Archroma, Switzerland, a global provider of color and specialty chemicals, has launched Cartaspers® PLH liquid, a single-product breakthrough enabling easy and highly-effective control of pitch and stickies deposition, especially in soft water pulp and papermaking environments. Pulp mill tests already report easier application, better performance, and significant cost savings compared with alternative deposit control systems.

Pitch, occurring from natural resins in virgin pulp, and stickies in recycled paper fibers, pose a major challenge to pulp and paper producers because of their negative influence on papermaking productivity and paper quality. Packaging and tissues machines lose the equivalent of 4% of their output per day due to machine contamination and sheet breaks caused by deposits. They contribute to holes in the sheet, specks and printability issues, in addition to causing machine downtime and cleaning time.

New Cartaspers PLH is an anionic pale yellow, low viscosity liquid that is very effective in attracting non-polar (hydrophobic) substances like stickies and natural pitch. It helps to passivate contamination and prevent agglomeration and deposition, without any impact on cellulosic material.

The organic additive performs across all water hardness levels and complies with food contact regulations such as BfR and FDA. Its advanced performance, especially in soft water environments, leads to significant reduction in downtime and cleaning time that can enable higher yield during the process, plus there is reduced need for cleaning agents.

In addition, Cartaspers PLH liquid provides specific performance and productivity advantages over alternative deposit control systems in soft water environments.

The one-product, organic additive eliminates the need for an inorganic absorbent and dispersant to control pitch in the pulping sector, therefore contributing to a reduction in cost and complexity. 

Compared with talc powder, the liquid is easier to handle as well as to disperse, and it has consistent quality. Importantly, Cartaspers PLH does not cause scale deposits in evaporators or contribute to ash content in finished pulp, which reduces pulp quality.

Cartaspers PLH liquid is suitable for use with brown stock and can be applied throughout the pulping process, as a washing aid or to passivate remaining particles in finished pulp.

Cartaspers PLH liquid has no foaming potential, which means that washing efficiency is maintained.

Furthermore, the package of performance benefits offered by Cartaspers PLH creates possibilities to use a higher ratio of recycled paper in paper machine systems.

Customers who have tested Cartaspers PLH liquid at two different pulping mills—one in Europe, one in Latin America—reported improvements in application, better performance in soft water, and significant cost savings as a result of using one instead of three deposit control products.

Andy Bell, Product Manager Barrier, Coatings and Deposit Control, said that "as the recycling of paper increases during the next five years, so will the need for effective, cost-efficient deposit control across the industry. We are pleased to lead the way with this innovative solution, particularly targeted at soft water environments."

More information is available online.