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Company Announcement
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IPS Employee E-mail Account Name ChangeWe would like to announce that we have recently changed our e-mail address to user@ipstesting.com. Employees will still receive e-mail through user@integratedpaperserivce.com accounts, but we will eventually be closing these in the future. Make sure to add any new IPS employee addresses with @ipstesting.com to your address book to ensure proper e-mail delivery. If you have any questions or concerns with this change, please e-mail customerservice@ipstesting.com. We appreciate your patience as this may take some time to get used to.
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Pulping Out a PFI Mill Calibration
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 During the months of June and July, we hired a technician from Lorentzen & Wettre to perform a recalibration and grind on our PFI mill --- an instrument that we use for pulp testing.
The recalibration and grind set our PFI Mill to industry recognized standards: "The Original PFI Mill Reference Pulp" and TAPPI T248 "Laboratory Beating of Pulp Standards."
Not only has the grind re-calibrated our PFI Mill, it allowed us to more accurately compare sample pulps to our verified standard reference pulp, a bleached West Coast Softwood Kraft pulp.
Having an industry-standard calibrated PFI mill will allow us to provide reproducible pulp tests that give the same results whether the test be performed the next day or in six months. This process also ensures that the data provided by our lab will be comparable to data provided by any in-house or outsourced lab with a calibrated PFI mill.
The process for grinding and recalibration included several steps, including: initial grinding using silicon carbide powder No. 280, filing rough edges that were found on the roll bars with a Carborundum stone, and polishing using a softwood pulp and silicon carbide powder. The beating surfaces were then stabilized and "The Original PFI Mill Reference Pulp" was run.
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Test Flicks: Behind the Scenes at IPS
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Watch a test method be performed by one of our Testing Experts!
PFI Mill Test View this test >>
Test Methods:
TAPPI T205 Forming Handsheets for Physical Pulp Tests
Explanation of Test Method:
We start with 24 oven dry grams of pulp. The pulp is soaked for at least four hours in distilled water and then is disintegrated and dewatered using a Buchner funnel. Next, the pulp is evenly distributed and packed around the housing of the PFI mill, and the roll is lowered into the housing. With the cover fastened tightly, the PFI mill is set to run for a specified number of revolutions.The pulp is removed from the housing, cleared in the disintegrator, and ready for freeness testing and to make handsheets.
Common Uses:
This method is often used to simulate the commercial refining process. Professionals use this data to see how their pulp will perform in a mill setting. Another way to use this data is in market pulp evaluations. A purchaser of pulp may want to compare their current pulp with another on the market, possibly to make process or product improvements or to purchase a cheaper yet comparable pulp.
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Explore Our Experts: Q & A
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Meet our staff! This month's featured Testing Expert is Paula Johnson. She has been working at IPS for almost seven years years and was previously employed for 10 years at Georgia Pacific's Neenah Technical Center's pulp laboratory. Paula holds an
Associate's Degree in Pulp and Paper Chemistry from Fox
Valley Technical
College and a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial
Management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Q:
What is your job title and position at IPS?
A:My job title is Laboratory
Specialist. I usually share my time at IPS between the pulp lab and paper testing lab.
Q: What
are your testing specialties or areas of interest?
A: Most of my experience is in
the wet end or pulp area. I have a lot
of practice running PFI mill pulp curves for market pulp analysis and handsheet making. Since working at IPS, I have
also learned many of the physical tests ranging from abrasion to Z-Direction Tensile (ZDT).
Q: What
do your daily responsibilities entail?
A:Most of my day is spent performing
tests for our customers. This could
include small or large jobs, pulp jobs or paper testing jobs. My biggest responsibility is customer
satisfaction with efficient and accurate results in a report that is
professional and concise.
Q: What
is your favorite test to run?
A:I like to run a variety of
tests to keep things interesting. I like
when we have large handsheet jobs in, and I can actually see the progress I am
making through the job.
Have a question for Paula? E-mail her today!
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Thank you again for being a valued partner to IPS. If you have any questions or are looking for testing solutions, please contact us. We are happy to help! If you know anyone in your network that may be interested in receiving this information,
feel free to share the IPS E-newsletter with them.
Best regards,
Bruce Shafer
IPS Testing Experts
www.ipstesting.com
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