Surfactant and their behaviour in different pulps used to produce highly porous materials.
Loading...
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Chemical Engineering |
Master's thesis
Unless otherwise stated, all rights belong to the author. You may download, display and print this publication for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Authors
Date
2024-08-30
Department
Major/Subject
Chemical and Process Engineering
Mcode
Degree programme
Master's Programme in Chemical, Biochemical and Materials Engineering
Language
en
Pages
54
Series
Abstract
Foam forming process represents a manufacturing technique that facilitates production of environmentally friendly, highly porous, and low-density items using lignocellulosic fibres. In foam forming method, fibre foam is created by mechanically mixing water, surfactant, and fibres to achieve desire amount of air in foam. This thesis work investigates the foaming behaviour of anionic and non-ionic surfactants, and mechanical properties of foamed sheets produced using CTMP, CTMP-Kraft (50/50), and CTM-OCC (50/50) blends composition. Experimental work involved testing nine surfactants with above mentioned three pulps to achieve 50% of air content within 3-4 minutes of foaming time interval. Surfactant dosage, pulp consistency, and foaming time were varied to study their effects on foaming behaviour. Three-point bending test was conducted to evaluate mechanical properties of foam formed sheets. Results indicate that surfactant type, pulp composition, pulp consistency, and processing conditions significantly influence foam production. Anionic surfactants require relatively lower dosage to achieve desire results compared to non-ionic surfactants. CTMP-OCC blends exhibit the highest bending strength due to favourable fibre characteristics and optimal processing condition. The study highlights importance of understanding surfactant-pulp interactions for optimising foam production process. Recommendations for future research include conducting industrial scale testing, controlling environmental factors, and performing detailed fibre surface analysis.Description
Supervisor
Lipponen, JuhaThesis advisor
Jetsu, PetriKeywords
foam forming process, surfactant foaming behavior, CTMP, kraft, OCC, pulps, bending strength