PAPER CHEMISTRY LABORATORY, INC. December Newsletter 2003
THE ACADEMIC CHEMISTRY DISCONNECT
The following piece is appearing in the December issue of Pulp and Paper Magazine, in slightly edited form, with the author's picture.
John Penniman
INTRODUCTION
The paper machine performs at least 6 complex, disparate physical functions. Additionally, dry end sensors connect to a process control computer. It is often integrated with a pulp mill to increase cost efficiency, accompanied by an escalation in complexity.
Beginning in the recent mid-century, suppliers of water treatment chemicals learned that they could improve retention and drainage on the wet end with chemical “additives”. This was followed by the rapid evolution of wet end chemistry, initiated by many new suppliers of “process additives” and “functional chemical additives.”
The Players
Paper machine management already had a full plate, and left all the chemistry initiatives to the supplier. Paper machinery makers ducked the subject entirely and delivered machines with little or no provision for either adding chemicals or mixing them thoroughly with the stock.
Academia is of two minds. They do research and publish papers that address scientific subjects increasingly unrelated to papermaking. On the other hand, they accept and embrace real world papermaking chemistry technologies, with an uncritical lack of regard for fundamental scientific merit.
Adrift
The chemical supplier is thereby liberated from critical academic over-sight. Paper machine management is basically satisfied if the finished product remains within wide quality and cost limits, but is produced without upsets.
The chemical supplier is home free, constrained by only two objectives. He has to make a profit doing business, and simultaneously keep it from being stolen by a competitor. Each mill becomes a profit center, and personal relationships are developed to enhance customer loyalty. All papermakers defend the free meals, football tickets and morning doughnuts as having inconsequential influence.
The Wrong Agenda
Unfortunately, optimizing wet end chemistry is not part of any chemical supplier’s agenda. Their key issue is stabilizing the process, so the papermaker will not be perturbed by upsets that could cause a switch in suppliers.
Beginning in the mid-nineties, chemical suppliers were forced by Paper Mill Purchasing to reduce expenses. A typical action was to terminate employment for the highest paid employees outside of top management. Some magnificently talented and accomplished people were severed from long-standing employment.
In consequence, experienced, senior technologists are now available to deliver chemicals at a cost approaching half the price charged by a conventional chemical supplier, absent the dedicated technical service and the doughnuts. Fortunately, wet end sensor technology, such as the On-Line Zeta Data System, has evolved since the 80’s to become reliable and rugged. Alas, no more doughnuts.
Chemistry OPTIMIZATION vs Stabilization
Because paper chemistry optimization…as opposed to stabilization…is an intermolecular process, thoroughness of mixing is required. The 7th Generation On-Line Zeta Data provides a ‘Six Sigma’ measure of stock homogeneity, a necessary pre-requisite to charge neutralization. It also provides a precise measure of zeta potential, and is self-cleaning without human intervention during the 5-6 week period in between shut-downs for routine maintenance.
The 7th Generation On-Line Zeta Data enables balanced feed rates of the microparticulate components, the cationic chemical and the anionic microparticle, to optimize drainage. This enables use of increased amounts of filler and recycled fiber, minimizing materials cost.
Multiple Dysfunctions
To summarize the current industry disconnects: while the academic stays in his Ivory Tower, the machinery manufacturer ships dysfunctional machines that are incapable of attaining headbox homogeneity, the chemical supplier places his faith in doughnuts and limits his ambition to stabilization, and the papermaker wants everybody to stop bothering him because he already has plenty of problems.
Wet end optimization is pre-requisite to maximizing quality, productivity and cost efficiency. The dry end has been under computer control for decades. Incredibly, it has never been seriously tried on the wet end.
Who Moved My Cheese?
Who put the paper industry on Life Support? Management incompetence is the clear and obvious answer. The wrong strategies led to missions so badly conceived that perfect execution could not redeem them.
Who supplied the defective premises that led to flawed strategies? In the final analysis, it is the professors who are responsible for crippling the paper manufacturing industry. Many institutions, including IPST in recent years, have not appointed senior paper chemistry professors. PAPRICAN has largely discontinued its close relationship with McGill University.
Other examples: When one of the Scandinavian Star Professors was asked to justify the cationic demand approach to optimizing wet end chemistry, he responded. “Everyone is partly right.” When the other Star was asked to explain the lack of leadership, he replied that his objective was publication in the best scientific journals. The objective of the brightest American Star was attracting funding support for graduate students. He is obviously successful, by his standards, because he has a dozen.
A new and truly professional academia is urgently required.