History and Future Trend of Synthetic Paper Technology in Japan

3 History and Future Trend of Synthetic Paper Technology in Japan SHOZO IMOTO

Downloaded by CORNELL UNIV on October 31, 2016 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 1, 1977 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1977-0050.ch003

Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., 5,1-Chome Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan

The brief history of Synthetic Paper or Plastic Paper in Japan i s summarized as f o l l o w s : (1) U n t i l the year o f 1967 when Foamed P o l y s t y r e n e or Polyethylene Sheet was developed, (2) U n t i l the year o f 1970 when the idea o f Raw M a t e r i a l Revolution, so to speak, c e n t r a l i z i n g the u t i l i z a t i o n o f P l a s t i c Paper or S y n t h e t i c Paper with P l a s t i c F i l m Base, was embodied i n the form of i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n . (3) U n t i l .the year o f 1975 when White P l a s t i c Sheet f o r Vacuum Molding, i n p a r t i c u l a r , r e s u l t i n g from a mixture o f M i n e r a l F i l l e r i n l a r g e q u a n t i t i e s and S y n t h e t i c Pulp, as w e l l , was i n d u s t r i a l i z e d . With the above d i v i s i o n a l periods i n mind, f i r s t o f a l l , I would l i k e to describe the trend mainly from the t e c h n o l o g i c a l point o f view: L a s t l y , I would l i k e to introduce the newest type o f S y n t h e t i c Paper on which we are a t present doing research, attempting to sound the t e c h n o l o g i c a l trend i n the f u t u r e . (1) Foamed Sheet Age (Up to 1967) In the wake o f Wood Pulp Paper d i d the second paper, v i z . , Non-Woven F a b r i c s come out. The t h i r d paper was none other than Foamed P o l y s t y r e n e Sheet that made i t s debut i n i 9 6 0 . None-Woven F a b r i c s are mostly used i n s t e a d o f c l o t h , while Foamed P o l y s t y r e n e Sheet could be used i n the main f o r lunch boxes and other sundry items a f t e r vacuum molding, being seldom made use o f as a s u b s t i t u t e f o r paper. As regards Foamed P o l y s t y r e n e Sheet, s e v e r a l Japanese manuf a c t u r e r s such as SEKISUI KAGAKU CO. and K0KUSAI PULP CO. became capable o f producing 500 t . - 1,000 t . per year r e s p e c t i v e l y i n or about the year o f i 9 6 0 . T h i s Sheet was aimed a t being developed enough to r e p l a c e paper i n uses due p a r t i a l l y to i t s p e a r l - l i k e b e a u t i f u l g l o s s y

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Arthur; Cellulose and Fiber Science Developments: A World View ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1977.


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Synthetic Paper Technology in Japan

surface and p a r t i a l l y to i t s p a p e r - l i k e r i g i d i t y and opaqueness characteristically. Above a l l , SEKISUI had e s t a b l i s h e d i t s plant i n the u n i t e d States,too, r e i n f o r c i n g i t s o p e r a t i o n t h e r e . Nevertheless, i t proved to be i n s u f f i c i e n t as paper i n p o i n t o f s t r e n g t h , p r i n t a b i l i t y , e t c . , with the r e s u l t that i t s s a l e s amount was not as s a t i s f a c t o r y as had been a n t i c i p a t e d . I t was not u n t i l the year o f i960 that NIPPON ART PAPER CO.R. & D. D i v i s i o n , present JAPAN SYNTHETIC PAPER CO., improved the stength and p r i n t a b i l i t y o f t h i s Foamed Polystyrene Sheet under the brand o f "Q-Foam" o f Foamed Polyethylene Sheet. Subsequently, from 1965 through 1971 t h i s improved type o f Foamed Polyethylene Sheet had been produced and o f f e r e d f o r s a l e by JAPAN SYNTHETIC PAPER CO. Then, MITSUI POLYCHEMICAL CO.'s wholly-owned s u b s i d i a r y , HI-SHEET KOGYO CO. took over the product i o n , producing 3*000 t . per year a t the present time. I n t h i s connection, i t s p h y s i c a l p r o p e r t i e s are as represented by TABLE ( 1 ) . (2) F i l m Base Type S y n t h e t i c Paper Age(from 1967 t o 1970) I t was i n 1966 that JAPAN SYNTHTIC PAPER CO. announced another brand, "Q-Per", a type o f S y n t h e t i c Paper with o n l y i t s s u r f a c e paperized by c h e m i c a l l y t r e a t i n g by means o f the same f i l m as the S y n t h e t i c Paper with the brand o f " Q - K o t e " , f i n a l l y became the cynosure o f a l l eyes not o n l y i n Japan but a l s o a l l over the world what with i t s p r i n t a b i l i t y and p r i n t i n g e f f e c t estimated a t the highest q u a l i t y as p r i n t i n g paper. I f the cost o f the b i a x i a l l y o r i e n t e d -film could reach a t 60 cents per kg. through the mass-production o f 1,000 ton per month and the new t e n t e r i n g technology being under developing by Dr. Shoei Yazawa o r Mitsubishi-Monsanto Chemical Co., the S y n t h e t i c Paper Q-Kote s p r i c e would be estimated approximately 1.5 times as much as the high q u a l i t y coated paper. On the occasion o f t h i s t e c h n o l o g i c a l development, the Japanese Science and Technology Agency i n the Japanese Government was s t r o n g l y convinced that S y n t h e t i c Paper would f i l l i n the shortage o f pulp f o r paper i n Japan and c o n t r i b u t e to development of Japan's Petrochemical Industry, too. As a Government p o l i c y , they t h e r e f o r e decided to promote t h i s i n d u s t r y . Encouraged by t h i s Government p o l i c y , on the other hand, JAPAN SYNTHETIC PAPER CO. completed i t s production f a c i l i t i e s f o r Q-KoteQ and "Q-Per" capable o f producing 3*000 t . per year i n 1969 as i t s 1st term program. Afterward, OJI-YUKA SYNTHETIC PAPER CO. with the brand o f "UPO-EF" and SEKISUI KAGAKU CO. with the brand o f " P r i n t e l " r e s p e c t i v e l y set up t h e i r production f a c i l i t i e s f o r t h e i r products i n I 9 7 L In t h i s regard, "Q-Kote", "Q-Per", "UPO-EF", and " P r i n t e l a r e as represented i n performance by TABLE(1). Furthermore, p r a c t i c a l i t y o f t h i s type o f S y n t h e t i c Paper was promoted. To c i t e a few examples, books made o n l y from f,

flt

ff

1 1

11


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"Q-Kote" and "Q-Per" were published, and some pages o f a c e r t a i n l e a d i n g weekly with i t s weekly c i r c u l a t i o n o f 1,000,000 copies were composed o f t h i s type o f S y n t h e t i c Paper t o say nothing o f Posters, Pamphlets and W r i t i n g Paper. In a d d i t i o n t o the above three(3) manufacturers n e a r l y ten (10) others announced F i l m Base Type S y n t h e t i c Paper along with t h e i r samples. Meanwhile, UCC, MEAD CORP.(U.S.A.) and XYLONITE CO.(U.K.) had been developing Pigmented F i l m Type S y n t h e t i c Paper. F o r example, the performace o f MEAD CORP. s "Aero-Art" i s as represented by TABLE ( 1 ) . Simultaneously i n Japan such manufacturers as CHISSO CO. and NITTO-BOSEKI CO. had been making researches on S y n t h e t i c F i b e r o r Pulp f o r paper, though they could not i n d u s t r i a l i z e this material. (3) S y n t h e t i c Pulp & H i g h l y Pigmented Type-Synthetic Paper Age (1971 - 1975) 1. Slump i n F i l m Base Type Demand Development o f demand f o r S y n t h e t i c Paper as replacement o f conventional paper has turned out to be extremely d i f f i c u l t owing to Japan's economic r e c e s s i o n on the whole, deep business depression adversely a f f e c t i n g the high c l a s s paper i n d u s t r y i n p a r t i c u l a r , the " D o l l a r Shock", r a i s e s i n petrochemical m a t e r i a l s caused by boosts i n o i l , e t c . The a f o r e s a i d preceding three(3) manufacturers have e x t e r t e d every e f f o r t to commercialize t h e i r products, i n the hope that the products could be a p p l i e d to users even a t high p r i c e s , suf£ f e r i n g from t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e low o p e r a t i o n . However, i n my personal estimation, t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e product i o n i n the year o f 197^ i s as represented by TABLE (2) 2. Debut o f S y n t h e t i c Pulp MITSUI-ZELLERBACH CO.(JAPAN), a J o i n t Venture f i r m e s t a b l i s h e d by CROWN-ZELLERBACH CO.(U.S.A.) and MITSUI PETROCHEMICAL CO. b u i l t a plant capable o f producing 500 t . per month o f S y n t h e t i c Pulp under the brand o f "SWP"(Synthetic Wood Pulp) i n 1973, throwing l i g h t on the S y n t h e t i c Pulp Age. According t o the manufacturing method o f S y n t h e t i c Pulp that had been p r a c t i c e d u n t i l then, i n the f i r s t place, p l a s t i c P o l y mer was produced, and i t was converted i n t o f i b e r or pulp, though. "SWP" was prepared by a new process, s u b j e c t i n g Monomer t o Polymerization and converting i t i n t o f i b e r simultaneously. T h i s S y n t h e t i c Pulp was the f r u i t o f exceedingly epochal t e c h n o l o g i c a l development, resembling Wood Pulp a great deal i n both shape and q u a l i t y . For some uses i t cou;d blend with Wood Pulp and be formed p r o p e r l y by the conventional paper machine. "SWP" only could be subject t o paper-forming, however. As compared with conventional paper made from Woof Pulp only, t h i s mixture could be c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n performance o f High Opaci t y and Brightness, L i g h t e r Weight, Higher Clearness, Dimension 1


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Synthetic Paper Technology in Japan

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S t a b i l i t y against Humidity, Heat S e a l a b i l i t y and Emobossability. On top of these p r o p e r t i e s , i t i s e x c e l l e n t i n dehydration and evaporation. In c o n c l u s i o n , a d d i t i o n of S y n t h e t i c Pulp i s s a i d to enlarge the Machine Speed. Subsequent to MITSUI-ZELLERBACH CO.'s development, HITACHI KASEI CO., TORAY CO., e t c . s t a r t e d developing S y n t h e t i c Pulp. In consequence, the e n t i r e production of S y n t h e t i c Pulp i s estimated to exceed that of F i l m Type S y n t h e t i c Paper, as represented by TABLE (2)during the p e r i o d of 1975 and 1976. 3· H i g h l y Pigmented F i l m Type In view of the f a c t that the cost of Petrochemical Resin skyrocketed, causing a boost i n the p r i c e of the product, and that the combustion furnace i s apt to be damaged due to high c a l o r i e when i t be burned, s e v e r a l manufacturers have promptly s t a r t e d to develop H i g h l y Pigmented F i l m or Sheet c o n t a i n i n g more than 60% of low-priced Inorganic F i l l e r that could serve to lower combustion c a l o r i e , s i n c e 1971· The l a r g e s t maker of a l l , LION YUSHI CO. has begun to turn out the above i n i t s production c a p a c i t y of 10,000 t . per year. I t s product under the brand of "Kalp" i s as represented i n performance by TABLE ( 1 ) . Sulphur emanates from Crude Petroleum when i t burns. T h i s sulphur could be converted i n t o Gypsum, which could be made i n sheetings by means of P o l y o l e f i n Resin as Binder i n a s k i l l f u l , but simple way. Crude Petroleum imported i n t o Japan contains l o t s of S u l f u r , and t h e r e f o r e i t would be f o r c i b l y changed to CaS04 i n order to prevent a i r p o l l u t i o n , just a f t e r combustion. A n d , P in l a r g e q u a n t i t i e s could be s u p p l i e d to us at a low cost, as i3ie good f i l l e r . Probably because of imcomplete engineering i n the field of P a p e r i z a t i o n only t h i c k sheet f o r Vacuum Molding has so f a r been put on the market here i n Japan, though, I t i s expected that P a p e r - l i k e F i l m would be produced i n the near future. Aside from the above, P o l y o l e f i m Sheet f o r Vacuum Molding c o n t a i n i n g over 60% of such Iorganic F i l l e r as Ca C03 and CaS04 i s at present manufactured by four(4) Japanese makers. I t s d e n s i t y i s 1.4 - 1.6, i t s combustion c a l o r i e , 3»000 - 4,000 Kcal/kg«i i t s thickness, 0.5 - 1mm. and i t i s noteworthy that i t could he deeply molded i n almost the same as C l e a r Resin. Such improvement of High F i l l e r P l a s t i c Sheet, to the best of my knowledge, could be a s c r i b e d not merely to progress i n Technology on Treatment of Inorganic M a t e r i a l but to betterment of Engineering i n Mixing and Sheeting, yoo. 4. Prospects. 1. I t i s expected that S y n t h e t i c Pulp w i l l be popular with users at l a r g e . / d ^ In case of recovery of Scrapped Paper, or Spoilage, on the con^ion that some per cent of S y n t h e t i c Pulp i n v o l v e d i n i t , should prove not to i n t e r f e r e , u t i l i z a t i o n of S y n t h e t i c Paper G v

s u m


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Tabled)Properties and Printability of each Synthetic Paper Type Type Physical properties Item Thickness, μ Density, tin? Whiteness, 7.

Opicity. % Gloss.

front. %

Test method JI5P-8124 JISf*81l8 JISP-8I18 JISP-8123 JISP-8138 JISP-8142

(«fr~-6Vo back. %

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Smoothness, front, m m t y back, m m r * Tensile strength MP, Ιφ6τί JISP-8113 Elongation MD. % JISP-8132 CD,% * Tming strength MD, ^ JIS P-8M6 CD.* • Ink lusterdndifo), ·/. JIS P-8K2 Ink depositing — Ink absorption — Ink Transfer Ink setting time. m i n . —

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wfocepdperiaq Co* paperizjnj PR IN TEL Q-FOAM

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History and Future Trend of Synthetic Paper Technology in Japan

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