Development of kinetics of the neutral sulfite semi-chemical (NSSC) pulping for the production of high-quality corrugating medium

这一合作研究项目将由新不伦瑞克大学的倪永浩博士和他的团队与乌托邦湖纸业公司合作进行。 中性亚硫酸盐半化学制浆(NSSC)是生产瓦楞原纸的关键工序，瓦楞原纸是制造纸箱等包装产品的原材料。尽管打印/书写纸制品市场有所下滑，但纸质包装产品行业仍在继续增长。未被充分利用的树种，如桦木，还没有研究过NSSC制浆。这项研究的总体策略是了解桦木NSSC制浆的基本原理，包括动力学，以便更好地控制生产过程；因此，NSSC桦木浆及其整个制造工艺将得到改进。 加拿大纸浆和造纸行业面临着激烈的国际竞争。这项关于桦树NSSC制浆的研究结果不仅将使工业合作伙伴乌托邦湖纸业受益，也将使其他加拿大纸浆和造纸公司受益。 取得的里程碑和成果包括：1)建立了桦木NSSC制浆的脱木素动力学模型；2)建立了NSSC制浆性能与？因素(过程中时间和温度的综合影响)之间的关系；3)在整体工艺优化的基础上，通过提高脱木素率、选择性和均匀性，从制浆效率、得率和纸浆性能方面改进了NSSC制浆过程。

This collaborative research project will be undertaken by Dr. Yonghao Ni and his team at the University of New Brunswick, in partnership with Lake Utopia Paper. Neutral sulfite semi-chemical (NSSC) pulping is the key process for the production of corrugating medium, the raw material for the manufacture of packaging products such as carton boxes. Although, the market for printing/writing paper products has declined, the paper packaging products industry continues to grow. NSSC pulping of under-utilized wood species, such as birch, has not been researched. The overall strategy of this proposed research is to understand the fundamentals, including the kinetics, of NSSC pulping of birch wood so that better control of the production process can be attained; consequently, the NSSC birch pulp and its overall manufacturing process will improve. The Canadian pulp and paper industry faces strong international competition. The results from this research in relation to NSSC pulping of birch will benefit not only Lake Utopia Paper, the industrial partner but also other Canadian pulp and paper companies. Milestones and deliverables include: 1) Development of delignification kinetics models of NSSC pulping of birch, the focus species of the industrial partner; 2) Establishment of the relationships between the NSSC pulp properties and ?-factor (the combined effects of time and temperature in the process); 3) Improvement of the NSSC pulping process in terms of pulping efficiency, yield, and pulp properties by increasing the delignification rate, selectivity and uniformity based on the overall process optimization.