Abstract
Steeping process was investigated by means of floating pressure determination and following results were obtained.
1) Behavior of pulp sheet with regard to flotation in industrial steeping condition is estimated by the standard floating pressure determined experimentally using sheet sample of convenient magnitude.
2) Fairly long time is necessary for the completion of mercerization reaction of pulp in sheetform steeping, and its incompletion affects the properties of alkali cellulose and viscose produced therefrom. Extent of mercerization reaction in steeping process can be followed by the floating pressure determination.
3) Floating-up tendency of a pulp sheet is minimized at a proper lye filling speed, which varics with pulp sheet quality.
4) The higher the moisture content, the larger the floating-up tendency of pulp sheet is, in the range of moisture content 4-14%.
