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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

SURFACTANT SPRAY: A NOVEL TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE FLOTATION DEINKING PERFORMANCE

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/860481· OSTI ID:860481
Based on the fundamental understanding of ink removal and fiber loss mechanism in flotation deinking process, we developed this innovative technology using surfactant spray to improve the ink removal efficiency, reduce the water and fiber loss, reduce the chemical consumption and carry over in the flotation deinking. The innovative flotation deinking process uses a spray to deliver the frothing agent during flotation deinking to control several key process variables. The spray can control the foam stability and structure and modify the fluid dynamics to reduce the fibers entrapped in the froth layer. The froth formed at the top part of the flotation column will act as a physical filter to prevent the penetration of frothing agent into the pulp suspension to eliminate fiber contamination and unfavorable deinking surface chemistry modification due to surfactant adsorption on the fiber surface. Because of the filter effect, frothing agents will be better utilized. Under the sponsorships of the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) and the member companies of the Institute of Paper Science and Technology, we studied the chem-mechanical mechanism of surfactant spray for flotation deinking using different furnishes, chemicals, and flotation devices in the past four years. In the final year of the project, we successfully conducted mill trials at Abitibi-Consolidated, Inc., Snowflake paper recycling operation of 100% mixture of ONP/OMG. Results from laboratory, pilot-plant and mill trials indicated that surfactant spray technology can significantly reduce fiber loss in flotation deinking. It can be concluded that paper industry can profit greatly when this technology is commercialized in flotation deinking mills.
Research Organization:
Georgia Tech Research Corporation
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) - (EE-20)
DOE Contract Number:
FC36-00ID13879
OSTI ID:
860481
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English