The present-day paper industry is largely based on producing paper from wood fibers. Alternatively, other fibers from one-year-old plants can be used. The thesis subject is paper made from straw. The theoretical part of the thesis presents machine-made wood fiber paper, recycling process, and straw-sourced paper along with how it is produced.
The thesis objective is to describe the traits of the paper, defining them on the results of measuring their basic, mechanical and optical characteristics. A comparative analysis of the straw-sourced and the wood fiber paper types was made. Based on the results of the analysis we reviewed to what extent the paper made of straw fibers, which are shorter and contain less cellulose, is comparable to the wood fiber paper.
The straw sourced paper was engineered in a laboratory on an automatic sheet forming machine which affected its basic, surface and mechanical qualities, and specifically their dissimilarities. Paper made from straw has more volume, it does not contain neither sizing agents nor fillers, and is therefore more porous, absorbent, and has somewhat poorer mechanical properties. It has a higher opacity and yellowness, and lower whiteness and brightness.
The analysis shows that the mechanical properties of the straw-sourced paper are comparable to the ones found in recycled paper, while the former does have slightly unfavorable surface and optical properties. It is suitable for manufacturing lower-grade print materials and packaging, albeit its use as a substitute for paper made from recycled fibers could be increased with some feature and manufacturing optimization.
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