title: Accurate determination of fiber water-retaining capability at process conditions by headspace gas chromatography.
abstract: This work reports on a method for the accurate determination of fiber water-retaining capability at process conditions by headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) method. The method was based the HS-GC measurement of water vapor on a set closed vials containing in a given amount pulp with different amounts of water addition, from under-saturation to over-saturation. By plotting the equilibrated water vapor signal vs. the amount of water added in pulp, two different trend lines can be observed, in which the transition of the lines corresponds to fiber water-retaining capability. The results showed that the HS-GC method has good measurement precision (much better than the reference method) and good accuracy. The present method can be also used for determining pulp fiber water-retaining capability at the process temperatures in both laboratory research and mill applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Xin
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China; National Paper Products Quality Supervision Inspection Center, Dongguan, China. Electronic address: xschai@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Xin-Sheng
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: GC; Headspace analysis; Pulp fibers; Water-retaining capability