Effect of Fatty Acid and Non-ionic Surfactant on the Deinkability of Mixed Recovered Paper

Abstract

Recovered paper has been widely used as a main raw material of papermaking in Korea. Recycling of recovered paper helps to reduce production cost and preserve an environment. To recycle recovered paper efficiently, de-inking is a key process in recycling mills. De-inking process would be affected by various influencing factors such as the type of de-inking agent, mixed ratio of recovered paper, season, and process conditions. In this study, fatty acid and nonionic surfactant were used as the de-inking agent in froth-flotation process of mixed recovered paper. De-inking properties of mixed recovered paper were investigated according to the addition level of each chemical. Nonionic surfactant had a small effect on de-inking efficiency of mixed recovered paper due to decreased reject. As the additional level of fatty acid increases, fragmented ink particles increased and then optical properties of recycled paper decreased because fragmented ink particles adsorbed onto the fiber surface.