To reduce all costs I want to prepare the glue in my mill. What is the better way to do that? What is the better glue? Is it Poly Phenyl Alcohol, Acetate, Yellow Dextrin or Ciliate?

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To reduce all costs I want to prepare the glue in my mill. What is the better way to do that? What is the better glue? Is it Poly Phenyl Alcohol, Acetate, Yellow Dextrin or Ciliate?

My recommendation would be a PVOH (Polyvinyl alcohol/clay mixture. You can purchase a pvoh/clay pre-mix in 50# bags or bulk sacks. This dry material comes pre-mixed and ready for use. You would require a vessel (kettle) to cook the material and a steam generator (boiler). The material is cooked (dissolved) in water with direct steam until it is totally converted from dry to liquid. This finished adhesive performs very well and should reduce overall cost in the long run.

This is a very hard question to answer without more detail on the processing and end-use requirements for the tubes. The properties of the different adhesive types you mention can be vastly different. For example:

  • Poly vinyl acetate (PVA) emulsions typically have very fast set speed and excellent adhesion, but rigidity is generally less than the other types mentioned, and wet-pound cost is usually higher.
  • Poly vinyl alcohol (pVOH)/clay cooks have moderate cost and are fairly versatile, but have more limited specific adhesion (ability to adhere difficult papers) than PVA, and tend to add more moisture into the finished tubes (dimensional stability, drying/staging time, moisture content issues).
  • Dextrins are moderate in cost, have good rigidity, and add moderate moisture to the finished tubes, but they have limited specific adhesion and generally slower set speed (trimmer issues).
  • Silicates have the lowest wet-lb. cost and a very rigid dry film, but have the most limitation in terms of set speed, specific adhesion, and contribution of moisture to the finished tubes. Inner and outer plies often require a different type of adhesive applied to hold the assembly together until silicate can dry.
  • The best starting point may be to prepare a clay/pVOH cook, and post-add some PVA resin emulsion ‘sweetener’. We would be happy to have a representative of our company contact you to help you develop a strategy to fit your and your customers’ needs.