APRIL Company's Short Fiber Pulp

Introduction to APRIL Company

APRIL Company's production base is located in Riau, Indonesia, and it is the world's largest single-site factory for pulp production:

• Annual production capacity of 2.8 million tons, with a single product, which is sulfite chemically bleached hardwood kraft pulp (BHKP).

• Upstream, it has more than 400,000 hectares of plantation forests, all planted with Acacia trees, with a high density per hectare.

• Downstream, it produces office paper with an annual output of 1.15 million tons. PaperOne A4 paper is produced by APRIL Company.

• It has a dedicated private port for shipping.

The pulp production process starts from wood chips, which are then cooked, washed, filtered, oxygen delignified, and bleached to become pulp. The cooking process separates a large amount of byproduct (black liquor), and APRIL takes pride in its recovery boiler, which can recover most of the substances (white liquor) and generate steam again. The oxygen delignification process reduces the amount of sulfite used, and the latest water treatment facilities are in place to reduce water consumption.

Characteristics of APRIL Pulp Fibers

The fibers in APRIL pulp are different from those of other tree species. They have shorter fiber length, smaller fiber diameter, thinner walls, lower individual fiber weight, straighter and less twisted fiber shape, and finer fibers. The smaller diameter and thinner walls make the fibers easier to collapse, and combined with a higher number of fibers per unit weight and a greater fiber distribution, it means that these fibers have the largest possible surface area to intertwine with each other. These combined characteristics allow paper made from APRIL pulp to have a higher tensile index, high strength, and low bulkiness. Additionally, having a single forest type with trees of the same age ensures consistent fiber quality and better control over the quality of the final product.

Characteristics and Advantages of Using APRIL Pulp

The fibers contained in APRIL pulp, compared to other short fibers such as those from South America, can be summarized as follows:

• Lower fiber length

• Lower fiber width

• Thinner cell wall thickness

• Lower coarseness of fibers

• Higher fiber distribution/population per gram

• Higher fiber straightness

• Low dirts

• Higher consistency

The Impact of APRIL Pulp Fibers, ground to the same freeness, on Paper Performance Compared to Fibers from South American Pulp:

• High tensile index, resulting in stronger and more durable paper.

• Fibers exhibit high flexibility and conformability.

• Fibers are tightly arranged, leading to lower bulk and tighter paper formation.

• The paper surface is smoother.

• Lower porosity, indicating reduced pore size and improved ink holdout.

• Higher opacity, resulting in less transparency.

• Easy formability, contributing to increased production speed.

• Consistent appearance and physical properties, such as pH value.

• High cleanliness, resulting in cleaner and brighter paper.

• Lower initial freeness, reducing the intensity of refining required during pulp processing and thus reducing energy consumption and the usage of other materials such as long fiber pulp and additives.

Adjustments in the Pulping Process

Due to the shorter fiber length and higher tensile index of APRIL pulp fibers, the pulping process can be adjusted to focus on increasing the phenomenon of fibrillation rather than fiber cutting when aiming to enhance tensile strength. This is achieved through a viscous pulping method that grinds the fiber surface until it cracks, creating fibrils that resemble broom-like structures. These fibrils intertwine with each other, along with the denser fibers, to enhance the network structure.

This means that when using APRIL pulp, there is no need for excessively high refining intensity. Lowering the refining intensity not only reduces energy consumption but also helps minimize the production of unwanted fine fibers.

By adopting a viscous pulping approach that promotes fibrillation and the formation of fibrils, APRIL pulp can achieve improved paper strength without the need for extensive fiber cutting. This adjustment in the pulping process not only conserves energy but also reduces the generation of unwanted fine fibers.