(Switzerland, June 29, 2016) Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals, has extended its range of cost-effective, concentrated optical brightening agents (OBAs) for printing and writing papers. The new urea-containing disulphonated OBA — Leucophor® ACS liq — is particularly suited for stock application and for use in coating formulations that contain PVOH, CMC or casein as a secondary binder.
Leucophor ACS liq is a newly developed chemistry that delivers a variety of benefits to papermakers worldwide. Archroma’s concentrated OBAs contain no environmentally harmful additives, and decrease OBA requirements for papermakers, thereby lowering their transport costs and carbon footprint. Fewer deliveries reduce the CO2 footprint and the potential for catastrophic spills; the product’s higher strength and thus concentrated form allows for better use of storage tanks; and the new chemistry involved helps to generate opportunities for application cost savings.
“Archroma’s experts developed this product to address customer demands for more options in this area,” according to Andrew Jackson, Global Product Manager Optical Brightening Agents, Paper Solutions Business, Archroma. “Three years ago we introduced the first grade in its range of concentrated OBAs – the urea-free Leucophor ACK liq – and ever since the products have earned high praise, especially in Europe. This is yet another demonstration that challenging the status quo in the deep belief that we can make our industry sustainable is the way to go, hand in hand with our customers.”
At the time of its launch, Leucophor ACK liq was the most concentrated, urea-free disulphonated liquid in the market. Since then more than 30 leading printing and writing paper producers have chosen to use it in their regular production. And many other producers currently are conducting their own promising trials.
Concentrated OBAs offer substantial sustainability benefits. Switching to Leucophor ACK in a wet-end application typically can reduce OBA use by 35%. Archroma has calculated that adoption of Leucophor ACK liq would typically reduce the carbon footprint for a mill’s OBA demand by 42 tons per year 1.
Leucophor ACK liq and Leucophor ACS liq play a key part within the company’s global portfolio of ultra-concentrated liquid OBAs, which already includes disulphonated Leucophor ALC liq, tetrasulphonated Leucophor T-125 liq, hexasulphonated Leucophor SKC liq and hexasulphonated Leucophor STR liq.
Leucophor is a trademark registered by Archroma in many countries. (Source: press release)