Fibre Value 2012 seminar recording available

Fibre Value 2012 seminar on 17.04.2012 collected over 130 participants, 50 participants in VTT’s auditorium in Espoo and over 80 viewers over the internet from all over the world to learn and discuss about the latest breakthroughs in packaging, printed media and biomaterials.

The recording of the seminar / webinar can be viewed here.

On the webinar page you can navigate between the presentations by clicking on the title of a presentation in the programme.

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VTT’s process chemistry pilots have on open house in September 2012

VTT offers trial services for industry from laboratories to pilot scale. Process chemistry pilots are equipped according to the needs of food-, chemical- and process industry. VTT organizes Customer days in September, when you can get acquainted with our pilot facilities, equipment and personnel. There will be trial and device demonstrations and possibility to test own materials. In addition, the device suppliers are available for giving detailed information about the process equipment.

The invitation and the programme to the Pilot event will soon be published in VTT’s event website.

Further information:

Mika Härkönen, mika.harkonen@vtt.fi

Pertti Tiitola, pertti.tiitola@vtt.fi

 

Environment for producing curtain coated samples with small chemical amounts

In curtain coating a liquid coating colour curtain falls freely before impinging onto a moving paper web. Multiple coating layers can be coated simultaneously. VTT’s curtain stability tester, CurCo, is meant for testing runnability and stability of coating colours prior to pilot trials. CurCo offers an opportunity to test new materials and to determine the chemical compatibility of different coating layers in small scale. It is also possible to assemble this curtain coating unit into VTT’s Sutco pilot coating line in order to produce coated paper samples.

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Bio-based latexes for paper coating applications

The paper/board manufacturers target to replace the current oil-based products. Earlier VTT has developed starch and later hemicellulose based dispersions for paper coating applications. Now VTT has proven competence to polymerize novel latexes and test their performance in coating application. The emulsion polymerizations had two aims: to produce SB-type products for the coating application in which the styrene monomer is replaced with alternative monomers.

It was demonstrated how methylstyrene can replace styrene in preparing styrene-butadiene type latexes and to compare the properties of the paper coating of the prepared methylstyrene-butadiene emulsion with the commercial styrene-butadiene latex reference sample. The measured paper properties for uncalandered and calandered coated samples, methylstyrene proved to be adequate for replacing the oil based styrene in commercial reference SB latexes. Coating colours containing methylstyrene seem to have an improved water retention compared to the reference styrene-butadiene latex coating colour and the laboratory prepared styrene-butadiene coating colour.

Detailed information on the latest development of bio-based latexes for paper coating applications can be downloaded at http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/researchhighlights/2012/R2.pdf

For more information: please contact: Antero Laitinen

 

SUNPAP conference on 19-20th of June, 2012 in Milan, Italy.

SUNPAP, Scale-Up Nano Particles in Modern Papermaking is a large-scale integrating project in the European Community’s 7th Framework Programme under the NMP programme. It is coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), Finland. The ultimate goal of SUNPAP project is to create new fibre-based paper and packaging products, which can be recycled and will further reduce landfill waste.

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Novel materials build completely bio-based and biodegradable packaging

The packaging demonstrators made in VTT’s Industrial Biomaterial program proved that making completely bio-based and biodegradable packaging from renewable sources is possible. Now we challenge industry to implement such products in their production. One of the packaging demonstrators is a candy bag having a circle translucent window prepared using translucent paper technique. Another bio-based packaging demonstrator is a sandwich package with a transparent window made from hemicellulose-based film.

Hemicelluloses such as xylans or glucomannans existing in high amounts in woods and agricultural plants are potential raw materials for different kind of novel materials and applications. The highly transparent and flexible films prepared from modified hemicelluloses without any additives (softeners etc.) have had mechanical properties, for example, tensile strengths up to 44 MPa, elongation at break 5-22 %, Young’s modulus 500-1000 MPa, and reasonable barrier properties: water vapour permeability (5-10 g,mm/kPa,m2,d) and oxygen permeability (12-30 cm3, m/kPa,m2d). The properties are mainly dependent on modifications (type of substituent(s), degree of substitution etc.) but also on the amounts and type of additives used.

For further information, please read the entire article, Packaging demonstrators, by Vesa Kunnari available at http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/researchhighlights/2012/R2.pdf.

For more information, please contact: Vesa Kunnari