Problem Summary

Good absorbency is one of the key properties of today’s toweling grades. Low absorbency can have a negative impact on product performance – it can also lead to production, sales and cost targets not being met.

Poor control of toweling absorbency can result in problems such as:

Reduced sales and market share
Increased production costs due to the downgrading and reworking of low absorbency tissue
The need to use higher quality and therefore higher cost pulps to achieve the required targets
Excessive use of chemicals in an attempt to improve absorbency but which may actually be working against each other

Recommended Solution

An integrated approach needs to be taken to improve absorbency, ensuring all parts of the manufacturing process are optimized. Hercules offers a number of options that can be used to optimize absorbency:

Kymene® Wet Strength and Hercobond® Dry Strength Technologies can be used to optimize strength. By using the new high performance versions of these products, chemical additions can be minimized allowing absorbency to be improved.

Crepetrol® Creping Technology and Rezosol® Release Technology can be used to optimize the crepe structure of the sheet. The effective use of these technologies can increase the void volume of the sheet resulting in increased absorbency.

Surfax® Rewetting and Wickit® Absorbency Technologies for absorbency improvement can be used to lower the contact angle of water with the tissue, allowing faster penetration into the sheet.

ProSoft® Debonder Technology can be used to improve the absorbent capacity of the base sheet by reducing the hydrogen bonds between the cellulose fibers and increasing both bulk and void space at the same time, the resultant effect being an increase in absorbent capacity.

The use of the correct De-Airex®, Protocol® or Advantage® Foam Control Technologies will also help to improve absorbency. Defoamers are surface-active materials and the use of the incorrect product can reduce the rate at which water can penetrate into the sheet. The correct defoamer will improve this property.

The control of retention and drainage using the correct PerForm® Retention and Drainage Technology will also help with sheet structure maximizing the void volume of the sheet and therefore improving absorbency.