b'PULP REFININGMaking the most of your unbleached Kraft fibre with Maximyze 777By Rosy Covarrubias, Innovation Director, Packaging, Maurice Rizcallah, Global Market Development Manager, Packaging, Mark Reed, Group Manager, Biotechnologies, BuckmanABSTRACT INTRODUCTION adding basis weight, reducing speed, Packaging production is a complexIn an increasingly competitive market,increasing refining, and managing fibre process aiming at producing paperyou must control costs if you wantquality.These can create unintended sheets from fibres with maximumto survive and prosper.The fibre- consequences in the process, and strength at the lowest cost. Afterbased packaging industry is striving toin many cases, they are overused to pulping, fibres do not present enoughremain competitive and profitable whilea level of diminishing returns.Even bonding strength. Consequently, ameeting the increasing demands ofwith all these tools, sometimes mills mechanical treatment such as refiningits customers for stronger and lighterare unable to meet market demand is required to increase fibre bondingproduct while replacing plastic-basedfor quality and strength-to-weight and develop strength. Refining of pulpspackaging. ratio, resulting in rejected product or is a key step of papermaking and reliesdiscounted product.on mechanical treatment of their waterThe industry is expected to continue suspensions. Refining increases theto grow with the boom from Amazon,All these strategies work but are used fibrillation and surface area of celluloseAlibaba, Walmart and generalto the point of diminishing return, fibres, which enhance fibre flexibility asE-commerce. According to McKinsey,increasing cost and introducing well as bonding interactions betweenits set to reach a half-trillion dollars byinstability to the process. Some of the fibres.2026. On the other hand, the marketthese approaches also limit your mills is driven by the fact that retailers andability to increase production. Some The effect of enzymatic treatment toshippers are demanding board that isrequire more chemicals overall, which condition fibres prior to refining isstronger and lighter due to customerwill impact system stability and cost.now a proven science; however, it hasdemand for rightsizing. been used mostly in bleached andThe mechanical treatment of wood recycled fibres. The application ofThis environment is creating manypulp fibres is used to impart to them these technologies in unbleached Kraft,pressures for the packaging industry: the appropriate characteristics for especially in integrated mills, has beenincrease strength with a lowerpapermaking. A part of the stock more challenging due to interferingbasis weight, lower total operationpreparation phase of papermaking, substances that come with the fibrecosts, increase production, increaserefining is the most important aspect and high pH and temperature of theyield, and reduce energy and fibreof the process. It is here that the system.consumption. Additional sustainabilitycharacteristics of the cellulose fibres and regulatory pressures combinedthe marketand the composition of the furnish Because of the continuous researchwith increasing competition fromis driven bythat comprise paper are determined, into finding new enzymes and synergiesplastic-based packaging create an eventhe fact thataffecting how the fibres bind with each with other additives, partneredmore dynamic and competitive market. retailers andother during the formation of the paper with a new patent-pending fibreshippers areweb and what the various properties characterisation technique, BuckmanTo meet market demands mostdemandingof the paper will be. Refining energy is has developed a new enzyme-basedmills are using these costly leversboard that isamong the most costly of the process technology that has proven to be veryin order to achieve strength targets:stronger andvariables in containerboard production. effective in unbleached Kraft fibres.using polymeric/starch solutions,lighter The benefits of process refining in 16 WORLD PULP&PAPER'