How do trees get made into paper?

smartie806

There is a process, explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper Jul 25 06, 8:09 AM

zbeckabee

Essentially, paper is manufactured using the following main operations: Fibres in aqueous suspension: Fibres from wood or plants is either ground to its individual constituents or treated chemically, by digestion with acidic or basic liquors, to form Cellulose, the main fibrous component in wood and the most suited for making high grade paper. The fibres have to be beaten (refined) to render them suitable for papermaking. The individual fibres have to be separated and "softened up" to gain strength. This is done in Refiners. Sheet Forming: As in olden times, the fibres are dewatered on a "sieve", or these days, a wire mesh which revolves at the beginning of modern paper machines over dewatering modules (suctionboxes, foils and curvatures) at amazingly high speeds of up to 1500 meters per minute. The sheet is set on this wire and dewatering proceeds to a solid content of approx. 27%. Pressing: After the dewatering section of the paper machine, the sheet ( commonly called web, whilst in the paper machine) continues through a series of presses (mostly 3), which are composed of sets of two rolls with high pressure between them, where the web, together with a continous felt, are passed between. The moisture in the web is transported into the felt with the help of the pressure in the nip of the press and thus, another 20% moisture are removed from the web. Drying: The web, which now has a dry content of approx. 47% passes into the drying section of the paper machine, which consists of many large cylinders, which are fed with steam to a temperature of approx. 120 degrees C. The web alternates between these cylinders, until it is dried up to a solid content of approx. 95%. http://hem.passagen.se/kilian/page3.html Jul 25 06, 9:04 AM

Brainyblonde

Trees are cut down in the forest and are then sent to a paper mill. At the paper mill, a machine removes the bark from the wood. Once the bark is removed from the wood, it is chopped into very small pieces with a chipper. The wood chips are cooked until they turn into a soft, slippery pulp or slurry. Now the soft, slippery paper pulp or slurry is poured into a container. The container pours the slurry onto a large screen. This is where the water is drained from the paper. Next, the paper is pressed flat between two rollers. http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow1/apr99/paper/paper1.html Jul 25 06, 9:04 AM

Baloo55th

In fact, a lot of paper isn't made out of trees. For high speed copiers you really want wood-free paper as there is less dust. Much copier paper is made from grass (esparto type not the stuff in your lawn). This is a quicker to replace resource than trees. Jul 25 06, 9:39 AM