Surface sizing bbasics

Surface sizes help provide a

range of characteristics to
the paper sheet. Peter de
Clerck looks at some of the
fundamentals of surface
sizing and the ways that
careful application can
improve paper qualities.

he function of surface sizing is

quite different from that of internal sizing. Whereas the latter provides water repellancy, surface
sizing is used primarily to keep colloidal solutions such as writing inks
from penetrating the paper surface.
Water repellancy is undesirable for
writing papers or commercial rulings
where migration of the water into the
sheet is the main method of ink
drying, leaving the colloidal pigment
particles on the sized surface. Hence
good internal sizing is no guaranteeof
good writing qualities.
Surface sizing is also necessary for
paper to be used with oil-vehicle
printing inks. The desired effect is to
%lter &t the ink pigments while allowing the oil vehicle to migrate into
the body of the paper. Slow ink
drying, resulting in "set-off' and
smearing, may occur if the migration
is too slow.

Why surface size?

Physical properties: The applied
starch penetrates into the sheet and
increases inter-fibre bonding, resulting
in increased burst an2 tensile
Peter de Clerck (above) is Technical Serstrengths together with a very large
vice Manager with Avebe (Far East) Pte
improvement in fold strength. The inLtd in Singapore
creased strength may allow
the mill to use a cheaper furnish, or to reduce its refining
and so achieve easier
THE INCLINED SIZE PRESS
drainage on the wire and better hydrostability in the sheet,
Rubber
giving fewer cockles and less
curl.
Another effect is the improvement of surface
strength or scuff resistance.
This reduces "fluffing" on
the printing press, a particular
problem with offset litho
printing. Fibre picking on the
after-dryers is reduced. Stiffness is improved and air permeability reduced. A
low-viscous starch solution
may also be applied to
I)

saturate the paper and give lower

opacity, as for example in glassine
papers.
Erasability: This requires surface
resistance to abrasion and ink
penetration with the ability to retain
both a good surface and sizing after
erasure. Good internal and surface
sizing are both needed to provide
good erasability. Surface sizing improves erasability by reducing ink
penetration and increasing abrasion
resistance by promoting inter-fibre
bonding. The ideal condition is a
strong, well-bonded body stock.
Oil resistance: Surface sizing increases the contact angle against oil,
providing a relatively continuous,
non-porous film impervious to oil
penetration.
The oil resistance properties are
important for gloss ink printing, as the
surface absorbency must be carefully
regulated. If too little surface size is
used the paper absorbs too much ink
during printing. This gives a high "ink
demand" and a flat, unattractive print.
Conversely, too much surface size
results in excessive ink holdout and
slow ink drying which causes "setoff' and smudging. A maximum of
1.5-2 g/m2 starch per side is recommended.
Writing qualities: The surfacefilm
"filters out" the pigments in ordinary
writing inks, so preventing "feathering". The size reduces the porosity of
the sheet surface, improves the
smoothness and surface strength, and
cements down any protruding fibres.
The surface properties are also important for printing, as modernrapiddrying inks dry either through
penetration of the vehicle into the
paper or by solvent evaporation. Most
of these inks contain a water-miscible
non-volatile surfactant to promote ink
penetration. Many flexographic inks
are of this type.
Pre-coating: Surface sizing may
be applied to give the controlled surface characteristics required for a

subsequent operation. This is especially useful where the very demanding blade coater is used.
The more uniform surface absorption of surface sized papers helps to
reduce print mottling due to uneven
binder migration in all types of coated
paper. Since binder migration is
reduced to a controlled level, higher
coating solids contents are then possible. Sometimes pigments are added
to the surface size to give a pre-coat
or a lightly pigmented surface.

Starch selection

Sheet factors
The factors affecting pick-up are
the moisture content, internal sizing,
smoothness, permeability and compressability of the sheet. Formation is
also important as any surface application emphasises rather than conceals
any unevenness or other problem.
Entering moisture content: Maximum pick-up occurs at about 10%
sheet moisture. At very low moisture
contents the surface energy of cellulose is reduced and the paper is difficult to wet. Many mills do run size
presses with sheet moistures down to
2%, but this is invariably a sign of
problems further up the paper
machine that result in a poor moisture
profile. Overdrying is very expensive
in energy as the extra heat has to be
forced into the sheet through a dry

The properties of the finished

paper product must be considered
when selecting starch for the size
press.
Linerboard requires a high ringcrush value and hence good stiffness.
This is best achieved by maintaining the starch on the surface
of the sheet. Hence a relatively
high viscous starch is applied to
Absorption (%)
ensure only limited penetration.
For printing paper good surface strength and general
strength are required. A medium
viscous starch ensures greater
starch penetration while main5
10
15
1
2
3
taining surface strength.
Rosin kgn
Moisture of sheet entering size press
The main requirement of envelope paper is good dry
strength. Maximum starch v ariations in wet pick-up and rosin absor
penetration is required for reinforcement of inter-fibre bonding,
so a low viscosity starch is recomcellulose surface, which is an exmended.
tremely good insulator.
It is usually inadvisable to run the
Size press design
ingoing sheet at the moisture level
Size press design has passed
corresponding to maximum size
through various stages. Today the inpick-up because this increases the
clined size press is most common. It
load on the after dryers and results in
gives a more direct sheet run than the
a loss of production. Size presses
horizontal size press and is easier to
usually run at 5-8% sheet moisture,
feed, but maintains most of the
with the size solution being adjusted
benefits. For example, it eliminates
to give the desired pick-up. However,
the problem of dirt and other material
increased concentration increases the
falling from the lead roll into the size
viscosity, so a lower viscosity
press and reduces the tendency for
product may be necessary. Since
wrinkling to occur at the turning roll.
lower-viscosity products have lower
More recently the diameter of the
binding power, a compromise is resize press rolls has been increased to
quired.
improve the equality of pond depth on
Internal sizing is particularly imthe inclined size press and to improve
portant for producers of waste-based
pond stabililty. This was becoming a
paper. Initially, internal sizing causes
problem for small diameter size press
a rapid drop in starch pick-up at the
rolls turning at high speed.
size press, but a minimum pick-up is
A recent innovation is the use of a
quickly reached and maintained as
gate-roll or fountain coater to meter
the level of internal sizing is increased
the size solutions onto the size press
(see graph).
rolls. This eliminates the size pond
This shows the rapid decrease in
and allows very accurate size applicapick-up achieved on adding the first 1
tion. However, problems have ockglton of rosin. Since wastepaper is
curred with insufficient penetration
an extremely variable commodity, it
of the starch solutions so applied.
is often valuable to add a small

amount of rosin to such furnishes to

eliminate or greatly reduce variations
in size press pick-up. Particular care
is required when neutral sizing is
employed as the development of the
size is slower on machine. Often the
pre-dryer temperatureprofile must be
adjusted for these grades. For Cobb60
values before the size press we
generally recommend as follows:
well-sized: c25 - low viscosity
oxidised starch
medium-sized: 25 - medium viscosity oxidised starch
poorly-sized: >25 - high viscosity oxidised starch
Permeability/compressability: An
elastic, porous sheet may act like a
sponge in the size press nip. The more
permeable the sheet, the greater will
be the starch penetration and hence
the pick-up. A free-beaten stock
results in the greatest pick-up, as
does a low size solution viscosity.
Smoothness: The smoothness
of the sheet affects the pick-up at
the size press by trapping and
immobilising a layer of size solution on the paper surface. The
smoother the paper surface the
thinner this boundary layer. The
roughness of the surface also has
a profound effect on the rate of
On
wetting of the paper and on the
depth of penetration. Wetting
and penetration are increased by
using low solution viscosities,
while the boundary layer is increased
with high solution viscosities.

Solution factors
The viscosity, temperature and
concentration of a solution are all interdependent;it is not possible to alter
only one factor and not affect the
others.
For a given starch solution the viscosity may be reduced by lowering
the concentration or raising the
temperature. This will invariably
alter the surface tension of the solution and hence its ability to wet and
penetrate the sheet.
By changing the starch it is possible to attain the same viscosity at the
desired temperature but at a different
concentration. The pick-up of starch
solution (wet-pickup)at the size press
may then be the same, but the dry
pick-up will be different due to the
different solution concentrations.For
size press application, such a narrow
band of viscosities is used that the
relationship of viscosity to degree of
modification may be considered
linear for a given temperature and

concentration.
Three points are significant when
considering a change of concentration to increase pick-up:
Increased concentration will increase the solution viscosity and alter
the level of penetration. A lower-viscous starch may be required to
achieve the penetration necessary to
impart the desired properties to the
sheet.
The increased viscosity may
produce runnability problems so
again a lower-viscous starch may be
needed.
A lower-viscous starch will have
lower binding power.

Another area of concern is the

rope-feed system. This must be
properly designed not only to ensure
easy feeding of the size press, but also
to avoid the problems of size making
up on the ropes.
Speed: Speed directly affects the
time available for absorption in the
nip and also affects the behaviour of
the size press. Increased speed
"pumps" more starch solutioninto the
nip of the size press, increasing the
local pressure and so forcing more
through the nip. This effect is known
as hydrodynamic metering. Hence
speed increases may result in more or
less pick-up, depending on which effect is dominant.
As machine speed is increased
from a very low level, the wet pick-up
decreases with the absorption time.
At a certain point the hydrodynamic

approaches the press nip the

hydrodynamicpressure increases and
some liquid is forced into the pores of
the paper. The sheet is compressed
and air is forced from the sheet. On
exiting the nip the sheet will expand,
taking in liquid like a moist sponge.
Obviously the porosity, permeability
and bulk of the paper and its compressibility are factors governing the
amount of liquid absorbed, as is the
size solution viscosity.
As the web leaves the size press
rolls the liquid film carried through
the nip between the roll and the paper
surface splits, probably by a process
of filamentation and cavitation. Exactly where the split occurs depends
Equipment factors
on the relative surface roughness of
both the paper and the size press rolls,
Nip loadings vary from 5-22
kglcm in the horizontal size press to
as a rougher surface traps more solu4- 13 kglcm in the vertical size press.
tion. The surface roughness is also
The rolls must be accurately
important in determining the
crowned for the operating
thickness of the starch film
pressure used, especially in a
passing through the size
STARCH PICK-UP: PILOT PLANT TRIAL RESULTS
vertical size press, because
press nip.
-HydroTotal
with too little crown the sheet
The whole process of apSheet Absorption dynamic
wet
will be "baggy" in the centre.
plication and metering a size
Viscosity
Speed
term
term
term
pick-up
Increased nip loading should
solution takes place in only
CP
mlmin
glm2
gm2
gm2
g/m2
theoretically reduce pick-up
a fraction of a second.
14
210
17.5
3.5
0.9
21.9
Solution viscosity is imas more starch solution is ex18
183
17.5
2.2
2 .O
21.7
pressed from the paper in
portant
in
the
33
21 0
17.5
0.3
3.6
21.4mid-nip. Iodine staining of
hydrodynamics
of
the
size
76 -190
17.5
0.0
9.0
26.5
paper cross sections have
press nip. The greater the
Source: Howarth & Hoyland, UMIST, UK.
confirmed that at high nip
viscosity the greater is the
pressure generated in the
loadings greater penetration
size pond by the rotating
of the starch occurs even
though the overall pick-up is
rolls. At high speeds the
pressure generated may be
reduced. This is somewhat
metering effect becomes the
enough to eject the entire contents of
academic as it is not usual to vary the
dominant factor and then pick-up inthe nip. This is usually preceded by
nip loading during normal operation.
creases with speed. Hence the wet
"jumping" of the size pond. Larger
Roll hardness and diameter are not
pick-up curve passes through a minirolls are used on high speed size presreadily changed and should be conmum. The machine speed at which
sidered in the initial installation of the
ses mainly because their larger
this minimum occurs depends on
size press.
diameters do not "close" the nip so
many factors, including the starch
Pond depth is important as it
rapidly, resulting in a more gradual
viscosity and type of paper.
pressure build-up and hence a more
governs the contact time and hence
At low speed, where absorption is
stable size pond.
the time available for absorption to
the main method of wet pick-up, a
occur. Pick-up increases with pond
lower viscosity solution gives a
In conclusion
depth and the effect is more noticehigher wet pick-up. At higher speeds
It should be noted that in all cases
able on slower machines. Pond depth
a higher solution viscosity results in a
where the absorbency factor is not
may only be attended by altering the
thicker film being metered through
physically limited by low sheet
end dams and is limited by the size
the nip, giving a greater wet pick-up.
weight, the sheet substance has no
press configuration and roll diameter.
Mechanism of size pick-up: On
effect on size press wet pick-up for a
Roll sugaces should be smooth
entering the size pond there is a slight
given set of sheet characteristics and
and in good condition, being
delay before the sheet surface is
a given size press operating regime.
reground as necessary. Roll smoothwetted. Absorption then commences.
ness will affect the position of film
There are many factors influencThe amount absorbed depends on the
splitting on the emerging paper web.
ing the performance of the size press,
time available (ie pond depth and
a significant number of which are
Sheet tension is important, as unmachine speed), the solution visfixed by equipment factors or operaeven tension on the sheet leaving the
cosity, the paper type, porosity and
tional necessity. For the mill, the bigsize press will rekult in uneven migradegree of internal sizing. The wetting
gest benefits may be obtained by
tion of the starch into the paper.
time of the paper surface acts to
paying attention to the characteristics
Starch feed is extremely impordecrease the time available for abof the ingoing web and to the quality
tant. Failure to ensure sufficient feed
sorption and is a function of surface
pipes across the width of the size
and properties of a properly selected
smoothness and dryness of the sheet.
size press solution.
press will result in uneven pick-up.
Within the size pond, as the web
p
.
-