Today's News |
UBC Researchers Plumb the Secrets of Tissue Paper - Create What Is Likely the First Complete Mathematical Model of 'Creping'
Wednesday, August 31, 2016Company Profile | Follow Company
UBC mechanical engineering researchers Srikanth Phani, Kui Pan and Sheldon Green
Vancouver, BC, August 31, 2016--(T-Net)--Canada's tissue manufacturers are now much closer to producing the perfect paper, thanks to new UBC research.
A team working with UBC mechanical engineering professors Sheldon Green and Srikanth Phani have created what is likely the first complete mathematical model of creping, the crinkling process that helps make tissue paper soft and resilient.
“The new model provides a significantly better understanding of the dynamics of the creping process, allowing manufacturers to tailor the process to a greater degree than before,” said Green. “It's the most accurate model of creping to date.”
During tissue manufacture, pulp is dried on a chemical-coated rotating drum until it's 95 per cent dry. It's then pushed off at very high speeds by a sharp creping blade, creating hundreds of microscopic folds that give tissue its softness, flexibility, tearing resistance and strength.
“With our model, manufacturers can better manipulate the different elements—the chemicals, the pulp, the creping blade angle, the paper speed and so on—to produce the exact product grade they want, from standard grade toilet paper to ultra-premium bathroom rolls,” said Green.
“Previous simulation models were static and didn't consider the velocity and impact of the dryer,” said Kui Pan, the PhD student who led the mathematical analysis.
The search for the ideal tissue paper is a top concern for the paper industry. Pan's supervisor, Srikanth Phani, believes their discovery can help paper firms in this quest.
“Canada is a strong player in the billion-dollar global market for tissue products including bathroom rolls, facial tissues, and hygiene products. This new research can contribute to the growth of that industry,” added Phani.
The UBC team worked with scientists from Canadian research organization FPInnovations. The project has received support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and, more recently, from Kruger Products, Canada's leading tissue manufacturer, and creping chemicals manufacturer Solenis.
The research was presented at the recent 24th International Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in Montreal on August 21-26. Contact lou.bosshart@ubc.ca to request a copy.
VIDEO: Creping experiment
Company Snapshot |
||
University of British Columbia
Vancouver (Education)
|
Other Recent Company News |
|||||||||||||||||||
|