What is paper made from? How paper is made

People invented paper thousands of years ago to record their thoughts and important technical discoveries. The method of transmitting information using paper, the production of which is growing every year, always remains relevant.

What are they made from?

Even small child knows that the raw material for paper production is wood. Almost any breed is suitable for this:

Chestnut;
Birch;
Poplar;
Eucalyptus;
Pine.

Logs from the sawmill are brought to mills, where they are cut into small pieces and then made into chips. To make 50 A4 sheets, you need 1 kg of wood. To reduce deforestation, waste paper, that is, used paper, is used. Straw, rice, cotton, as well as rag waste and asbestos are suitable for the production of raw materials.

In addition to these raw materials, production requires a lot of water. Paper mills are often built on the banks of rivers and lakes. Natural springs are used to collect water and float timber.

How to make

Stages of the paper making process:

The logs are cleared of bark and sawn into chips.
They are immersed in water in a ratio of 5 parts wood to 95 parts water. As a result, the chips swell and bleach.
The material is boiled in solutions of acids, oxides and other substances. This is necessary to obtain a uniform viscous composition without impurities. The quality, grade and color of the paper depend on this stage.
The resulting cellulose is filtered. IN pure form it is used only for expensive grades of paper. For ordinary sheets, special additives are added to the cellulose.
Additional substances are introduced into the composition of semi-finished products that affect appearance paper Resin is added to obtain a glossy surface, glue to increase strength, and dyes to create shade. The paraffin emulsion makes the paper suitable for writing and printing images. For whitening, chalk and talc are added to the mixture. Interestingly, paper pulp made from hemp and rice has white, it does not need additional bleaching.
The pulp enters the paper machine. First, the composition falls on a mesh screen, where water flows out of it. The fibers are intertwined along the movement of the machine, which makes it possible to obtain a strong base. The paper pulp is sent to presses, where it is compacted and even more water comes out.
The paper passes through metal drums where it is dried. The final processing takes place on the rollers, the paper web is compressed, leveled, compacted and finally dried.
The paper rolls are sent to the next machine, which cuts them into sheets and packages them.

IN finished form packages are supplied to stores and end consumers. Paper making is a fast process; today it is carried out using mechanical and electronic machines and practically does not require human participation. This allows the product to be produced in large volumes.

How it was made in ancient times

People left the first inscriptions on rocks, cave walls, and clay tablets. Birch bark, papyrus and parchment are the ancient ancestors of paper. You could write on them, but they didn't last long.

The first production was organized in China around 105. Plants - moss, grass, bamboo - were used to make paper. The fibers were soaked in water and then boiled with ash and lime. These substances are needed to dissolve lignin, a polymer that gives plants strength.

The raw materials were crushed into small fibers, vegetable juices and starch were added, and paper sheets were cast. After the water had drained off, the sheets were dried with a press. Over time, the production secret spread to the Arab lands, from where it came to Europe. There they began to make paper from wood; the first experiments were carried out at the beginning of the 18th century.

How to check quality

To check the quality of paper, several characteristics are used:

Thickness. It is important to maintain the same thickness throughout the entire batch of goods.
Porosity. The larger it is, the better the printing ink holds.
Opacity. This important characteristic for books and office paper. Newspaper sheets are made more transparent to save money.
Smoothness. This characteristic improves image quality due to better contact of paper sheets with printing forms.
Strength. Important for high-speed printing, as well as for packaging materials.
Abrasion resistance. Directly affects the durability of finished books, manuscripts, newspapers.
Absorbency. Affects the rate of penetration of paints.

Types of paper products

Modern paper production involves the production of different types:

Newspaper. Inexpensive to produce and quickly absorbs paint.
Offset. The most common type, used for printing books, notebooks, and for office purposes.
Coated. Characterized by high quality and increased whiteness. Used for printing expensive catalogs.
Packaging. The main thing for her is resistance to external environment. It is made from pure wood, as it requires little cost.
Monetary. The highest quality type, used for printing banknotes.
Cardboard. High density paper.

In Russia, the production of paper from wood is well developed, since our country is rich in forests. In place of felled trees, new ones are constantly planted, this renews the resources of enterprises. Every city has waste paper collection points that provide additional raw materials for paper factories. Now you know how paper is made and what a complex process it is.

Paper has become so firmly established in our lives that when using it, we do not think about its origin and production. Although every person knows what paper is made from. But the process of turning a tree into thin white leaves is not known to many. So how is paper made?
Paper production is carried out by the paper and pulp industry. The most common is its production from wood. Wood pulp is produced from wood forest species. In order to understand how they do it, let’s take a virtual tour of the factory.
Raw materials arrive there in unprocessed form. Here the bark is stripped from the tree and then crushed into chips using special machines. Next there are some papers. The simplest mechanical one. With this method, crushed wood chips are mixed with water and further processed. The end result is not very good paper. high quality, which is used to produce newspapers. In order to obtain raw materials of good, high quality, a chemical production method is used. With this method, chips are selected by size and boiled. This process occurs using acid in machines specially designed for this purpose. After cooking, the resulting mass is washed and foreign substances are removed. The resulting raw materials are subjected to further processing to produce a specific
In order to obtain it, glue is added to the raw material. This gives it a water-repellent effect. Resins added during the production process prevent the ink from bleeding and make the writing easy to read. Paper intended for printing does not require such additives because the inks used for it are not water-based.
To make paper white and opaque, the raw materials are colored with special dyes and pigments. After all operations have been completed, the process of producing raw materials begins. The machines move the resulting pulp from one shaft to another, on which a mesh is stretched. In this case, a paper sheet is formed. The water that was in the raw material gradually flows out through the holes in the mesh. The fibers intertwine and form rolls. Next, the canvas undergoes a series of operations, which results in the paper that we are used to having in our everyday life. The rollers through which the raw canvas passes are pressed, dried and polished. After this, it is further pressed and dried. The output is paper rolls, which are used for their intended purpose. They are cut or sent in rolls for further use. In the process of making paper, many special machines are used. All labor is mechanized. But, nevertheless, it is very valuable material. Therefore, knowing what and how paper is made from, you begin to treat it more carefully. After all, 17 trees are needed to produce 1 ton of paper.

Previously, a massive collection of waste paper was organized in the country. After cleaning it from ink, it is added to paper raw materials during the production process. Paper is a necessary attribute modern life. It’s even hard to imagine that its first inventors were the Chinese. For a long time they did not reveal the secret of how paper was made.
Paper is used in various areas of our lives. Napkins, notebooks, books, toys, wallpaper, and money are made from it. It is perhaps impossible to list the entire list of where paper is used. In some cases, it is simply irreplaceable and is the only suitable material. New ones are opening up more and more possibilities for its application.

Paper is one of the most important human inventions, allowing high-quality exchange of information. It is used in various sectors of the national economy.

Particular attention should be paid to school notebooks, which are a necessary element in the education of every person. You can find out how to choose the right products on the website www.masteroffice.com.ua/tetradi-shkolnye/.

Receiving paper

Paper is the main component of any notebook. Therefore, the production of such products begins with the receipt of high-quality blanks. This process can be described in the following sequential steps:

wood chopping. For such purposes, only wood without bark is used. Therefore, it is first removed from the trunks. After that special mechanisms crush the material;
cooking. Notebook paper is of high quality. To obtain such cellulose, the tree is exposed to various chemicals. Before this, the crushed material is carefully sorted and sorted. After this, the pulp is cooked in various acids;
cooking. When all the components are prepared, several types of glue and various resins are added to them. To give the paper a white color, kaolin is also added to the solution. After this, the mixture is fed to special machines, where it is dried and squeezed. Paper formation is carried out by special rolling machines.

Manufacturing technology

Notebooks are a small resemblance to a book, only with a small amount sheets. Today there are many varieties of such products on the market. But all of it is manufactured using approximately the same technology. This process can be broken down into several steps:

seal. This stage involves the use of special printing machines. Please note that it is important not only to print the inner sheets, but also to pre-design the cover. Therefore, this step is given great attention. All operations are performed separately on large sheets. After printing, they are cut into specific blanks;
fastening This process can be carried out according to various technologies. The most simple option is the fastening of sheets using paper clips. The machine simply punches through a stack of paper and bends the wire. But today, very often, rough notebooks are stitched with peculiar springs.

Making notebooks is a complex and lengthy process that requires special equipment and skills to work with it.

Paper is a long-used and very well-known material. With paper in human life a lot is connected: from cosmetics, wrappers and packaging. To books and other items used every day. And, as you know, paper is made from wood.

This wonderful material first appeared in China, where the first papermaking methods were developed, although such powerful methods did not exist in ancient times. technological solutions like now. At present, the process may seem very interesting, so it is worth considering it in more detail.

Materials such as paper are now produced in specialized paper mills, where cut trees are supplied for further processing. The basis of paper is cellulose, which is obtained from certain forest species. Thus, the machines strip the bark from the trees and grind the wood fibers into small chips, or even flour.

After grinding, the flour is mixed with water and heat-treated, then pressed and smoothed into very thin sheets. This results in low-grade, but cleaner paper. This method, although economical, allows the production of low-grade paper, which is most often called newsprint.

To obtain higher quality paper, cellulose is treated with special chemical materials. This paper is already suitable for use in books, notebooks and other printed purposes.

To produce quality paper, wood material sorted by size and various chemicals are added to it, after which it is boiled, and then washed and filtered so that there are no impurities in the raw material.

After cooking, the raw material is pressed, rolled out and smoothed, and then dried at high temperature so that the fibers accept the required form and froze, forming paper itself. Thus, the result is a roll of tape rather than sheets. But in the future, the rolls are subject to cutting and further preparation. Additional preparation may include further glossing of the paper, painting and other procedures.

Also, paint or special admixtures may be used during production. This is what distinguishes paper by quality, grade and other properties. The types of paper produced are book, newspaper, offset, packaging, and so on.

As it may seem, paper production is very simple. But in reality, it's complicated process, which requires special machines and devices, as well as the presence of a huge number of people who monitor the production and operation of the machines. In general, paper production is a very interesting process.

Despite the rapid development computer technology and a variety of electronic storage technology, paper remains the most common and actively used material for storing information. It is difficult to overestimate its place in everyday use. It is needed in office work, printing, and everyday life.

Paper from antiquity

The history of paper production goes back to ancient times. Even the ancient Egyptians used a prototype of modern paper for writing, making their papyri from crushed reed fibers and pressed into thin sheets. The stems of this aquatic plant consist of thin and strong cellulose threads, which are released using special processing. The addition of adhesive substances made it possible to form a fairly thin layer from the resulting mass, which, after drying, acquired the desired characteristics. Ancient paper was quite thick, rough to the touch and did not have the whiteness that is inherent in modern writing materials.

Leather manuscripts

IN Ancient Europe Parchment was used instead of paper. To make it, thin and elastic skins of small cattle were prepared. The skin removed from sheep and goats was processed using special technologies, after which it became soft and smooth. Layers of prepared material were cut to the size of the future book and sewn together in bookbinding workshops. Scattered documents were transported and stored in the form of scrolls. In this case, the skin did not wrinkle and did not have folds on which it could fray.

A tree to write on

Modern technologies for producing various types of paper involve the use of various types of wood. During the production process it is crushed to required sizes. The resulting mass is soaked in containers, where the chemical reagents necessary for the process of releasing cellulose fibers are added.

The prepared paper pulp, bleached or dyed, is formed into web using paper machines. It is passed through a series of rollers, which level and dry the paper stock. The result is a finished material that has the necessary characteristics:

thickness;
density;
color;
surface quality.

Different grades of paper are intended for different uses– for office equipment you need thicker and stronger paper; for newspapers it is not of such quality. Toilet paper and napkin paper have their own requirements.

Alternative paper production

Using only wood to make paper products can quickly lead to the complete destruction of the planet's forests. Therefore, alternative technologies have been developed and used for a long time.

Cellulose, which is the basis paper pulp, obtained from the straw of agricultural crops. A huge amount of it accumulates in the fields every year. And most often it is simply left on the ground to serve as fertilizer.

Other crops can also become sources of fiber:

hemp;
cane.

In our country, as throughout the world, there is an active collection of waste paper, which is used as secondary raw material. Old books, newspapers, and packaging are shredded, bleached, washing off printing ink and ink, and the resulting mass is again made into paper. It is not as high quality, but is quite suitable for printing.

Paper from everything

In some countries, fabric processing has been developed to make writing products - rags are processed using similar technologies. Cotton and linen fiber, synthetic threads have the necessary properties, which allows them to be used for the production of durable, high-quality paper.

There are companies in the industry today that have completely abandoned the use of wood in paper production. They found completely unusual sources of raw materials for their products. Banana and palm leaves, all types are used plant fibers, wool, even waste from herbivores.

Special types of paper can be made from mineral fibers such as asbestos, for example.

The use of such innovations helps to preserve the forests that exist today, preserving them for future generations of earthlings.