Factorial study of connections between process variables and kraft paper quality properties

By investigating how properties of a finished paper product are related to different process variables as well as pulp characteristics throughout the fiber line, the understanding of the process will increase. In this paper we investigate the correlation between some key paper quality parameters and five tunable process variables, along the entire fiber production line. A full two-level factorial experiment has been conducted, where five factors were varied. The factor settings were based on a laboratory replica of a specific kraft mill’s paper product. The mill replicate was then used as a center point in the factorial design and appropriate levels of the factors were set based on these center points. Several experimental runs could be simulated via a Monte Carlo approach making it possible to get a reliable estimate of the significance of each factor effect. Analysis of the results shows that there are interaction effects present between variables, and that these interaction effects can be utilized to achieve similar paper properties using different variable settings.