Literature--APA May 1990

Florida Bureau of Archives and Records Management. "Paper Standards Committee Report," March 30, 1990. The production, cost and availability of alkaline were investigated, with an eye to implementing its use. It has not yet been decided whether to require all Florida government agencies to use alkaline paper for everything, or just for item of historical significance, or simply to wait until all the mills have converted. When the committee was investigate prices, it found that some vendors were charging double for alkaline paper. Copies may be available from Florida State Archives, R.A. Gray Building, Tallahassee FL 32399-0250.

U.S. Government Printing Office. "Use of Alkaline Paper in Government Printing." April 1990. 18 pp. plus appendices. Subtitle: Report and Plan Prepared at the Direction of Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives.

In 1989, even before the started to switch to alkaline paper, they found that about 57% of the book-publishing and related papers purchased for inhouse use or for supplying to government agencies from alkaline mills. Only 40% of the printing done for them on contract was on alkaline paper. No shortage of alkaline papers was foreseen.

There is already one government standard for permanent paper, JCP A-270 (uncoated printing paper). The JCP (Joint Committee on Printing) is evaluating another specification, JCP A-61, for a smooth finish, high-quality alkaline offset book paper.

No difficulty has been experienced in finding recycled papers.

For a copy of this report, write Office of the Public Printer, Room C 808, Government Printing Office, on, DC 20401.

"Matching Paper and Printing," by Barbara Wortley. PIMA Magazine, April 1990, p. 49. The first of a series of columns the topic. The author says, at one point, "Linting, dusting, piling and picking are of great concern in offset lithography because particles are picked up by the tacky inks used in this process. Paper debris on the transfer blanket deteriorates print quality and causes lost time when press wash-up is necessary.

"Poor first pass retention [on the paper machine] can cause problems, for the printer because fines accumulate in the headbox are deposited on the top (felt) side of the sheet. many of these fines are merely physically entrapped, rather than held by chemical or electrostatic forces, so they can be lifted from the sheet during printing."

"The Trend Toward Alkaline Papers," by H. C. Roth. High Volume Printing April 1990, p. 99-101. The author has been more or less investigating the problems of neutral/alkaline papers (which in 1988 he was calling "synthetic stock") on offset duplicators. He has pub earlier in In-Plant Printer and Instant Printer, reporting that problems with ink in the nonprint area occur with paper; he feels all alkaline papers have this problem, and he sells a bromcresol green pH Indicator pen to help printers steer clear of them. He is poorly informed. He believes that conventional acid paper has a high cellulose content and is made from sulfite pulp; that calcium carbonate is neutral; that European mills are "currently almost 100% alkaline" (actually, most estimates place it at close to 60%); and that acid papers are all alike as far as printing is concerned, but alkaline papers are different from mill to mill. He seems to have no memory of the long decades when acid paper was coated with calcium carbonate.

In fact, some alkaline papers do not perform well on offset duplicators, at least not when certain plates and are used, but some perform very well. It my be a matter of first-pass retention. There are a lot of mills that have not been making alkaline paper for very long, and it takes a while to optimize the process. It is too bad that Mr. Roth is the only person publishing on printing problems with alkaline paper and trying to check out complaints for the enlightenment (as he sees it) of all.

Ageing/Degradation of Paper: a Literature Survey, by Christer Fellers et al. FoU-projektet för papperskonservering, Report No. 1E. ISSN 0284-5636. Stockholm, Sept. 1989. Order from Riksarkivet, Box 12541, S-102 29 Stockholm, Sweden. A clear technical of the following aspects:

Effects of ageing on the mechanical and optical properties of paper (by Tom Lindström)
Fold number and folding endurance - An analysis of test methods (by Christer Fellers)
Chemical reactions during natural and accelerated ageing
Effects of environment on ageing (by Tom Lindström)
Physical ageing (by Mikael Rigdahl)
Microbial decomposition of paper (by Thomas Nilsson)
Effect of fibre raw materials, the papermaking process and printing (by Tom Lindström)
Comparison between natural and accelerated ageing of paper (by Tom Lindström)
Paper conservation (by Tom Lindström)

The preface says that this is a Swedish R & D project on preservation and conservation, conducted by the National Archives, the Royal Library and the National Land Survey of Sweden together with some other major institutions responsible for the preservation of books and archival material. It was prepared by the Swedish Pulp and Paper Research Institute (STFI) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) under the leadership of Professor Tom Lindström. Project coordinator was Ingmar Fröjd. Originally published in Swedish, 1988.

"Alkaline Chemistry Puts Paper Industry on a New Roll." ESF '89, Newsletter of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Sept. 1989, p. 2-3.

After he saw this article, alumnus Charles H. Chapman wrote a letter to the publications editor, which is reprinted below with permission from the December 1989 Alumni News (also published by SUNY-Syracuse, School of Environmental Science and Forestry), on page Alumni 3. It is followed by the comments of the publication's editor.

Dear Editor:
An article in the September issue of ESF '89,
"Alkaline Chemistry puts Paper Industry on a New Roll," was of great interest to me.
Following my graduation in Pulp and Paper in December, 1943 (class of '44), with the exception of a short time in the Army, I was with Hercules Powder Co., mainly in the field of pulp and paper chemical R & D, technical service and sales in most areas of the United States and Canada, retiring in 1984 with 40 years service.
While in the "field" in California, I spent considerable time on developing a successful procedure for retaining a dispersion of Alkyl Ketene Dimer (Aquapel) when added at the "wet end" of the machine. This was accomplished by dispersing the dimer in a cationic starch, which was then substantive to the cellulose. This procedure was carried out at a neutral or alkaline pH in the absence of alum.
I conducted most of the early evaluations, with initial commercial success being in bleached kraft for milk and citrus containers.
Patent 3,096,232, "Aqueous Emulsions of Waxes and Resins" was issued to me on July 2, 1963. A second patent 3,130,118, "Aqueous Ketene Dimer Emulsion and Use of Same for Sizing Paper, " was issued to me on April 21, 1964. Both patents were assigned to Hercules Powder Co., Wilmington, DE.
I thought the College would like to know one of its graduates was in on the ground floor of this development.
Charles H. Chapman '44

[The Editor replies:] We are always happy to hear about the achievements of our alumni. We telephoned Dr. David Dumas, marketing development manager at Hercules, Inc. in Wilmington, DE, and he told us that Charles Chapman is "legendary" in the field of alkaline paper chemistry. Dumas said that only about 10 percent of paper was produced by alkaline processes before 1985 when the price of pulp essentially doubled. 35 percent of paper is alkaline now, and forecasters estimate as much as 70 percent will be alkaline by the 1990s....

"Changing Trends Key to Making Quality Paper," by Jeanine Jensen, Managing Editor. PIMA, Feb. 1990, p. 29-30. Conversion to alkaline paper and recycled paper are two of the three trends discussed in a series of interviews. Some of the points made by those interviewed are: Paper buyers are beginning to request alkaline paper specifically; Appleton's Locks Mill was an early user of the alkaline papermaking process; it is easier if you don't add size; local and state governments are legislating the use of secondary fiber without looking into problem of supply, collection, transport and quality.

"Recycling Capacity to Increase at Record Rates as Laws Proliferate," by Debra A. Garcia, Sr. News Editor. Pulp & Paper, May 1990, p. S1-S5, S11-S16, S25-S28. Full Of information in text and tables, this report was prepared with the assistance of Jaakko Pöyry Oy, which has recently completed a major multi-client study, "Recycled Fiber, An Under-utilized Opportunity." A list of wastepaper processing projects at U.S. and Canadian mills takes up two pages, and a list of U.S. recycled newsprint legislation takes up most of another two pages. Technology, problems and predictions are reviewed. At the end, in a section called "Hurdles Remain," five stubborn problems are listed, among them lower strength, loss of permanence, and environmental concerns. Permanence will suffer because of high mechanical pulp content.

A letter to the editor on p. 13 of the March PIMA, from John Rapach of Omya, Inc. (a supplier of ground calcium carbonate), comments on an article published in December, "Will the 1990s be the Alkaline Decade?" and corrects a few misconceptions. PCC does increase capacity, but is known to be limited in filler loading, unlike the newer ultra-fine ground calcium carbonate. Wire wear and converters' blades dulling are no problem because of the smaller particle size. Any calcium carbonate, not just PCC, buffers against the acid atmosphere. The pH of GCC is lower, which makes size curing easier. And it can be used more easily for coating groundwood papers.

"A Bright Future for Calcium Carbonate." Pulp & Paper, April 1990, p. 39, 41. Compares filler levels in the U.S. (15-20%) with the higher levels in Europe, sometimes as high as 50%. Higher U.S. levels are predicted, with further advances in starches, retention system and refining technology. In Europe, most mills use ultrafine ground calcium carbonate (UFGCC), while in the U.S. both UFGCC and PCC are used, sometimes in the same paper. It may be easier to reach higher filler levels with PCC made in the round shape like ground calcium carbonate.

"Many Mills Stake Their Future on Alkaline Paper by Stephen A. Walkden. American Papermaker, April 1990, p. 3536. In the section on additives, the author discusses fillers, retention system, sizing agent and biocide. Balance in particle size, he says, is important. Too many particles under 0.5 microns cause dusting, reduction in fiber bonding, and poor retention properties leading to high whitewater solids. Too high a percentage of large particles (above 3 to 5 microns) may reduce opacity and cause abrasion and dusting. Each type of carbonate has different performance characteristics: chalk, limestone, marble or PCC. Many mills are mixing them.

"Measuring Aluminum in Paper Systems," by Barbara Wortley. PIMA, Feb. 1990, p. [41, 44]. Normally, alum is added to an acid system at the rate of 20 to 40 pounds per ton, though it is not unusual to find 50 to 100 pounds per ton in the headbox. To monitor and control alum addition, indirect indicators like pH and total acidity are not satisfactory; atomic absorption spectroscopy is expensive and time-consuming but a direct technique using the specific fluoride ion electrode (SFIE) is accurate and handy. The article tells how to use this method.

Volume 3, Number 2 May 1990

Literature

Volume 3, Number 2
May 1990