A proposal has been made for a new Provisional Method: "Preparation of sheets for ERIC determination (sheet mould method with filtrate paper)."

The scope of the method is: This method provides a means for producing high retention, low grammage sheets of recycled fiber pulp for effective residual ink concentration (ERIC) determination according to T 567, as originally proposed in two reference works. The opacity of the prepared sheets remains below 97.0%, which enables the measurement of the scattering coefficient that is utilized in ERIC measurement. ERIC measurement is dependent on the distribution of ink and other light scattering particles. Hence, even subtle changes in the fines or fillers content in recycled pulp can have a significant impact on its near-infrared light scattering. Similarly the test media must retain as much fines and fillers as possible to represent the original pulp during ERIC measurement. Thus, fines, fillers, and their retention on the test sheet have a profound effect on the ERIC value observed. For this reason, the measurement of pulp scattering has been recommended during ERIC determination. This takes into account the sum effect of all light scattering material and hence the changes in pulp properties are taken into consideration when studying ink concentration.

A Standard-Specific Interest Group (SSIG) must be formed for this proposal. Any individuals who are interested in this Standard may join the SSIG to receive ballots when this method is ready for vote. If you would like to join the SSIG for this project, please notify the Standards Department at standards@tappi.org or by fax at +1-770-446-6947 no later than November 22, 2010.