Air-laid paper is a textile-like material categorized as a

nonwoven fabric Nonwoven fabric or non-woven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fibre (short) and long fibres (continuous long), bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The term is used in the textile manufacturing in ...

made from

fluff pulp Fluff pulp (also called comminution pulp or fluffy pulp) is a type of chemical pulp made from long fibre softwoods. Important parameters for fluff pulp are bulk and water absorbency. History Fluff pulp was first developed for use in disposable san ...

Properties

Compared with normal wet-laid

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

and tissue, air-laid paper is very bulky, porous and soft. It has good water absorption properties and is much stronger compared with normal tissue. Main characteristics are: * Soft, does not scratch. * Non-linting, no dust, no static. * Strong, even when wet, can be rinsed and reused. * Clean, hygienic, can be sterilized. * Textile-like surface and drape. * Can be

dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...

printed Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and Printmaking, images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabon ...

, embossed, coated and made solvent resistant.

Manufacture

Unlike the normal papermaking process, air-laid paper does not use water as the carrying medium for the fibre. Fibres are carried and formed to the structure of paper by air. The air-laid structure is

isotropic In physics and geometry, isotropy () is uniformity in all orientations. Precise definitions depend on the subject area. Exceptions, or inequalities, are frequently indicated by the prefix ' or ', hence '' anisotropy''. ''Anisotropy'' is also ...

. The raw material is long fibered softwood fluff pulp in roll form. The pulp are defibrized in a

hammermill A hammer mill is a mill whose purpose is to shred or crush aggregate material into smaller pieces by the repeated blows of small hammers. These machines have numerous industrial applications, including: * Ethanol plants (grains) * A farm machi ...

. Defibration is the process of freeing the fibres from each other before entering the papermachine. Important parameters for dry defibration are shredding energy and

knot A knot is an intentional complication in Rope, cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including List of hitch knots, hitches, List of bend knots, bends, List of loop knots, loop knots, ...

content. Normally an air-laid paper consists of about 85% fibre. A binder must be applied as a spray or foam. Alternatively, additional fibres or powders can be added to the pulp which can then be activated and cured by heat.

History

The Danish inventor Karl Krøyer is considered to be the first who commercialized air-formed paper in the early 1980s. Others developed different processes independently at about the same time. A Finnish company United Paper Mills(now UPM-Kymmene Oyj) was one of the companies developing airlaid technology in the 1980s. In the 1980s UPM formed a new company called Walkisoft Oy and also built an airlaid factory to Kotka Finland which started in 1985. Walkisoft built several plants around the world (including the world's largest airlaid-factory in Mt Holly, NC, USA) in the following 14 years before being sold to Buckeye Technologies Inc. The Walkisoft engineering team, which was responsible for the engineering and R&D of the airlaid machines, became known as Buckeye Engineering

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and then, from 2002, a
Anpap Oy
a private owned Finnish company.

Applications

* Disposable

diapers A diaper (, North American English) or a nappy (British English, Australian English, Hiberno-English) is a type of underwear that allows the wearer to urinate or defecate without using a toilet, by absorbing or containing waste products to ...

as part of the inner absorbent *

Feminine hygiene Feminine hygiene products are personal care products used for women's hygiene during menstruation, vaginal discharge, or other bodily functions related to the vulva and vagina. Products that are used during menstruation may also be called menstru ...

* Industrial wipes *

Personal care products Personal care products are consumer products which are applied on various external parts of the body such as Human skin, skin, hair, Nail (anatomy), nails, lips, external genital and anal areas, as well as Human tooth, teeth and mucous membrane of ...

* Table top **

napkin A napkin, serviette or face towelette is a square of cloth or paper tissue used at the table for wiping the mouth and fingers while eating. It is also sometimes used as a bib by tucking it into a shirt collar. It is usually small and folded, s ...

tablecloth A tablecloth is a cloth used to cover a table. Some are mainly ornamental coverings, which may also help protect the table from scratches and stains. Other tablecloths are designed to be spread on a dining table before laying out tableware and ...

* Wet wipes

References

{{Paper Paper Nonwoven fabrics