Problem Summary

The closing up of a mill's water system, the increased use of recycled furnish, and the use of synthetic papermaking additives often result in increased contaminant loading in the papermaking system.  As contaminant loading levels in the press section increase, so does the potential for wet strength additives to interact and combine with other organic and inorganic matter.  The resulting mix of wet strength and insoluble material is more prone to deposit on and fill wet felts than the individual components.  Wet felt filling can lead to any number of problems, including poor sheet quality, lost production, unscheduled shutdowns, and increased operating costs.  Additionally, the frequent use of high doses of expensive chemicals to clean deposits from wet felts can add to a mill's operating cost while simultaneously negatively impacting regulatory and environmental compliance.

Recommended Solution

Zenix® Felt Passivation Technology is a new, environmentally-friendly product that prevents wet felt filling in situations where a mill's closed water system and use of recycled furnish and wet strength result in increased contaminant loading in the press section.  This patented technology, which is applied continuously to wet felts, employs polymeric chemistry to passivate and alter the surface charge characteristics of both the felt and the contaminants and surfactant chemistry to emulsify and stabilize recycled fiber contaminants and other synthetic additives in the system.  Both the polymeric chemistry and surfactant chemistry utilize stabilization to maintain hydrophobic particles in a colloidal or dispersed state.  The combination of mechanisms employed by both chemistries ultimately prevents contaminants from agglomerating into larger particles and attaching to paper machine felts.

Key benefits recorded from practical applications of Zenix® Felt Passivation Technology include:

Reduced felt compaction and wear
Increased felt life
Improved moisture profile
Reduced downtime for felt cleaning
Reduced use of solvent/caustic/hypochlorite cleaners for batch washing
Improved machine efficiency
Improved sheet quality