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Sustainable and Alternative Fibers Initiative

Capabilities and Facilities

The SAFI team has full access to the Tissue Pack innovation lab’s service center, which features state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained scientists who deliver world-class technical and testing support. Our team conducts a variety of analyses to ensure high-quality results. Below are examples of the tests and equipment we use to achieve our goals.

Pilot Equipment for Process Optimization

  • State-of-the-art creping device
  • Pilot fourdrinier paper machine – a flexible machine to evaluate multiple furnishes, additives, and process conditions cost-effectively, capable of running low basis weight (~30 gsm) sheet
  • State-of-the-art stock preparation – re-pulping, mixing, thickening, screening, cleaning, and refining equipment
  • Sprout-Bauer Twin-Flo Stock Refiner – refining of stock at low consistency
  • Fiber recycling
  • Wet-end chemical additives system
  • TMP unit equipped to produce Chemi-ThermoMechanical Pulp (CTMP) from Non-woody biomasses as well as wood. SAFI has successfully manufactured CTMP with Wheat Straw and Miscanthus.
  • Rotary Digester used for chemical and semichemical pulp production, soaking, impregnation and extractives removal from raw materials for Alkaline Peroxide Mechanical Pulp (APMP), applied to Miscanthus, Wheat Straw, Sorghum, Switchgrass and Bamboo
Pilot-scale thermomechanical pulping (TMP) unit used to process alternative fibers
Our TMP unit has a working volume of 50 liters, give the flexibility to work with different types of raw materials, also because of its configuration, it can be used as the defibration device for APMP production.
Pilot-scale rotary digester used to process alternative fibers
Rotary digester give us the versatility to work with bulky and hard-mixing materials as wheat straw and miscanthus, it has 40 liters as working volume in pilot scale.

Paper Testing

  • Basis weight, caliper, bulk, surface smoothness, brightness, opacity, color, and air permeability
  • Tensile strength (dry and wet), stretchability, and peel adhesion
  • Water absorption capacity and absorption rate
  • Compressibility and stiffness/flexibility
  • Friction and rub resistance

The Tissue Pack Innovation Lab has a TAPPI conditioned room with standard and advanced test equipment for performing the analysis.

Laboratory testing of fiber-based materials using standardized equipment in a TAPPI-conditioned room
  • Pulmac Zero-span and Short-span Tensile Tester
    • Study of fiber strength, length, and degree of bonding
  • Tissue Softness Analyzer (TSA) by Emtec Electronic
    • Multifunctional measuring instrument to assess the softness, elasticity, and compressibility of tissue and fabrics, as well as ball burst strength, thickness, and basis weight
  • Fiber Quality Analyzer (FQA)
    • Determination of fiber length, width, curl, kink, coarseness, fines content, shives content, and vessel content

Chemical Characterization

  • Kappa number
  • Viscosity of pulp
  • Pulp carbohydrates
  • Carboxylic acid group content
  • Surface charge
  • Metals analysis
  • Ash content
  • pH

Equipment for Furnish and Chemical Additive Optimization

  • Laboratory pulp refiners (PFI Mill and Valley Beater) and disk refiners
  • Freeness testers (Canadian Standard Freeness and Schopper-Riegler Freeness)
  • British handsheet former and square handsheet former
  • Automated dynamic sheet former (capability of doing multi-layered tissue sheets)
  • Britt Jar for drainage and retention studies
  • Positive Pulse Jar (PPJ) for flow effects studies such as associated with approach-flow shear, jet-wire speed difference, and hydrofoil action
  • Chemtrac ECA2000 and Mutek PCD03 for colloidal dissolved substances and charge determination
  • Brookfield viscometer equipped with a modified rotor with vertical probes to evaluate the strength of fiber flocs

Fiber Spinning Machine

Our laboratory-scale fiber spinning device supports wet, dry, and dry-jet spinning processes, providing flexibility for comparing different feedstocks under similar conditions.

Laboratory-scale fiber spinning machine used to evaluate wet, dry, and dry-jet spinning processes