Title
Fractionation of old corrugated containers for manufacture of test liner and fluting paper
Authors
M. MOSTAFIZUR RAHMAN, MD. MINHAJUL ISLAM, TASLIMA FERDOUS, M. NAKIB HOSSEN and M. SARWAR JAHAN

Received December 1, 2023
Published Volume 58 Issue 1-2 January-February
Keywords old corrugated container, long fiber, short fiber, fines, porosity, strength properties

Abstract
Old corrugated container (OCC) pulp was fractionated and it was found that the longer fiber fraction represented 76.54% and the short fiber fraction – 21.3% of the OCC pulp. The fiber length was 1.22 mm for the long fiber fraction and 0.6 mm for the short fiber, which was longer and shorter, respectively, than the fiber length of the whole OCC pulp (0.95 mm). In addition to fibers in pulp, the cellulosic microparticles that pass through a mesh screen or a perforated plate with a hole diameter of 76 μm, called fines, also have an impact on the properties of the final paper product. The fines content in both longer and shorter fiber fractions was lower than in the whole OCC pulp, consequently, drainage resistance (°SR) in the longer fiber fraction decreased to 14 from 21 in the whole OCC pulp. The air permeability and papermaking properties of the longer fiber were higher than those corresponding to the whole OCC and shorter fiber pulp. Therefore, the longer fraction of pulps can be used to manufacture test liner products and the shorter fiber fraction – for fluting paper.