The process of making toilet paper from waste paper is a complex automated process that requires constant supervision by a specialist. Raw materials go through several meticulous processing stages before the final product is obtained from the starting material.
Nowadays, toilet paper is a necessary hygiene item in a person's daily life. That is why the production of this product is a very profitable business today. The profitability of the production of this hygiene item is explained not only by the great demand, but also by the availability of raw materials for its manufacture, namely waste paper. Inventing paper in the second century AD, the Chinese Tsai Lun could not even imagine that people would use it not only for writing and drawing, but also for other natural needs.
Toilet paper production technology
Several centuries passed from the introduction of ordinary paper, invented in the second century AD, to the production of toilet paper, until the first paper machine was patented in England in 1806. The Fourdinier brothers did it. Over time, this machine has become a complex, almost automated unit. The first roll of toilet paper was made in 1884.
A lot of time has passed since the appearance of the first toilet paper, and therefore the technology of its production is improving every year, but the principle of production remains unchanged. Toilet paper is made from both wood and waste paper (the second option is most often used).
Raw materials go through several stages of the production process:
-cleaning and grinding;
-washing;
- making sheets of paper and drying them;
-winding.
However, this is just a simple listing, the process itself looks much more complicated and requires strict adherence to all rules and production standards, because only in this case will the toilet paper be of high quality.
Making toilet paper
At the first stage of the production of toilet paper, the raw materials are cleaned from impurities and dirt. After that, the raw materials are crushed in a crushing apparatus with the addition of water. The resulting mass is sent to a metal mesh (sieve), through which the already crushed material is re-cleaned from foreign objects.
This is where the first stage of production ends and the second, rinsing, begins. The mixture purified through a sieve is sent to the rinsing tank, in which it goes through 2 stages of rinsing at once - washing with running tap water and return water. Depending on the duration of flushing, the future quality of toilet paper is determined - the longer, the better the final result will be. At the end of flushing, all the used water is drained into the sewer, the paper pulp is pumped into a storage tank, and then into a pressure tank.
After that, the most important, third stage of production begins. The pulp from the head tank is sent to the concentration regulator, where it is mixed with water up to 0.5%. The resulting water-paper mass is evenly poured onto the wire table of the paper machine, which consists of the same wire table, an inlet mechanism, a press, two dryers and a roller. Getting on the mesh table, the water-paper mass is dehydrated on a nylon conveyor belt. All the water released from the suspension flows into a special container for return water, which is used for washing the raw materials.
The dewatered pulp is removed from the conveyor net by pressing felt and then by the first drying drum. This drum is made of steel and rotates at a speed of 10-13 rpm, its surface is heated to 115 ° C by means of pressurized steam. Here the suspension is dried to 40% moisture, and then removed with a scraper knife. The strips cut with a knife are dried on the second drying drum until they are completely dry.
This completes the production of the paper itself and begins the fourth stage of production - winding the paper onto sleeves into bobbins. This process is handled by a special machine, which also makes perforations and drawings on toilet paper. The finished reels are cut into the usual rolls of toilet paper, which is the final process of its production. The finished rolls are packed and sent to the warehouse, from where the finished toilet paper is transported to wholesale and retail stores, i.e. to the final consumer.
