INPLANT TRAINING REPORT

SUBMITTED BY

SANJAY V, VELLORE INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY, VELLORE

ON

24th May, 2018

Kagithapuram-Velayuthampalayam Road,
Karur - 639136
 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the training has been carried on and the report is being
submitted by Sanjay V for Inplant Training in Tamilnadu Newsprint And
Papers Limited is a record of bonafide work done. The contents of this Project
work, in full or in parts, have neither been taken from any other source nor
have been submitted for any other mode.

Place: Karur

Date: 24th of May, 2018

COMPANY PROFILE

Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Papers Ltd. (TNPL) is the largest bagasse (an agricultural
residue), based paper unit in India. It is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of
newsprint, printing and writing papers. The Company pioneered the concept of using
Bagasse sugarcane waste as a raw material for manufacturing paper. It has also been
exporting paper. Its plant is located at Kagithapuram in Karur district of Tamil Nadu.
TNPL is one of India’s largest paper manufacturers with one of the lowest cost
structures. Considering the dynamics of the Indian Paper Industry, it has been
executing a very strong growth strategy involving consistent growth in capacities,
high focus on energy conservation, own plantations, efficient cost management &
focus on high quality products. Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Papers Ltd. (TNPL) was
promoted by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1979. It is involved in manufacturing
of printing & writing paper and newsprints. The product range of the Company
includes: business stationery, classical writing, computer stationery, newsprint,
premium printing, and quality printing. The Company manufactures a range of
high-quality, surface-sized maplitho paper to suit any kind of printing, sheet-fed or
web offset. It is the market leader in computer stationary and the largest exporter of
wood-free paper. TNPL has pioneered the concept of using Bagasse sugarcane waste
as a raw material for manufacturing paper specially newsprint. It has been exporting
paper and paper products to Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen,
UAE, Turkey, Jordan, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia.

PROCESSES INVOLVED

Pulping

Pulping is the process by which the bonds within the wood structure are ruptured
either mechanically or chemically. Chemical pulps can be produced by either alkaline
(i.e., sulphate or kraft) or acidic (i.e., sulphite) processes. The highest proportion of
pulp is produced by the sulphate method, followed by mechanical (including
semi-chemical, thermo mechanical and mechanical) and sulphite methods. Pulping
processes differ in the yield and quality of the product, and for chemical methods, in
the chemicals used and the proportion that can be recovered for reuse.

Chemical Pulping

Chemical pulps are produced by chemically dissolving the lignin between the wood
fibres, thereby enabling the fibres to separate relatively undamaged. Because most of
the non-fibrous wood components are removed in these processes, yields are usually
in the order of 40 to 55%.

The sulphate process produces a stronger, darker pulp than other methods and requires
chemical recovery to compete economically. The method evolved from soda pulping
(which uses only sodium hydroxide for digestion) and began to gain prominence in the
industry from the 1930s to 1950s with the development of chlorine dioxide bleaching
and chemical recovery processes, which also produced steam and power for the mill.
The development of corrosion-proof metals, such as stainless steel, to handle the acidic
and alkaline pulp mill environments also played a role.The cooking mixture (white
liquor) is sodium hydroxide (NaOH, “caustic”) and sodium sulphide (Na2S). Modern
kraft pulping is usually carried out in continuous digesters often lined with stainless
steel. The temperature of the digester is raised slowly to approximately 170°C and held
at that level for approximately 3 to 4 hours. The pulp (called brown stock because of its
colour) is screened to remove uncooked wood, washed to remove the spent cooking
mixture (now black liquor), and sent either to the bleach plant or to the pulp machine
room. Uncooked wood is either returned to the digester or sent to the power boiler to be
burned.

The black liquor collected from the digester and brown stock washers contains
dissolved organic material whose exact chemical composition depends on the wood
species pulped and the cooking conditions. The liquor is concentrated in evaporators
until it contains less than 40% water, then sprayed into the recovery boiler. The organic
component is consumed as fuel, generating heat which is recovered in the upper section
of the furnace as high-temperature steam. The unburned inorganic component collects
at the bottom of the boiler as a molten smelt. The smelt flows out of the furnace and is
dissolved in a weak caustic solution, producing “green liquor” containing primarily
dissolved Na2S and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). This liquor is pumped to a
recausticizing plant, where it is clarified, then reacted with slaked lime (Ca(OH)2),
forming NaOH and calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The white liquor is filtered and stored
for subsequent use. CaCO3 is sent to a lime kiln, where it is heated to regenerate lime
(CaO).

Paper making

Before pulp can be made into paper, it must undergo several steps called stock
preparation Stock preparation is conducted to convert raw stock into finished stock
(furnish) for the paper machine. The pulp is prepared for the paper machine including
the blending of different pulps, dilution, and the addition of chemicals. The raw stocks
used are the various types of chemical pulp, mechanical pulp, and recovered paper
and their mixtures. The quality of the finished stock essentially determines the
properties of the paper produced. Raw stock is available in the form of bales, loose
material, or, in the case of integrated mills, as suspensions. Stock preparation consists
of several process steps that are adapted to one another as fibre disintegration,
cleaning, fibre modification, and storage and mixing. These systems differ
considerably depending on the raw stock used and on the quality of furnish required.
For instance, in the case of pulp being pumped directly from the pulp mill, the
slushing and deflaking stages are omitted. The operations practiced in the paper mills
are: Dispersion, Beating/Refining, Metering, and blending of fibre and
additives.Pulpers are used to disperse dry pulp into water to form slurry. Refining is
one of the most important operations when preparing papermaking fibres. The term
beating is applied to the batch treatment of stock in a Hollander beater or one of its
modifications. The term refining is used when the pulps are passed continuously
through one or more refiners, whether in series or in parallel. Refining develops
different fibre properties in different ways for specific grades of paper. Usually, it
aims to develop the bonding ability of the fibres without reducing their individual
strength by damaging them too much, while minimizing the development of drainage
resistance. So the refining process is based on the properties required in the final
paper. Different types of fibre react differently because of differences in their
morphological properties. The refining process must take into account the type of
fibres. During beating and refining, fibres randomly and repeatedly undergo tensile,
compressive, shear and bending forces. They respond three ways:

– Fibres develop new surfaces externally through fibrillation and internally through
fibre wall delimitation.
– Fibres deform, resulting in changes in their geometric shape and the fibrillary
alignment along their length. Overall, the fibres flatten or collapse. Fibre curl changes
and kinks are induced or straightened. On the small scale, dislocations, crimps, and
micro compressions are induced or diminished.
– Fibres break, resulting in changes in length distribution and a decrease in meanfibre
length. A small amount of fibre wall material also dissolves. All these changes occur
simultaneously and are primarily irreversible. The extent of the changes depends on
the morphology of the fibres, the temperature, the chemical environment, and the
treatment conditions. The conditions depend on the design of the equipment and its
operating variables such as the consistency, intensity, and amount of treatment. Each
pulp responds differently to a given set of conditions and not all fibres within it
receive the same treatment.

The furnish (as it is now referred to) can also be treated with chemical additives.
These include resins to improve the wet strength of the paper, dyes and pigments to
affect the colour of the sheet, fillers such as talc and clay to improve optical qualities,
and sizing agents to control penetration of liquids and to improve printing properties.
After stock preparation, the next step is to form the slurry into the desired type of
paper at the wet end of the paper machine. The pulp is pumped into the head box of
the paper machine at this point. The slurry consists of approximately 99.5% water and
approximately 0.5% pulp fibre. The exit point for the slurry is the “slice” or head box
opening. The fibrous mixture pours onto a travelling wire mesh in the Fourdrinier
process, or onto a rotating cylinder in the cylinder machine. The Fourdrinier machine
is named after its French inventors, the Fourdrinier brothers, and is essentially a table
over which the wire moves. Greater quantities of slurry released from the head box
result in thicker paper. As the wire moves along the machine path, water drains
through the mesh. Fibres align in the direction of the wire travel and interlace to
improve the sheet formation. After the web forms on the wire, the task of the
remaining portion of the paper machine is to remove additional water. Vacuum boxes
located under the wire aid in this drainage.

One of the characteristics inherent in the performing of the sheet on a Fourdrinier

paper machine is that all the water is removed through one side of the sheet. This can
lead to differences in the sheet properties on one side as opposed to the other. This
two-sided property increases as machine speed increases. In response to this,
manufacturers developed twin wire and multiple Fourdrinier machines. Manufacturers
of such equipment use different engineering designs that can be vertical or horizontal.
After the paper web has completed its short forming distance, it continues along the
second wire losing water as it travels. The next stop for the paper is the pressing and
drying section where additional dewatering occurs. The newly created web enters the
press section and then the dryers. As the paper enters the press section, it undergoes
compression between two rotating rolls to squeeze out more water. The extent of
water removal from the forming and press sections depends greatly on the design of
the machine and the running speed. When the paper leaves the press section, the sheet
usually has about 65% moisture content. The paper web continues to thread its way
through the steam heated dryers losing moisture each step of the way. The process
evaporates many tons of water. Soda Recovery Plant (SRP) is a promising
technology where the major recovery of chemicals that are used in pulping is
recovered here in order to facilitate the economical way of paper synthesis.
Process Flow

Figure 1 – Pulping and paper production process in TNPL

Conclusion

The Indian paper Industry faces biggest challenge of inadequate availability of raw
materials. Pulp prices are up almost 50% from 1 year ago. Several supply side
challenges were witnessed like the earthquake in Chile & a port strike in Finland. The
earthquake in Chile affected the pulp mills which accounted for about 8%of the world
supply. Resumption of these mills in future will lead to a decrease in pulp prices.
However, Indian paper manufacturers, especially large integrated paper mills have
managed through expanding the raw material base by way of Farm Forestry and
Captive Plantation Scheme. TNPL continues to enjoy its relatively lower reliance on
wood because of its vision to make paper primarily from bagasse, which is abundant
and cheap, as compared to wood which is scarce and expensive.