Pre-flocculation of Precipitated Calcium Carbonate Filler by Cationic Starch for Highly Filled Mechanical Grade Paper

Three commercial starches were evaluated in conjunction with colloidal silica and flocculant to retain precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) filler. A unique feature of this study was the fact that the filler was pre-flocculated by a portion of starch (2kg starch/t PCC) and the rest of the starch was added after the flocculant but before the silica. The pulp used was peroxide bleached thermo-mechanical pulp (TMP). A statistical design methodology was employed and empirical process models were constructed based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA) results. The models were then employed to predict the retention and drainage. It was found that the high-charged cationic starch gave the highest retention and best drainage performance. The high-charged cationic starch S880 also resulted in stronger paper, probably because of the larger and stronger flocs produced and its higher affinity with the fiber and fines. Finally, preflocculation was found to provide stronger paper compared with a conventional starch/retention aid addition sequence.