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Evaluation of the Flocculation and Reflocculation Performance of a System with Calcium Carbonate, Cationic Acrylamide Co-polymers, and Bentonite Microparticles
journal contribution
posted on 2015-01-14, 00:00 authored by E. Antunes, F. A.
P. Garcia, A. Blanco, C. Negro, M. G. RasteiroFlocculation, flocs resistance, and
reflocculation capacity of
a precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) suspension with cationic polyacrylamides
(C-PAMs) varying in charge density and degree of branching were investigated
in previous studies and correlated with retention and drainage performance
in papermaking. In this study, the reflocculation performance of the
PCC suspension was investigated using the same C-PAMs, in combination
with microparticles, since microparticle retention systems have been
widely used in papermaking to improve reflocculation of the suspension.
Moreover, flocculation and reflocculation performance evaluated using
the laser diffraction spectroscopy (LDS) technique was compared with
that obtained using focused-beam reflectance microscopy (FBRM) to
monitor the process. The coupling of these two techniques allows a
detailed analysis of the reflocculation process, including evaluation
of the flocs structure before and after the reflocculation stage.