9634843 Ramasubramani Paper and paperboard products were the largest of component accounting for about 40% of the total municipal solid waste (MSW). The primary problem in recycling of paper is the quality of recycled products, including strength and stiffness properties of paper and paperboard, which is determined by the dirt count. The primary causes of dirt count is that the xerographic and other non-impact printed inks tend to produce large ink particles which are normally too large to be removed by traditional floating and centrifugal cleaning techniques. This project investigates a novel technique to address the problem of deinking xerographic and other resin-based inks in recycled paper. This project will identify the process parameters such as the effects on incorporating acoustic coaxing induced microcavitation (ACIM) recycled fibers in the low-density paper structures through a systematic study. A prototype deinking machine with a target deinking rate of 6 pages per minute will be studied and developed for further implementation. This technique takes advantage of the nature of ACIM to release the resin bonded ink flakes from paper fibers in a completely chemical free environment, thus alleviating the problems of recyclability of non-impact printed waste and its effect on the environment. The outcome of the research project will provide valuable findings for the recycling industry.
