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

这项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Lake Utopia Paper合作进行。中性亚硫酸盐半化学（NSSC）制浆是生产瓦楞介质的关键工艺，是制造纸箱等包装产品的原料。虽然印刷/书写纸产品的市场已经下降，但纸包装产品行业仍在继续增长。未充分利用的树种（如桦木）的NSSC制浆尚未进行研究。这项拟议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桦木纸浆及其整体制造工艺将得到改善。加拿大纸浆和造纸工业面临着激烈的国际竞争。这项研究的结果与NSSC桦木制浆有关，不仅有利于工业合作伙伴乌托邦湖纸业，也有利于其他加拿大纸浆和造纸公司。里程碑和可交付成果包括：1)开发工业合作伙伴重点树种桦木的NSSC制浆脱木质素动力学模型；2)建立NSSC矿浆性能与？-因素（过程中时间和温度的综合影响）；3)在整体工艺优化的基础上，通过提高脱木质素率、选择性和均匀性，提高NSSC制浆工艺的制浆效率、得率和纸浆性能。

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.