Reduce cost of whiteness - Nalco invention

Nalco has developed a new approach to reducing the cost of whiteness - using ExtraWhite, a 1-2 point ISO Brightness gain or an incredulous 50% reduction in OBA consumption could be achieved (Nalco announcement). The benefits are claimed for coated and uncoated woodfree (freesheet) grades, wood-containing (mechanical) paper grades and in certain pulp applications.

The patent is pending and could not yet be found in the US or European patent databases. From information gleaned from various sources, it would appear to be a mixture of a bleaching chemical and an additive to stabilise the OBA. The product cost is therefore likley to be low and the price set at an attractive level for papermakers.

With the seemingly endless drive to increase and harmonise global paper whiteness levels at a higher whiteness (eg, in the USA where whiteness is typically lower than Europe) this technology will certainly raise interest. Achieving whiteness gains with OBA or by bleaching/brightening is expensive and a target for cost reduction in the paper industry. This is particularly the case at the high-whiteness end of the market where large amounts of OBA are used.

If anyone has any more detail they would like to add, please comment.