Exploration of new scientific ideas for significant electricity savings in mechanical upgrading of pulp fibres for papermaking

The preparation of pulp fibres in order to make them suitable ibr paper manufacture involves very energy-intensive operations in terms of usage of electricity. The reduction of this use of electrical energy is of vital interest for the European paper industry. A collaborative action among European pulp and paper research institutes was therefore conduted where the possibilities of saving energy in the pulping preparation involving chemithermomechanical pulping (CTMP). refining of chemical pulps and upgrading of waste pulp fibres were studied. Oxidative treatments for CTMP. means of improving the bonding ability by improving refining homogeneity for chemical pulps and fractionation and refining strategies for upgrading recycled fibres were investigated. Promising approaches for saving energy in pulp manufacture are put forward with the most promising approach being in refining strategies for chemical pulps where energy savings of up to 30% may be possible to achieve. (C) European Communities 1997. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.