Abstract
Recycled fibers usually give slow drainage in the paper forming process, which limits the application of more refining to the recycled fibers for improving paper strength and formation. To use recycled fibers more effectively, especially OCC, developing very efficient handling technique of short fibers and fines is inevitable. We tried to make hard flocs of fractionated short fibers and fines, which were the main cause of slow drainage, by adding excessive amount of retention aid selectively on them. This technique was proved to increase drainage considerably, but to decrease strength properties, compared to the conventional technique of adding the same amount of polymers to the whole furnish in the lab test. The bonding capability of short fibers and fines in Korean OCC was very poor. Various chemical treatment on the short fibers and fines of the Korean OCC did not improve their bonding and optical properties. One of the reasons of no improvement in their properties was their high amount of ashes.