Air-laid paper

Air-laid paper is a textile-like material categorized as a nonwoven fabric made from fluff pulp.^[1]

Properties

Compared with normal wet-laid paper and tissue, air-laid paper is very bulky, porous and soft. It has good water absorption properties and is much stronger compared with normal tissue.

Main characteristics are:

Soft, does not scratch.
Non-linting, no dust, no static.
Strong, even when wet, can be rinsed and reused.
Clean, hygienic, can be sterilized.
Textile-like surface and drape.
Can be dyed, printed, embossed, coated and made solvent resistant.

Manufacture

Unlike the normal papermaking process, air-laid paper does not use water as the carrying medium for the fibre. Fibres are carried and formed to the structure of paper by air. The air-laid structure is isotropic.

The raw material is long fibered softwood fluff pulp in roll form. The pulp are defibrized in a hammermill. Defibration is the process of freeing the fibres from each other before entering the papermachine. Important parameters for dry defibration are shredding energy and knot content. Normally an air-laid paper consists of about 85% fibre. A binder must be applied as a spray or foam. Alternatively, additional fibres or powders can be added to the pulp which can then be activated and cured by heat.

History

The Danish inventor Karl Krøyer is considered to be the first who commercialized air-formed paper in the early 1980s.^[2] Others developed different processes independently at about the same time. A Finnish company United Paper Mills(now UPM-Kymmene Oyj) was one of the companies developing airlaid technology in the 1980s. In the 1980s UPM formed a new company called Walkisoft Oy and also built an airlaid factory to Kotka Finland which started in 1985. Walkisoft built several plants around the world (including the worlds largest airlaid-factory in Mt Holly, NC, USA) in the following 14 years before being sold to Buckeye Technologies Inc. The Walkisoft engineering team, which was responsible for the engineering and R&D of the airlaid machines became known as Buckeye Engineering Finland and from 2002-> as Anpap Oy, a private owned Finnish company.^[3] ^[4]

Applications

Disposable diapers as part of the inner absorbent
Feminine hygiene
Industrial wipes
Personal care products
Table top
- napkin
- table cloth
Wet wipes

References

↑ Paulapuro, Hannu (2000). "4". Paper and Board grades. Papermaking Science and Technology. 18. Finland: Fapet Oy. pp. 95–98. ISBN 952-5216-18-7.
↑ Nonwoven Technology Conference 2002 – Ottawa 13-16th May, retrieved 2013-02-13
↑ http://www.papermakerswiki.com/book/export/html/42
↑ http://www.anpap.fi/company/

Paper

History Manufacture/Papermaking

Types	Blotting Bond Construction Cotton Rag Crêpe Display Dó Asphalt Glassine India Korean Kraft Laid Manila Newsprint Oatmeal Onionskin Origami Baking Building Rice Rolling Security Seed Copy Tar Thermal Tissue Tracing Transfer Tree-free Wallpaper Washi Waterproof Wax Wood-free Wove Writing Xuan

Materials	Fiber crop Paper chemicals Papyrus Wood pulp Algal bloom (Shiro alga carta)

Specifications	Grammage Density Size Units of paper quantity Surface chemistry of paper Wet strength

Manufacture and process	Bleaching of wood pulp Calender Conical refiner Deinking Paper pollution Environmental impact of paper Hollander beater Kraft process Organosolv Paper cut Paper machine Paper recycling Soda pulping Sulfite process

Industry	Paper industry In Europe In Canada In India In Japan In the United States Paper mill List of paper mills

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