Measuring starch consumption: Why. How. What to …

1 ADVANCED. ADHESIVES. JANUARY 2000 REPORT Your corrugating adhesives newsletter from Harper/Love Adhesives Corporation Measuring starch consumption: Why. How. What to expect. It's easy, and very much light basis-weight board requires EXAMPLE. worth doing. less starch than heavier products. Wet-strength adhesives use more Beginning gallons in storage* 1,000. By Bill Gerard starch than those without wet- Gallons made during shift + 1,330. 'm often asked about the value strength components. Also, Total starch available 2,330. I of calculating starch consump- tion, the best methods for doing it, and what levels of consumption plants that pay close attention to the mechanics of starch applica- tion will achieve lower rates than those with a more relaxed Ending gallons in storage - 1,200. Total gallons used Dry lbs.

2 Per gallon**. 1,130. x are attainable. approach. Total dry pounds The why is simple used during shift 2,463. A well-managed adhesive system Anything you can do to reduce should experience starch applica- starch consumption is worthwhile, tion rates similar to these, which because lower cost means *The typical 2,000-gallon storage tank reflect actual experience on corru- holds about 24 gallons of starch per greater profit. But you can't make gators throughout the country. lineal inch of side wall. You measure the meaningful decisions about starch tank's contents with a Measuring stick. management without good infor- Refer to your tank's volume chart. You mation. By Measuring starch BASIS WEIGHT starch RATE can also calculate volume from the consumption continuously you lbs/MSF lbs/MSF tank's measurements.

3 If you need help create historical information Below 100 to with this, ask for our Technical against which you can compare 100 to 120 to Information Bulletin, Volume calculations current operations. We recom- 120 to 140 to for tanks and vessels.. mend you measure and record 140 to 160 to **In this example, we have used a value starch consumption on every shift. 160 and above to of dry pounds per gallon. Your What to expect formula might be different. We often hear that some corruga- How to measure In addition to the starch measure- tors have achieved starch starch consumption ment, it is necessary to calculate consumption rates as low as To measure the amount of starch the total square footage of board 2 pounds per MSF. Does that used on your corrugator, you'll run on the corrugator, including mean this is attainable in every need to measure starch in storage side trim and any bad sheets plant?

4 No, it doesn't. Neither at the beginning and end of each produced. If this gross amount of does it mean you are wasting shift, and record how much starch square footage is not used, the starch or running wet board if was made during the shift. starch application rate for the net your numbers are higher. Multiply gallons of starch by dry square footage will be artificially Several things affect starch con- pounds (including starch , caustic, high. The square footage is sumption. One important factor is and borax) per gallon, and the calculated by multiplying width the basis weight of the board answer is total pounds used. times length for every order being run. Generally speaking, produced during the shift. (next page, please). starch consumption, continued C-Flute Equivalent - adjusting To arrive at a C-Flute It's easy, and it's worth doing for different flute sizes Equivalent, multiply other flute- As you monitor your starch usage Many plants take this calculation size production by the following on a per-shift basis, and compare one step further and convert all factors: glue-line soak values, you will the board to C-Flute Equivalent accumulate the information you measurement.

5 This technique A flute need to reduce starch consump- provides a way to compare C flute tion to the lowest possible rate for apples to oranges and reduce all B flute the products you run. You'll save production to a single, easy-to- B/C flute money. You'll also improve warp compare measurement. A/C flute control and board firmness, which will benefit your downstream Here's an example. This would be a very unusual plant, but the val- operations as well. ues we've used help demonstrate the effect of using a C-Flute In this discussion, we have Equivalent calculation. focused on the use and applica- tion of domestic starch adhesive. ACTUAL C-FLUTE EQUIV. If you are running wet-strength FLUTE SIZE PRODUCTION FACTOR PRODUCTION adhesive, you would conduct your measurements in the same A 200,000 172,000.

6 Manner. If your wet-strength C 200,000 200,000 adhesive is run from a separate B 200,000 240,000 tank, you can isolate your starch usage on wet-strength board. B/C 200,000 440,000. (Expect your wet-strength TOTAL 800 MSF = 1,052 MSF consumption figures to be higher than domestic starch .). On the same corrugator, all shifts The last step of our process is to divide the dry pounds of product con- should be capable of achieving sumed by the square footage run. Using the examples above, the cal- similar starch consumption culation looks like this: figures. But because different corrugators have different charac- teristics, results can vary from ACTUAL C-FLUTE EQUIV. plant to plant. POUNDS USED 2,463 2,463. We have developed a simple MSF PRODUCED 800 1,052 starch consumption work sheet you might find helpful.

7 To get a = POUNDS PER MSF copy, and for answers to any technical questions, contact your Harper/Love representative or call us directly. Customers agree: buckets The reasons aren't hard to understand. Easier, more economical automation. are better than bags Liquid performance products offer many Reduced labor, more efficient benefits corrugators find hard to ignore: starch making. arper/Love liquid product shipments H have been on a sharp upward trend since 1994, and have exceeded dry- Liquid products are safer to use. No bags to cut. No lifting. No dust. Improved stability of viscosity and gel point. Returnable totes. No throwaway bags. Better film-forming for lower product shipments for the past 3 years. No drum problems. application levels. In 1999, they accounted for 62 percent Easy to use, even in a manual kitchen.

8 Firmer and drier corrugated sheets. of all product shipped. Meet Sue Biggers Troubleshooting twist warp The friendly person behind the friendly voice Ask for our latest In the bulletin, Bill explains that Technical Information consistent twist warp indicates a Harper/Love cus- machine condition that needs tomers know Sue Bulletin (TIB) to explore attention. Twist warp that comes Biggers as the voice of service. The the causes and cures for and goes, and changes shape, eight-year veteran, this perplexing problem. probably is caused by a paper eager-to-please condition. customer service corrugating consultant Bill Nikkel has added to our library of There are various combinations of coordinator handles Technical Information Bulletins polar angle mismatch, and sales orders for customers in seven with an explanation of the different ways to correct for it.

9 Out of ten HLA sales territories, plus common causes of twist warp, To get the whole story, ask your Canada. As if that doesn't keep her how to determine what's going on, Harper/Love representative for the busy enough, she also supports the and ways to fix it. TIB, Twist warp and polar angles. sales and technical staff in their work. Work done by the Institute of Sue lives in Fort Mill, South Carolina, with husband Ronnie, and spends as Paper Science and Technology Our growing TIB library much time as possible with her 4-month- (PST) some years ago showed includes these titles: that when polar angles in the 1. Volume calculations for tanks single-face and double-face liners and vessels New representative do not match, twist warp can be 2. Calculating shaft speeds for in California expected if the mismatch in these secondary mixer Todd Nelson has joined the angles exceeds 5 degrees.

10 Polar 3. Determination of natural gel Harper/Love technical service team. He angle can be visualized as the point of starch will serve customers in southern difference between the machine 4. Calculating percent solids of California and western Arizona. Todd direction of the paper, and the starch adhesive offers HLA average orientation of fibers in the 5. The importance of carrier customers the benefit of more than 23 paper. solids in starch adhesive years in the corrugating industry, includ- 6. Harlocide and microbial ing 17 years as a corrugating supervisor. He lives in Corona, California, with wife resistance POLAR ANGLE. Brenda, son Taylor, and daughter 7. Board testing why do it? 8. Considerations in making wet-strength board 9. What level of waterproof? 10. Formulating in a closed- loop system N.