Asia Paper Manufacturing uses OptiSizer Hard to improve board strength

Recycle, recycle, recycle. It is easy to say but a bit harder to execute when it comes to board making; recycled fibers lose their quality and strength when recycled repeatedly. That was the case at Sihwa Mill of Asia Paper Manufacturing. The mill needed to lower the raw material costs without losing the strength values of their container and gypsum board grades.

Contactless starch application to replace lost strength

To improve strength properties, Asia Paper decided to invest in a new sizer. However, more starch doesn’t directly mean more strength. Most of the starch remain ineffective when positioned wrongly in the paper. That means that by applying more starch, you might just end up wetting the sheet and wasting the starch, and thus strength improvement potential.

The key was to increase nip load with Valmet’s OptiSizer Hard. The new sizer was successfully started up in 2021 and the results are promising. “Machine directional tensile strength of back liner has increased by about 11%. Compressive strength of reinforced corrugated board has increased by about 5%. In the production of gypsum board, we do not use a separate calender. Instead, the hard nip sizer delivers similar results: smoothness has increased by 15%.”, summarizes Chang-Ho Lee, Mill Manager.

Because the size application is contactless, recirculated starch is never in contact with recycled fiber. The customer has found it very important. When asked if they have had any issues with the stickies etc. from OCC, the answer is short and simple: “None.”

Chang-Ho Lee, Mill Manager at Asia Paper Sihwa mill

Porosity is an important property in the production of gypsum board. If the board is not porous enough, water in gypsum will not be able to exit in the following production phases. According to the customer porosity values are similar before and after starch application. Size application amount is easy to control, and the porosity values do not decrease at the current application amount.

Targets reached

Asia Paper Manufacturing is satisfied with the overall operation of OptiSizer Hard supplied by Valmet. The operation is continuously stable without any trouble. The customer is also very satisfied with the automation control of the sizing process including the cooking facility, making the operation easy to use. They would definitely invest again in OptiSizer Hard technology.

TEXT: Marika Matila & Pauliina Purola  Photos: Hyun-Hee Kang