ASA Emulsifiers
Introduction
Because of its importance in the papermaking process, sizing has become the focus of modern wet end chemistry in alkaline papermaking. Alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) is one of the most frequently used alkaline sizes, as well as one of the most complex wet end additive applications. ASA is insoluble in water and, like other internal sizing agents, must be added to the furnish as an emulsion. One of the most distinct features of internal sizing with ASA is that emulsification must be performed on site. This is due to the instability of the anhydride moiety after the ASA is emulsified with water. To ensure the success of an ASA sizing process, NORCHEM has developed a series of ASA emulsifiers with unique particle size and distribution adjustability functions that can be fine-tuned, on-site, for optimization of the emulsification process. The production of a quality ASA emulsion is critical to the success of an ASA sizing process.
