Adhesive detection in waste paper

[ndice001]

Hi,
I am working for a pulp and paper company using waste paper as raw material. In this raw material, the presence of envelops, stickers, "Post-It", etc. are very detrimental for the processing of this raw material. I am looking for a method to get a crude evaluation of the quantity of paper having adhesive on it in a paper bale. A bale represent approximately 1 ton of paper which can contain 0 to 100% paper having adhesive on it. Is somebody knows about technologies or companies specialized in the detection and monitoring of adhesive? Something like online adhesive monitoring for quality control in automated process producing envelops, stickies, "Post-It", etc.
Thanks you for your help,
Nicolas

 

[unclesyd]

You question is unanswerable in one or two lines. There are so many different chemistry's and compositions being used a specific test may not be available. I believe that anyone who has a test or process for removal of adhesives is going to hold it tight the same a any ink removal process.
I know one process that uses a steam autoclave to remove on specific adhesive from paper, but I have no idea what the adhesive is. With help of a chemist you might be able to do and extraction with a pressure cooker and analyse the mother liquor.

I don't know if someone like the Forest Products Lab would have any information on the subject. You might also check the papers from the cellulose to alcohol processes.

I would contact several adhesive makers and ask what their best seller is and is there any specific test you can run. Capital has a very good cross section of adhesive, though not all types.

http://www.capitaladhesives.com/ind...ns/water-based-compositions#polyvinylacetates

 

[unclesyd]

Clipped my response short.
What specific adhesive gives you the most trouble?

If this known or can be determined you could specifically target it in an extraction process either for the lab or in a process line.

 

[ndice001]

Hi unclesyd,
Acrylate type of adhesives is giving us most of our troubles. I am not looking for a process to remove adhesive in the pulp line process. I am looking a way to do a quality control of the incoming waste paper entering the mill. I can't do extraction, it is too time consuming and the quantity of paper needed to be representative of the bale is too large. I was thinking of something like a camera system (FTIR, RAMAM, ...) or other spectroscopic method which are fast, non destructive and easy to use by operators. This is why I was asking about online quality control techniques used by industries applying adhesive I could use or start from for my application.
We receive hundreds of bale per day which are processed quickly. It is not realistic to think to have a technician doing laboratory testing on each bale.
Thanks a lot for your help, it is very appreciated,
Nicolas