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

这个合作研究项目将由倪永浩博士和他在新玩法大学的团队与乌托邦湖纸业合作进行。 中性亚硫酸盐半化学法（NSSC）制浆是生产瓦楞原纸的关键工艺，瓦楞原纸是制造纸箱等包装产品的原料。虽然印刷/书写纸产品的市场有所下降，但纸包装产品行业仍在继续增长。未充分利用的木材种类，如桦木，NSSC制浆尚未研究。本研究的总体策略是了解NSSC桦木制浆的基本原理，包括动力学，以便更好地控制生产过程;因此，NSSC桦木浆及其整体制造过程将得到改善。 加拿大纸浆和造纸业面临着强大的国际竞争。这项研究的结果与NSSC制浆桦木将有利于不仅湖乌托邦纸，工业合作伙伴，但也有其他加拿大纸浆和造纸公司。 主要成果包括：1）开发了工业合作伙伴的重点树种桦木NSSC制浆的脱木素动力学模型; 2）建立了NSSC纸浆性能与？因素（过程中时间和温度的综合影响）; 3）通过基于总体过程优化的提高脱木素速率、选择性和均匀性，在制浆效率、产率和纸浆性质方面改进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.