Effects of metal surface morphology on deposition behavior of microstickies from papermaking white water

Deposition of small adhesive particles, called microstickies, onto pulp processing equipment and paper machines causes quality and operational problems for recycling mills. The factors that control deposition of microstickies onto surfaces of metal parts remain unclear. In this work, aluminum surfaces with a range of surface roughness were exposed to slurries containing micros-tickies. The deposition results showed that flat surfaces promote the aggregation and deposition of microstickies particles. Uneven surfaces tended to favor deposition of smaller microstickies, 0.2–1 μm, which may be related to greater contact area presented by the rougher surface. This work provides insights into the deposition of microstickies.