upon : - Type of fiber, - Process conditions e.g. pulping, beating etc. - degree of sizing, - type and amount of coating, - basis weight, - type and amount of fillers.

Effect of conditioning time on equilibrium moisture in 60 lb kraft paper. Conditioned from (A) 35-85% RH (B) 85-35% RH

Moisture content changes very rapidly at first and then slows down. Time to reach equilibrium moisture content - 15 minutes for lightweight papers - 24-48 hours for paper board and heavily sized papers

Measurement of Moisture Content

Most common is Drying Method. Dry a weighed specimen in a circulating air oven at 105C. Moisture content = wt. loss on drying(gm)x100/original wt.(gm) On a cold winter day, oven has low humidity. This results in 0.5 1% higher moisture content than on a hot, humid, summer day. Vacuum removes 0.5 1% more moisture than an ordinary oven.

Basis Weight Variation

Increased moisture content, due to enhanced RH conditions, increases basis weight. Normally, Moisture content ~ 6-7% Change in basis weight varies from paper to paper and depends upon - Type of fibers and process conditions. - Type and amount of fillers

Basis Weight Variation with Moisture Content (w.r.to 50% RH Value)

RH, % -cellulose Average and rag paper Papers % % Groundwood Papers %

20 30
40 50 60 65 70 75 80

-1.5 -1.0
-0.5 0 +0.5 +1.0 +1.7 +2.5 +3.5

-2.5 -2.0
-1.0 0 +0.7 +1.5 +2.5 +4.0 +5.0

-3.3 -2.7
-1.3 0 +1.2 +2.2 +3.7 +5.2 +7.2

1. Least variation in rag pulps due to lowest amount of hemicellulose 2. Highest variation in Groundwood due to highest amount of hemicellulose

Consider a bond paper of 80 gsm. At 50% RH, its moisture content will be 6% On taking it to 80% RH (hot and humid environment i.e. places near sea shores) Increase in basis weight 5% i.e. 5% of 80 = 4 gsm Or This bond paper will now have 84 gsm basis weight

Considering this aspect one can sell this paper at a higher cost with around 6% less fiber whereas actually this paper will not give any advantage of paper with higher basis weight e.g. improved strength, opacity, stiffness
In fact, all these properties will deteriorate (on account of less fiber content and deterioration in above props with higher moisture content.)

 Effect on various strength parameters due to variation in Relative humidity Stretch - increases Burst- TS and stretch fold TS and flexibility Tear higher fr. of fibers come out after breaking fiber bonds

Specifications for Measurement

BIS RH = 652%, Temp.=272C Sample conditioning - RH=25-35%,Temp.=40C,Time=24hrs Condition at BIS specified conditions - Time ~ 4 hours (normal paper) - Time ~ 24 hours (hard sized papers) Difference between successive weighing < 0.25% measured at an interval of 1 hour

Ex: For a sheet (22x30 cm) of 70 gsm Weight of sheet = 4.6 gm 0.25% of weight of sheet = 0.01gm Weight 4.6 4.61 gm (indication of conditioned sheet)

 After conditioning : Paper should not be kept near - Window (avoid sunlight) - Radiator (avoid heat) - Open space during rainy season Not touched by hands (to avoid grease and moisture Avoid water marks, edges, fold, crease, torn part

Tissue and Towelling

Tissue products e.g. toilet tissue and towels are sold in roll form (in some cases with perforations provided for separating small pieces from roll). Term sheet has no relevance in these cases. Important is the Roll from which portion of material for testing is being taken.

Sampling
Tissues have high level of creping, to improve pliability and compressibility. They get stretched easily when test pieces are prepared which in turn affects the properties of tissue. When preparing test pieces from rolls, the product be unrolled while supported by laying it on a lab bench. Pulling sheets vertically from a suspended roll must be avoided to minimize stretching.

Conditioning (curing)
Tissue products have wet strength, which in turn is provided by adding wet strength chemicals in pulp furnish. Wet strength is achieved after these chemicals are given sufficient time for ageing/curing which could vary from few minutes to several weeks for different wet strength chemicals. Recently manufactured tissue products, therefore, be cured before they are tested for different properties. Measured properties will be indicative of those experienced while the product is in use.

 Curing is done by exposing the sample at higher temperature for a specified duration. It is simply a process by which paper manufacture determine the wet strength performance of paper several days/weeks before the paper is used. (paper maker would like to determine the possible performance of the product several weeks after the manufacture, by measurement just after paper has been made)

 Generally for curing the conditions are : SCAN-57 Temperature 80C, Time 30 min or 24 hour European Std. EN 12625-5 - Temp. 80C, Time 30 min or - Temp. 105, Time 15 min (for production inspection to enable correction, if required)

 Important Consideration : To determine the properties of tissue product, as experienced by the end user on product purchased from store, test the sample without curing (The store sample is likely to have been manufactured at-least few weeks earlier so no need for curing)

Ageing Characteristics
Determines whether a paper sample will age more rapidly as compared to others. Important for record papers, ledgers, map etc. In general any paper which is meant to keep data/records for long duration. The effect of ageing is due to breaking of fiberfiber bonds due to gradual drying of sample in air with time. This results in deterioration of strength of paper. Ultimately paper becomes brittle.

 The aging characteristics of paper is determined by finding decrease in double fold value of a sample when it is given aging treatment. The aging process is simulated by heating paper sample at a temperature varying between 60 125C. Change of temperature by 20C alters rate of deteroration by a factor of 7.5. Accelarated aging temp. must be rigorously controlled. In addition, the paper moisture content must be held constant during accelerated aging.