Rochester Institute of Technology RIT Scholar Works Theses 11-1-1991 The Effects of deinking on the coating compounds used on carbonless business forms Brooke Merrill Tinney Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/theses Recommended Citation Tinney, Brooke Merrill, "The Effects of deinking on the coating compounds used on carbonless business forms" (1991). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by RIT Scholar Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of RIT Scholar Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. School ofPrinting Management and Sciences Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, New York Certificate of Approval Master's Thesis This is to certify that the Master's Thesis of Brooke Merrill Tinney With a major in Printing Technology has been approved by the Thesis Committee as satisfactory for the thesis requirement for the Master of Science degree at the convocation of Thesis Committee: Joseph E. Brown Thesis Advisor Andreas Lenger Research Advi$or Joseph L. Noga Graduate Program Coordinator George H. Ryan Director or Designate The Effects of Deinking on the Coating Compounds Used on Carbonless Business Forms by Brooke Merrill Tinney A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the School of Printing Management and Sciences in the College of Graphic Arts and Photography of the Rochester Institute of Technology November 1991 Thesis Advisor: Professor Joseph E. Brown Research Advisor: Dr. Andreas Langner Title of Thesis: The Effects of Deinking on the Coating Compounds Used on Carbonless Business Forms I, Brooke Merrill Tinney, hereby grant permission to the Wallace Memorial Library of R.I.T. to reproduce my thesis in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for commercial use or profit. Name and Date: Acknowledgments Special appreciation and thanks to the following people: Professor Joseph Brown for his enthusiasm and support; Thomas Oswald for his technical advise; Inna Kugel for her help with the statistical analysis; Rachel Walsh for her assistance in the chemistry lab; Sandra Pearl for her positive energy; and Paul King for his unfaltering moral support. Most importandy, my deepest gratitude goes to Dr. Andreas Langner, for his infinite patience and scientific expertise. Without his help this thesis would not have been completed. Table of Contents List of Tables iii List of Figures iv List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Nomenclature v Abstract vi Chapter One: Introduction 1 Objective 1 The Deinking Process 1 Carbonless Forms 1 Recycling 2 The Relevance of This Research 3 Who Will Benefit From This Research 3 Notes 5 Chapter Two: Theoretical Basis 6 Carbonless Forms 6 The Deinking Process 6 High Performance Liquid Chromatograph 7 Notes 8 Chapter Three: Review of the Literature 9 Notes 11 Chapter Four: Statement of the Problem 12 Purpose 12 Hypotheses 12 Limitations 13 Delimitations 13 Chapter Five: Methodology 14 Equipment 16 Procedure 17 Chemical Analysis 17 Statistical Analysis 18 Chapter Six: Analysis 19 Chapter Seven: Conclusions and Recommendations for Further Research 21 Hypotheses Restated 2 1 Conclusions 21 Recommendations For Further Research 2 3 Bibliography 25 Appendix A 27 Appendix B 32 Appendix C 36 i i List of Tables Table 1: Concentration of Coating Compounds Per 10 Grams of Cellulose 20 Table 2: Relative Retention of Coating Compounds 20 Table 3: Student's t-statistic 21 Table 4: Relative Retention of Coating Compounds 22 Table 5: Confidence Intervals at a 90% Confidence Level 23 Table Al: HPLC Signals for Resin and Oil 28 Table A2: Weight of Handsheets 29 Table A3: Cellulose Recovery and Percent Efficiency 29 Table A4: Determining Coating Compound Weights 30 Table A5: Concentrations of Coating Compounds 31 1 1 1 List of Figures Form 6 Figure 1: Section View of a Three-Part Carbonless Figure 2: Chart of Samples, Control Group, and 15 Procedural Variables .16 Figure 3: Illustration of the Deinking Process. .18 Figure 4: Control Group and t-test Comparisons. List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Nomenclature BL: Bleach and Deinking Chemicals BS: Base Stock CB: Coated back carbonless form CF: Coated front carbonless form CFB: Coated front and back carbonless form CH: Deinking Chemicals Coating Compounds: CB coating compounds, dye precursor and oil, and CF resin coating compound Deinking Chemicals: Surfactant and Caustic Soda Furnish: Basic ingredients of pulp, can be either virgin or recycled material, fillers, and other additives HPLC: High Performance Liquid Chromatography RP: Repulp STD: Standard Deviation v Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine what effects different deinking processes have on the coating compounds used on carbonless forms. Three deinking processes were studied: repulping without deinking chemicals or bleach, deinking using deinking chemicals only, and deinking using both deinking chemicals and bleach. None of the processes were successful at completely removing the oil, which is located in the microcapsules, or the resin, which is used to coat the coated-front portion (CF) of the carbonless form. Of the three deinking processes studied, simple repulping was most effective at eliminating the resin used in the coatings, while the process which included deinking chemicals plus bleach, was most effective at eliminating the oil. Chapter One Introduction Objective The purpose of this study was to determine what effects the deinking process has on the coating compounds used on the printed CFB (coated front and back) portion of a carbonless form. A chemical analysis of handsheets formed from the deinked pulp will reveal whether the coating compounds are dispersed and washed out or remain in the handsheet. The Deinking Process Deinking is a step in the recycling process where ink and other nonfiberous materials, such as staples and adhesives, are removed from wastepaper. Deinked pulp can be used to make paper products of varying grades, such as printing and writing, newsprint, and tissue. The quality of the new products, made from secondary fibers, depends upon the quality of the original waste paper and the effectiveness of the deinking process. In some instances a percentage of virgin pulp or other additives, such as clay, CaC03, and sizing, are mixed with the secondary fibers to help create desired characteristics in the recycled paper. Carbonless Forms A typical three-part carbonless form contains three sheets of chemically coated paper. When the top sheet is written or typed upon the image is physically transferred to the sheets below via a chemical reaction which forms a dark dye. (For more specific information about the coating compounds see Chapter 2: Theoretical Basis). Recycling The demand for quality recycled paper is growing due to rapidly diminishing landfill space, government legislation, increased public awareness of environmental issues, and corporate response to this new awareness. It is estimated by waste management experts that the landfill will 1990's.1 remaining space be filled to capacity by the early 45 percent of public waste is paper and approximately 65 percent of office waste is paper, of which a portion is discarded carbonless forms.2 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's June 1988 guidelines set forth requirements that federal, state, and local government agencies are required by law to purchase recycled paper whenever possible.3 Consumers have not only begun to request more environmentally friendly products, but demand that the companies they buy from adopt more conscientious business practices. John J. Buckley, Jr., President of the National Paper Trade Association stated, "Merchants are finding the biggest demand for recycled printing and writing paper right now is in big business [and] the government contract business."4 "Producing paper from recycled fibers requires 64 percent less energy than producing fibers."5 paper from virgin Deinked pulp can save on the processing and chemicals required to extract fibers from their original sources. Recycling mills use about 75 percent less bleach than conventional mills because wastepaper fibers require less chemical bleaching, having already been whitened during their original processing.6 Recycling not only conserves energy but fewer trees must be harvested. "It takes 17 trees to produce one ton of virgin paper."7 "Using deinked fiber instead of market pulp at a usage level of 200 tpd [tons per day] would result in savings of $350/ton or $70,000/day. This $24.5-million annual savings, with a 40% tax rate, would have a simple payout of two years on a $30-million deinking facility."8 Despite these savings, recycled grades currently cost about 10 percent more counterparts."9 than their virgin fiber Until the price of recycled paper becomes more competitive, individuals and businesses will continue to buy virgin paper. Research shows that businesses would be willing to pay more for recycled paper but they would not paper used for or shareholder be willing to sacrifice quality in marketing communications.10 An American Paper Institute (API) capacity survey revealed that in 1987, about 351,000 tons of high-grade deinking stock were used in printing/writing and related predicted used in In grades, and 400,000 tons were to be 1990. addition about 1.014 1987.11 million tons of pulp substitutes were used in printing /writing papers in The growing demand for quality recycled paper, especially in printing and writing grades, indicates that research into the deinkability of high quality fiber sources, such as carbonless business forms, is important to the future success of recycling efforts. The Relevance of This Research forms' This research will help to either confirm or dispel the beliefs about carbonless recyclability. At present, many people still believe that carbonless forms are not recyclable, or not easily recycled, because the coating compounds cause problems during the deinking process. As a result, carbonless form wastepaper is less expensive than other waste paper even though the quality of the carbonless paper fibers is high.