Megan Kraus Engl 202C Section 18 Technical Definition and Description

From the Tree to the Paper in Front of You: The Process of Industrial Paper Making

Audience and Scope

The main objective of this technical description is to educate people about the general process of industrialized papermaking. This document will describe the preparation, how the different sections in the paper machine operate and the distribution of the final product. The audience is anyone who is curious or interested in knowing how paper is made. Paper and paper products are used everywhere and this description can be utilized to help the audience understand how something they frequently use is made. This document is geared towards a beginner student studying paper science or a new employee in the paper industry. The targeted reader can have little to zero knowledge about how paper is made but should understand that this process involves raw materials through a machine to get the final product, paper.

Introduction
Paper and paper products are all around us from the cup filled with coffee from Starbucks to the paper you write on every day. With the amount of paper that we use in our lives daily, where does it all come from and how is it made? Industrialized papermaking is the process of transforming raw materials such as wood and recycled paper products into paper with the use of an industrialized paper machine. The paper machine is the key player and the largest piece of equipment used in the papermaking process.

An average paper machines dimensions are 500 feet long by 30 feet wide by 40 feet tall!

Image of an industrial paper machine inside a paper mill

It is commonly believed that paper is made by putting trees into paper machines to produce the final product; however, the process is far more extensive than this belief.

The process of industrialized paper making follows a series of steps: 1. Preparation. Trees are harvested and then prepared into the raw material that is put into the machines. 2. Paper Machine Process. Paper machines are so large in size that they contain 4 sections that chronologically generate the final product. 3. Final Product & Distribution. The final product is then refined and distributed to various customers. Before the papermaking process can be further explained, the preparation of the raw materials must first be examined.

Preparation
In the industrial paper making process, trees are not simply thrown into the machine and made into paper, some preparation is needed first.

Harvesting:
The first step in the preparation process is harvesting and preparing the wood from its simplest form, trees. After the trees are harvested, the bark is removed and the logs are put into a rotating drum where it is cut into wood chips.

Raw materials used in paper making: Softwood. Examples of softwood trees are spruce, pine, fir, larch and hemlock Hardwood. Examples of hardwood trees are eucalyptus, aspen and birch. Recycled Fiber. Examples include recycled paper products.

Pulping:
Before any material is put into the paper machine, it has to be prepared and made into a substance called pulp, which is a fibrous material that can be prepared either chemically or mechanically. The fibers in the pulp come from the long fibers of the hard wood and the short fibers of the soft wood. The strength of the final product relies on proper fiber formation.
Trees being de-barked and sent to rotating drum to be cut into wood chips.

Pulping Methods: Mechanical pulping. Grinds the wood chips in order to separate the tiny fibers from the rest of the material. Chemical pulping. Heats and adds chemicals to the wood chips to extract the fibers from the rest of the material. Recycled Fiber Pulping. Screens and cleans bales of recycled paper products such as envelopes, newspapers, copy paper, and post-it notes and re-pulped, or re-grinded, in order to be added to the machine.

After the raw materials are pulped, it is further cleaned and refined by mixing in more chemicals and fillers, which are substances such as clay, added to the pulp to change the opacity of the final product. The chemicals and fillers help to ensure proper fiber formation.

Paper Machine Process

Once the raw materials are made into pulp and treated with chemicals, water is added to the mixture to create a slurry which is then sent to the paper machine to begin the process. Most paper machines have four main operating sections. Each section contains an integral part of the papermaking process.

Forming Section

Press Section

Dryer Section

Calendar Section

A general overview of the different sections of the paper machine with various elements labeled.

Helpful Terms: Head box the receptacle in which the slurry is added Wire mesh & Rollers aid in the formation of the sheet of fibers Felt the belt the sheet is transported on throughout the machine

Forming Section Wet End

The forming section is commonly known as the wet end because this is the part of the machine where the pulp with added water enters the machine. The wet end is where the fibers align to form a sheet. The pulp is put onto the sheet at a specific speed to help the fibers get aligned to give the sheet its needed strength to continue along the process.

The liquefied pulp is added onto the wire at a specific speed where the fibers align to create a sheet.

Press Section
The second section of the paper machine is the press section. Once the sheet is formed on the wire in the wet end, it is transferred onto the felt, which acts much like a conveyor belt. The felt is a loop of material that supports the fiber sheets and transports them to be squeezed between press rollers to remove some of the water that was added to make the liquefied pulp or slurry. In this section, most of the water from the slurry is removed from the sheet.

Drying Section Dry End

The third section of the paper machine is the drying section, also known as the dry end of the machine. After the press section, the sheet is sent to more rollers in the dry section where the process is covered and heated to evaporate the remaining water from the sheet.

Operators monitor the heat added to the dry end as the sheet moves through the rollers.

Calendar Section Product Formation

The last section of the paper machine is the calendar section. The calendar section also utilizes rollers to apply pressure on the passing sheets to make the sheet surface smooth and glossy. This section is important in paper formation because it also gives the paper sheets a uniform thickness. The sheets are rolled onto reels where they are stored for cutting and distribution.
An operator monitors the final rolling of the sheets onto the reels.

Final Product & Distribution

Not all paper is created equal! There are various grades, or types of paper that can be made on industrial paper machines. Grades are usually made by adding specific chemicals or dyes to the pulp as well as adjusting the pressure of the rollers for thickness. For example, Splenda packets get their yellow color by adding a yellow dye to the liquefied pulp.
The yellow color of the Splenda packets comes from yellow dye added to the pulp in the paper machine process.

Grades are usually based on 6 different categories: 1. Basis Weight. Grades include tissue & towel, paper, paperboard, and board 2. Color. Grades include brown (unbleached), white (bleached), colored (dyed) 3. Usage. Grades include industrial (packaging, wrapping, filtering), cultural (writing, printing, newspaper), food (wrapping, filters, tea bags) 4. Raw Material. Grades include wood, agricultural residue, recycled fiber 5. Surface Treatment. Grades include coated, uncoated, laminated 6. Finish. Grades include fine, course, glossed, parchment

Once the final product is rolled onto the reels, it is sent to another part of the paper mill to be cut into smaller sections depending on what the customer asks for and sent to the customer location.

Operator next to a completed reel, cut reels in storage, final product distributed to customer

Conclusion
Industrial paper making isnt just the act of throwing trees into a machine and producing paper; it involves many carefully executed steps. Overall industrial paper making process: 1. Preparation. Harvesting trees and creating the pulp used in the paper machine 2. Paper Machine Process. Including the steps within the 4 sections of the machine (forming section, press section, drying section, calendar section) 3. Final Product & Distribution. Deciding which grades to produce and tailoring the product for distribution to the vendor.

Although paper is widely used across the globe, the paper industry is not a commonly publicized career. With this being said, it is difficult to imagine that in reality, the industry is listed as the 10th largest manufacturing industry with over 250 distinct job titles and employing nearly 700,000 people in the United States. Industrialized paper making plays a key role not only within the job market but also with the items used everyday.

Works Cited
http://voith.com/en/markets-industries/industries/paper/new-plants--12510.html http://www.modopapers.com/en/index.php?content_ID=11 http://www.tappi.org/content/enewsletters/ecorr/2005/ecorr_jan1905.htm http://www.oldandsold.com/articles10/paper-making-11.shtml http://www.colourbox.com/preview/2788771-358226-torn-paper-with-trees-through-thehole.jpg http://www.wipapercouncil.org/careers.htm http://www.paperonweb.com/grade11.htm#a http://www.albertanewsprint.com/2008%20Website%20Pictures/IMG_4782.JPG http://www.students.tut.fi/~lainiot/kuvia/raskas/2010_06_23_Volvo_FH12460_Helsinki.jpg http://www.cartotecnicarossi.it/images/img_carta_velina_industriale.jpg