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Foam forming of fiber products: a review

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Foam forming of fiber products: a review

Tuomo Hjelt, Jukka A. Ketoja, Harri Kiiskinen, Antti I. Koponen & Elina
Pääkkönen

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Technology, 43:10, 1462-1497, DOI: 10.1080/01932691.2020.1869035

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JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2022, VOL. 43, NO. 10, 1462–1497
https://doi.org/10.1080/01932691.2020.1869035

Foam forming of fiber products: a review

Tuomo Hjelt, Jukka A. Ketoja , Harri Kiiskinen , Antti I. Koponen , and Elina P€a€akko
€nen
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Espoo, Finland

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Aqueous foam can be used as a transfer medium to form lightweight materials from natural and Received 2 October 2020
man-made fibers together with other types of raw materials. This review discusses mechanisms Accepted 21 December 2020
that underlie the forming process and thus influence physical properties of formed fiber networks
KEYWORDS
such as microporous structure, strength behavior, and transport properties. Homogeneous fiber
Foam; fiber; structure;
materials can be formed from versatile raw materials, which makes the technology suitable for a product; process
vast range of product applications. An intriguing feature of the method is that the wet foam char-
acteristics provide an additional tool to tailor the performance of the dried material.
Understanding foam rheology and how that is affected by added fibers is important in developing
the forming process. We introduce both fundamental foam properties and practical forming meth-
ods, and show how the material properties are affected by the foam–fiber interaction. The basic
features of an industrial production process are also described. The potential material properties
are compared against key requirements in typical product applications.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Abbreviations: Ca: Capillary number; CCD: charge-coupled device; CD: cross-machine direction;
CMC: carboxymethyl cellulose; CNF: cellulose nanofiber; C-PAM: cationically modified poly(acryla-
mide); CTMP: chemithermomechanical pulp; 3D: three-dimensional; EPS: expanded polystyrene;
FD: freeze-drying; MD: machine direction; MFC: microfibrillated cellulose; MSP: metered size press;
PLA: polylactic acid; PVA: polyvinyl alcohol; Re: Reynolds number; SDS: sodium dodecyl sulfate;
SEM: scanning electron microscope; VAD: vacuum-dewatered air-drying; VFD: vacuum-assisted
dewatering followed by freeze-drying

1. Introduction handling very different kinds of raw materials such as long

fibers[10,18] or particles with varied densities. Moreover, the
Foam forming is a process that enables the making of a var-
iety of fiber products,[1] ranging from paper[2–6] and light- foam process is generally efficient in terms of raw material,
weight packaging[7] to nonwoven fabrics[8–10] and energy, and water use.[11] Foam forming opens up the possi-
insulation,[11–15] filtering[13,16,17] and construction materials. bility to develop novel applications with accurate material
In this method, the advantages of traditional water-forming layers, complex three-dimensional (3D) forms,[19,20] and tail-
technology are combined with the improved ability of ored microstructures.[21,22]

CONTACT Jukka A. Ketoja jukka.ketoja@vtt.fi VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, Espoo, FI-02044 VTT, Finland.
ß 2021 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1463

the production concept. Wet foams are extensively used, for

example, in foods and cosmetics. As for material applica-
tions, wet foams are used to produce porous biomaterials[32]
and ceramics,[33,34] and one of the most common applica-
tions of dry foams is found in the foam extrusion and foam
injection molding of polymer composites.[35] Besides foam
forming, foam coating is also being developed at the
moment.[36] In order to avoid severe moistening of the
coated material, the air content of the foam is usually much
Figure 1. The general structure of foams. Gas bubbles are surrounded by liquid higher (above 90%) in coating than in foam forming (below
that carries surfactant molecules. These molecules adhere to the liquid-gas 80%). There are different foam generation methods, which
interphase, improving its stability. give further options when developing these technologies.
Here, we limit ourselves to the most typical of them – mix-
The preparation of fiber products requires transferring ing and air injection – which lead to somewhat different
fibers and attaching them together into a network structure. bubble size distributions and thus can complement one
The most well-known example of this is papermaking, another in fundamental studies and real industrial processes.
where the above basic operations guarantee an annual rev- The structure of this review is as follows: In Section 2,
enue of ca. USD 1000 billion for forest product industries. we discuss the structural and rheological properties of wet
The 2000-year success of water forming comes from the fact foams as such and with added fibers. Section 3 follows this
that water acts simultaneously as a transfer medium and a up with a brief description of the laboratory forming meth-
glue for natural cellulose fibers. Because these fibers are ods and of the way the interaction between foam and fibers
hydroscopic and hydrophilic, water is able to swell and becomes visible in the process. Section 4 gives an overview
soften them to the extent that mechanical entanglement and of an analogous industrial production process. Section 5
short-range (<nm) interactions can bind their fibril surfaces considers traces of the forming method in the microporous
tightly together. The result is a strong but light, sustainable, structure and their effects on properties of the dried fiber
and biodegradable material such as paperboard. material. Section 6 summarizes how these specific properties
A drawback to water affinity is the tendency of fibers to can be used as assets in various product applications.
flocculate, showing up as heterogeneity in the formed mater- Finally, Section 7 provides a brief summary of the key
ial. A classic solution to partly avoid this problem is to cre- aspects of the technology and points out future
ate turbulent flow that breaks large flocs. This implies that a research directions.
fiber network forms via a random deposition process. This
leaves one with very limited control over structural details, 2. Properties of wet (fiber) foams
such as pore-size distribution, fiber orientation, or local
density. The consequence is that water-formed materials, 2.1. Structure of foams
despite their very large total market, are limited mainly to
Foam is a multi-phase system consisting of dispersed gas
applications where strength is the key product property. bubbles, a continuous liquid phase, and surfactants
Foam forming keeps water as a gluing element, but solves (Figure 1).[37] The role of surfactants is to stabilize the foam
the flocculation problem by using the bubble structure and by lowering the surface tension between the gas and liquid
rheological properties[23] of wet foam to keep fibers apart. phases. Emulsion, on the other hand, is a mixture of two
Thus, the flow of foam during forming can even be laminar, (or more) liquids that are normally immiscible. Foams and
still providing control over the distribution and orienta- emulsions are both stabilized by surfactant molecules that
tion[24,25] of the fibers. Moreover, foam stability affects final are adsorbed at the interfaces, and they have similar aging
material density,[12] and the average pore size can be tail- mechanisms. They also exhibit similar rheological behavior,
ored by adjusting the bubble size.[21] In other words, the and a scientific result obtained for one is often applicable to
foam itself provides a new toolbox for material engineering. the other.[38]
This toolbox includes factors like air content, bubble size, Depending on their air content u, aqueous foams are
foam stability and rheology, surface area, and air–water classified into three regions: bubbly liquids, wet foams, and
interface properties such as strength, elasticity, dry foams (Figure 2). In bubbly liquids, the bubbles are rela-
and adhesion. tively free to move and the system can be considered as an
A challenge in using the foam toolbox is that there are aqueous suspension of bubbles. When air content exceeds
several mutual interactions between foam and fibers. In par- the critical air content uc
0.64, a random monodisperse
ticular, adding fibers to the wet foam usually affects the foam experiences a “jamming transition”, familiar from
bubble size,[26,27] stability,[28–30] rheology,[23] and drain- granular materials.[39] Due to jamming, wet and dry foams
age[28] of the foam. Thus, it is highly important to under- have a yield stress, below which they behave elastically.
stand these interactions[31] and take them into account in One distinction between wet and dry foams comes from
the forming process. the shape of bubbles. Because of the lack of external shear
The type of forming method discussed here is not the forces, the bubbles are perfectly spherical in bubbly liquids,
only industrial process where foam plays an integral part in approximately spherical in wet foams, and dominantly
1464 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 2. Aqueous foams are classified into three regions: bubbly liquids, wet foams, and dry foams. The curves show the qualitative behavior of foam viscosity
(with a constant shear rate), yield stress, and drainage rate as the function of air content at a constant temperature. The foam experiences a jamming transition at
u
0.64. Above this air content, the foam has a yield stress. The distinction between wet and dry foams is not uniquely defined.

polyhedral in dry foams. As the shape of bubbles deforms volume has drained away as water. Traditionally, rather sta-
gradually with increasing air content, the distinction between ble foams have been preferred in foam forming with a half-
wet and dry foams is not uniquely defined. For example, life time of typically several minutes.[45] Half-life time
Drenckhan and Hutzler[40] and Sun et al.[41] suggest u ¼ 0.85 increases with increasing air content and decreasing bubble
and u ¼ 0.88 as the transition value, respectively. As classical size. These in turn can be controlled by mixing energy and
foam research is dominated by very dry foams, many sources the concentration of surfactant. Half-life time can be
have a much higher limit for dry foams as, for example, increased by decreasing temperature, increasing the viscosity
u ¼ 0.99 given by Weaire et al.[42] On the other hand, the air of the fluid, or by using a foam stabilization chemical.
content in reported foam-forming studies varies in the range The bubble size, air content, and half-life time of foams
of 30–80%, being typically 50–70%. Therefore, the foams used used in forming depend on many process parameters such
in foam forming are either bubbly liquids or wet foams. as generation method (tank and/or in-line generation),
In addition to air content, the bubble size (or bubble size device geometry, mixing power and duration, surfactant
distribution) is another important parameter for characteriz- type and dosage, and fiber consistency.[26,27,45,46] Here, the
ing foams. For each bubble diameter distribution di term consistency refers to the mass fraction of the solid
(i ¼ 1, :::, nÞ, one can calculate a volume average diameter fibers in the water suspension before mixing the foam. Some
DV, of these complex dependencies are discussed in Section 3.
Pn !1=3 Figure 3 shows two images of wood fibers in foam. We
ni di3
DV ¼ Pni¼1
, [1] see that the spatial restrictions due to bubbles affect the
i¼1 ni location, shape, and orientation of fibers, but the fibers do
which is related to the number of bubbles, and a volume- not penetrate through the bubble interfaces. In Figure 3
surface or Sauter diameter DS[43] some bubbles appear to be attached to fibers. This indicates
Pn that bubbles have an affinity to fiber surfaces.[31,47] The
ni di3
DS ¼ Pi¼1
n 2, [2] fibers inside the foam are thus locked between the bubbles
i¼1 ni di so that direct collisions between fibers become rarer. This is
which is related to the total interfacial area per unit volume. the key mechanism that explains the improved homogeneity
The flow behavior is dominated by DV for dilute emulsions (in papermaking called “formation”[48]) achieved with foam
and by DS for concentrated emulsions.[44] In this review, we forming as compared to the water forming process.
mostly consider the Sauter diameter, denoting it as D. In
foams used generally for foam forming, DS varies typically
2.2. Drainage and stability of foams
in the range of 50–150 lm.[45]
Another important parameter is the half-life time of the Foam drainage depends generally on the rate of liquid flow
foam, that is, the time during which half of the foam downwards due to gravity, coarsening (increase in average
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1465

Figure 3. Wood fibers in foam. The spatial restrictions due to bubbles affect the location, shape, and orientation of the fibers. Reprinted with permission from
Ref. [45].

bubble size due to pressure-difference-driven gas diffusion behavior of the drainage changes, and the drainage rate
from small to large bubbles), and the rate of foam destruc- increases rapidly with increasing liquid fraction (Figure 2).[45]
tion due to bubble coalescence. In wet and dry foams, liquid Koponen et al.[45] also studied the drainage of foams in
moves during drainage through a rigid bubble matrix; in pilot conditions with softwood fibers included. SDS concen-
bubbly liquids bubbles are relatively free to move and the tration was varied in the interval 10–180 ppm, and air con-
drainage can (initially) also be considered as an upward tent in the range of 30–70%. It was found that the half-life
motion of bubbles due to hydrostatic pressure. The foam time of the process foam followed the power law
drainage plays an important role in foam stability. When
t1=2 ¼ acSDS en þ b, [4]
the foam dries, the liquid films become thinner and they
can break, leading to the foam collapse. Unfortunately, most where cSDS is the SDS content in ppm, and a ¼ 0.33, b ¼ 50
drainage studies have concentrated on foams with air con- and n ¼ 1.9 are regression coefficients. Note that even
tent higher than 80% and are not directly applicable to though the air content changes during the half-life time
foams used for foam forming.[41,49–51] measurement, this result is similar to Equation (3); even the
In dry foams, the liquid is located between the bubbles in obtained value of power n is similar. It is likely that in
the Plateau borders and in the nodes connecting them Equation (4) the effect of SDS content on the half-life time
(Figure 1). Stevenson[52] used dimensional analysis to show was largely due to it affecting the bubble size.
that when inertial effects, coarsening, and coalescence are The foam and emulsion stability has been studied quite a
neglected, the dimensionless drainage rate ~j of homogeneous lot in the presence of small particles. In that case, they are
foams follows a power law called Pickering foams/emulsions.[53] However, in addition to
the results discussed above,[45] there are only a few studies
~j ¼ 4l0 j ¼ men , [3]
qw gD2 where the stability of fiber-laden foams has been studied. Mira
et al.[46] studied foams made with SDS and six other surfac-
where e is liquid volume fraction, j is drainage rate, l0 is tants. They also studied similar foams with added chemither-
the viscosity of the surfactant solution, qw is the density of momechanical (CTMP) fibers at 1.5 wt%. Examples of drained
liquid, g is acceleration due to gravity, and D is the average liquid volumes as a function of time are shown for various
bubble diameter. The values of the dimensionless parameters pure SDS foams and SDS–CTMP foams in Figure 4. The sta-
m and n depend on the relative strength of viscous losses in bility of foam improved with increasing SDS concentration,
the Plateau borders (due to surface shear viscosity) to vis- until the critical micelle concentration was exceeded. The pres-
cous losses in the nodes (as a result of shear viscosity). ence of fibers was found to slow down the drainage.
Stevenson found that Equation (3) worked very well with Li et al.[54] made fiber-laden foams from unrefined pine
experimental data sets of various foams found in the literature fibers by using water-soluble modified lignin as a foaming
(here liquid volume fraction was always smaller than 0.2). For agent. The fibers increased the stability of the foam signifi-
various foams made with anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) cantly: The half-life time of fiber-laden foams (at 0.6% con-
surfactant, the fitted value of n was approximately 2 and m centration) was 10 times that of the pure foam. This
varied between 0.01 and 0.02. In the work of Koponen behavior was accounted for by fibers limiting bubble col-
et al.,[45] drainage was studied at laboratory scale with bubbly lapse and the smaller bubble size of the fiber-laden foams.
liquids and wet SDS foams, with softwood fibers included. It Haffner et al.[28] studied the drainage of SDS foams with
was discovered that Equation (3) also worked in the range of bleached Kraft fibers up to 2% mass concentrations. They
0:25 < e < 0:5: The drainage rate thus seems to follow found that during the first five minutes, the observed slow-
Equation (3) whenever the liquid volume fraction is smaller down of drainage with the presence of fibers was due to the
than 0.5. With higher liquid volume fractions, the qualitative corresponding foams having a decreased bubble size. With
1466 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 4. Time-evolution of drained liquid volume of (a) pure SDS foams and (b) foams with added chemithermomechanical (CTMP) fibers. The volume of the
foaming liquid was 3 l. Critical micelle concentration was 2.3 g/l. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [46]. The measurement setup is shown in (c), where drained
liquid is seen in the bottom of the vessel.

on dry foams. There is much less information on wet foams

and bubbly liquids. Fortunately, rheological results obtained for
emulsions can usually also be applied to foams.[38,63,64]
The accurate measurement of foam rheology is often chal-
lenging due to drainage of foam and slip flow on walls. For
bubbly liquids, another problem is the tendency of bubbles to
migrate to the upper parts of the measurement device due to
hydrostatic pressure. The rheology of particle-laden foams has
mainly been studied with small particles.[65,66] There are few
studies where the particle size is similar to or bigger than the
bubble size. The rheology of fiber-laden foams has only been
Figure 5. When shearing foam slowly, the foam initially behaves elastically and
studied by J€asberg et al.[23,67]
stress increases linearly. Finally, a plastic limit is achieved, at which the first The rheology of foams can be split into three parts: yield
structural changes occur and the foam yields. When foam has yielded, the stress stress behavior, bulk rheology, and boundary layer behavior.
drops to a slightly lower level and the foam behaves like a liquid.[42]
All of these are important in practical applications.
higher drainage times, the presence of fibers was found to
slow down drainage considerably.
We can conclude that at low fiber consistencies (a few 2.3.1. Yield stress
percent), the total area of fiber surfaces is very small when Yield stress sy is a material property defined as the stress at
compared to the bubble surfaces. The viscous friction caused which the material begins to deform plastically. Prior to the
by fibers is thus minimal when compared to viscous losses yield point, the material deforms elastically, returning to its
original shape, when the (applied) stress is relaxed. Above
due to bubble surfaces – at least during the initial part of
the yield point, some structural changes are permanent and
drainage. Later fibers slow down drainage by limiting the
nonreversible. Figure 5 shows a typical stress–strain curve
coarsening and coalescence of bubbles due to attraction
when a viscoplastic fluid, such as foam, is sheared slowly.
between the fibers and bubbles.
When foam has yielded, the stress drops to a slightly lower
The stability of fiber-laden foams can be improved, not only
limiting level.
with a higher surfactant concentration but also by including
Jamming transition is the point when, for example, sus-
new substituents to the foam. Cervin et al.[55] studied the effect
pended bubbles in foam begin to have permanent contact
of octylamine-coated, rod-shaped nanofibrillated cellulose on the
with several of their neighbors. Monodisperse foam experi-
stability of foam. The lifetime of the aqueous foam was signifi- ences a jamming transition when its air content exceeds uc
cantly longer compared to that of a non-stabilized foam. They ¼ 64%, above which it has a yield stress, see Figure 2.[39]
were able to make cellulose-based material with a porosity of The above threshold corresponds to the maximum volume
98% without freeze drying (FD). Also in Ref. [56] foams con- fraction of randomly packed identical spheres. In slightly
taining cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were found to have improved polydisperse foams, which are typically generated by many
stability due to CNF forming aggregates in the Plateau borders foaming techniques,[40] the critical air content increases
and nodes of the foam, which slowed down liquid drainage and slightly from 64%.[68]
bubble growth and thus improved foam stability. Rouyer et al.[69] studied oscillatory flows of foams and
foam flow on an inclined plane. Their measurement data
could be described with the simple formula sy ¼ Aðu  uc Þ2
2.3. Rheology
with A ¼ 667 Pa. They also obtained excellent data collapse
The rheology of foams has been a topic of intensive research with earlier oscillatory studies when normalizing yield stress
for a long time.[57–62] However, the studies have concentrated by the elastic shear modulus of foam, G0:
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1467

Figure 6. Viscosity behavior of wet foams: (a) Relative viscosity of foam with air content of 30% as a function of capillary number (Ca) given by a foam model of
Pal.[75] Viscosity is strongly dependent on Ca only in the narrow region where the dynamic regime changes (Ca
O(1)). (b) Above the air content of 50%, viscosity
and shear thinning behavior of foam increase rapidly with increasing air content.[76]

sy u  uc  
l u
¼ 0:39 : [5] lr ¼ ¼ A exp , [8]
G0 u l0 1u
They argued that the observed differences between the where lr is the relative viscosity of foam, and A is dimen-
yield stress values obtained from oscillatory data and those sionless constant.[44,73]
deduced from steady shear experiments were due to shear When Ca is non-negligible and the bubbles deform due
banding taking place in steady shear experiments. Note that to shear, Ca must be included in the rheological models.
the elastic shear modulus of foam increases with decreasing Llewellin et al.[74] reviewed several datasets found in the lit-
bubble size. Yield stress thus increases with decreasing bub- erature and concluded that viscosity is largely independent
ble size.
of Ca when Ca  1 or Ca  1: Viscosity is strongly
dependent on Ca only in the narrow region where the
2.3.2. Bulk rheology of foam dynamic regime changes (Ca
O(1)). Figure 6a shows as
The bulk rheology of foam is a very complex phenomenon. It an example the prediction for lr ðCaÞ, given by a foam
depends on many parameters such as air content, surfactant model of Pal,[75] used by Llewellin et al.[74] for the analysis
type and concentration, and bubble size. Moreover, as dis- of the pipe flow of foam.
cussed above, foams may exhibit yield stress behavior, and Above air content of 50%, viscosity and shear thinning
bubbles may either stay approximately spherical or they may behavior of foam increase rapidly with increasing air content
deform under shear. Due to high compressibility of foams, (Figures 2 and 6b). When the capillary number is small, the
induced pressure may alter the foam behavior significantly. shear stress of foams, with a given air content, is then well
Similarly to suspensions of non-Brownian spherical par- represented by the Herschel–Bulkley equation
ticles, the rheological behavior of foams with low and mod-
s ¼ sy þ Kcn , [9]
erate air content (u < 56%)[70] is Newtonian when the
bubble Reynolds number where s is shear stress, sy is yield stress, c is shear rate, K is
cqD 2 consistency index, and n is power law index. Yield stress is
Re ¼ [6] often omitted from Equation (9) as it is typically small com-
l0
pared to the applied stress. One can then alternatively write
is well below one,[71] and the capillary number
l ¼ Kcn1 : [10]
Dcl0
Ca ¼ [7] where l is suspension viscosity. Figure 7a shows as an
r example the viscosity of an SDS foam as a function of shear
is below 0.05.[44] Here, D is the average bubble diameter, l0 rate with air content of 70% together with corresponding fit
is the viscosity of the continuum (liquid) phase, c is shear by Equation (10).
rate, q is the density of the continuum phase, and r is sur- We see in Figure 7a that the inclusion of hardwood fibers
face tension. The capillary number reflects the deformation or microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) does not change the
of bubbles in the shear field. Subject to the above-mentioned power law index of the foam. The solids, however, have
limitations, the viscosity of foams can be described as a here a significant effect on the consistency index and thus
function of air content with equations derived originally for on viscosity. The consistency index increases by 100% with
suspensions, or some modifications of them.[72] One possi- 2% of added hardwood fibers, whereas the effect on foam
bility is viscosity coming from synthetic fibers of a similar size
1468 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 7. Effect of added fibers on foam viscosity: (a) Viscosity vs. shear rate for pure foam, fiber-laden foam (2% hardwood), and 2.5% MFC-laden foam. Air content
is 70%, bubble size is ca. 50 mm, temperature is 25  C, and molar concentration of SDS is 8.5 mM/l.[67] (b) VTT’s foam rheology measurement setup used for obtain-
ing data of (a).

(rayon) is minimal.[67] Moreover, the induced changes in slip is significant. J€asberg et al.[67] also studied the slip
bubble size are much stronger for the hardwood fibers than behavior for foams laden with 3.5 wt.% MFC and 2 wt.%
for synthetic fibers.[27] This suggests a different type of rayon fibers. Rayon fibers did not affect the slip behavior.
interaction with the bubbles for the two types of fibers. It is With MFC, the slip velocity was only slightly lower than for
possible that the interaction is stronger for the hardwood pure foam.
fibers because of their chemical heterogeneity (amphiphilic-
ity) and trapped air (nanobubbles) on rough fiber surfa-
ces.[31,77] On the other hand, the addition of 2.5% of MFC 2.3.4. Flow of foam in real geometries
increases the consistency index by 25%. The small size of Assuming that yield stress is higher than slip stress, there are
MFC fibers limits their ability to distribute momentum, three different possibilities for the laminar pipe flow of foam
while hardwood fibers can interact simultaneously with tens (Figure 9). When wall shear stress is below the slip stress, there
or even hundreds of bubbles. is no flow (Figure 9a). When wall shear stress exceeds the slip
stress, the foam flows as a plug; there is slipping on the walls,
but no shearing in the bulk of foam (Figure 9b). When wall
2.3.3. Wall slip shear stress exceeds the yield stress, the foam starts to shear;
Foams are prone to wall slip, which refers to the sliding inside the pipe there is a plug flow region, which decreases
motion of foam bubbles along a smooth wall such as that of with increasing wall shear stress (Figure 9c). The determination
a pipe. Slipping is due to foam creating a liquid film a few of the flow rate of foam thus requires realistic models for slip
micrometers thick on the wall (Figure 8a). In the analogy to flow, yields stress, and the viscous behavior of foam.[74,82–85]
yield stress, there is slip stress ssy, below which the foam In the foam-forming process, in addition to pipes and
does not slip. The thickness of the slip layer generally other plant geometries, foam flow takes place through the
increases with increasing wall shear stress and decreasing air filtered sheet in the forming section. In this case, the flow
content. The slip also depends on the wall material – foam dynamics are reminiscent of foam flow through a fibrous
slips in glass and acryl pipes, but not in steel pipes, probably porous medium. The flow of foam in the filtered sheet was
due to wetting and surface roughness.[65] Slip may increase studied by Lehmonen et al.[86] with a vacuum-assisted sheet
the flow rate of foam significantly, and it has been studied former. Figure 10a shows the dewatering time in this device
intensively for pure foams.[78–81] as a function of vacuum level for water-laid and foam-laid
There are only a few studies on the slip behavior of fiber- forming. In water forming, the dewatering time is seen to be
laden foams. In the work of J€asberg et al.,[23] the slip of almost constant at all vacuum levels. This is expected; due
foam was studied both with and without hardwood fibers. to sheet compression, the hydrodynamic resistance of the
Figure 8b shows the thickness of the liquid film for pure sheet increases with water approximately linearly with the
and fiber-laden foams, and Figure 8c shows the slip velocity increasing vacuum level. In foam forming, dewatering time
as a function of wall shear stress. The slip velocity seems to decreases with increasing vacuum. At the lowest vacuum
depend approximately linearly on the wall shear stress. We level, dewatering time is on average 50% higher in foam
also see that the slip velocity and the thickness of the slip forming than in water forming, but with higher vacuum lev-
layer are higher for the pure foam. The fibers probably els dewatering times of water and foam forming are similar.
decrease the flow of water along the bubble Plateaus to the The relatively fast dewatering observed with foam (Figure
slip layer. Figure 8d shows the contribution of slip to the 10) is surprising.[87] The viscosity of foam is 1–2 decades
total flow rate. With low shear stress, the contribution of higher than for water and shear thinning of foam is unlikely
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1469

Figure 8. Wall slip behavior of foams: (a) Velocity profile of foam in a pipe (red curve). Slip flow of foams is due to a thin layer of pure liquid of thickness d gener-
ated at the pipe walls. Slip velocity vslip increases with increasing d: (b) The thickness of the slip film for pure foam and fiber-laden foam. (c) Slip velocity as a func-
tion of wall shear stress for pure foam and fiber-laden foam. (d) The contribution of slip to the total flow rate. Air content was 70%, bubble size was 50 mm,
temperature was 25  C, and molar concentration of SDS was 8.5 mM/l. The diameter of the glass pipe was 15 mm.[23]

Figure 9. The flow regimes of foam when ssy < sy : (a) Wall shear stress is below slip stress. There is no flow. (b) Wall shear stress exceeds the slip stress. There is
plug flow of foam. (c) Wall shear stress exceeds the yield stress. The foam starts to shear. There is plug flow in the middle of the pipe.

a sufficient explanation for this. Figure 10b shows a sche- foam behaves as a continuum fluid and has a well-defined
matic of two limiting cases of the flow of foam in a porous viscosity. On the other hand, if the bubbles are bigger than
material. If the pores are clearly bigger than the bubbles, the the pores, the flow consists of the movement of individual
1470 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 10. Dewatering of wet foams: (a) Dewatering time in vacuum-assisted sheet forming as a function of vacuum level for water-laid and foam-laid forming.[86]
(b) Foam flow in a fibrous porous material is a combination effect of bulk foam viscosity and bubble distortion.[88] Reprinted from Ref. [86] under the terms of the
CC BY 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

bubbles and bubble deformations. Lemmen and Wassink[88] case of water forming. On one hand, foam damps the turbu-
studied the flow of foam through metal screens. They found lence effects in pipes and at the forming section during con-
that the theoretical values of pressure loss calculated using tinuous web production. On the other hand, laboratory
the measured rheological behavior of foam was too high by devices used for foam forming orient fibers in the same way
a factor of two when compared with experiments. They con- as a large-scale machine process. The procedure for making
cluded that foam flow in a porous material is a combinative foam-laid handsheets varies depending on the purpose, but
effect of foam viscosity and bubble distortion. Hirasaki and some basic features are repeated similarly and are intro-
Lawson[89] found that the apparent viscosity of foam duced below.
decreased by a factor of 104 when the ratio of bubble radius
to capillary radius, rB =R, increased from 0.1 to 10. With
rB =R ¼ 10 the apparent viscosity of foam was found to be 3.1. Mixing effects on generated foam structure
60% below that of water. Indeed, during forming the average There are different methods to produce aqueous foam, such
pore diameter of the filtered fiber sheet can be smaller than as (1) blowing gas through a nozzle or an array of nozzles
the typical diameter of bubbles and the foam flow is likely into a liquid, (2) sparging gas through a porous membrane,
to be dominated by bubble deformations. (3) shaking or blending the liquid, or (4) producing foam
through gas nucleation.[37] However, for foam forming, the
required foam suspension is usually generated by the mech-
3. Foam as a transfer medium
anical mixing of water, pulp fibers, and foaming agent
As explained in the previous chapter, wet foam can be (Figure 11).
effectively used as a medium, with tunable viscosity, to carry Besides having good foaming properties, added surfactant
fibers into a formed structure. Like in any process and prod- should preferably be biodegradable, present low toxicity in
uct development, proper laboratory devices are important in aqueous environments and be compatible with other chemi-
simulating this process. In the paper and board industry, cals of the process. Surfactant molecules consist of a hydro-
almost all product development begins with laboratory-made phobic hydrocarbon chain and a hydrophilic head group.
sheets. The procedure is well described and standardized. Besides the most common anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate
However, the merits of laboratory sheet-making when com- (SDS, C12H25SO4Na),[90] there are also many other options
pared to real paper-machine production have been under a for foaming agent.[91–94] Industrially interesting examples
constant debate. There are many differences between labora- are nonionic polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate
tory and machine-made paper. Perhaps the most important (Tween 20), nonionic alkyl glucosides or alkyl polyglucosides
of them is related to the orientation of fibers. In laboratory (APGs), and nonionic polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH or PVA).
sheets, fibers are orientated randomly, whereas the continu- The advantage of SDS is that it enables achieving high air
ous web forming orients fibers in the machine direc- content at low concentration due to its small molecular
tion (MD). weight. A drawback of anionic surfactants like SDS is their
In foam forming, the structures of laboratory sheets and sensitivity to water hardness.[90] That can be avoided by
machine-made webs resemble one another more than in the mixing SDS with other surfactants.
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1471

Figure 11. Foam generation at different scales: (a) A laboratory vessel with bubble size imaging, where one disk with two opposing bends is used as the blade in a
mixer (Netzsch, Hedensted, Denmark). Rotation speed can vary, being typically 2000–7000 RPM, depending on pulp consistency and targeted air content. Typical
pulp consistency before foaming is 1–4%, and foaming time varies from 1 to 20 minutes. (b) On a larger pilot scale, foam generation can be done in a pulper.

At the beginning of mixing, a vortex appears in the an increasing total interface area of bubbles. If the concen-
center of a vessel. Usually the mixing is continued until tration of surfactant is too low,[96] the amount of surfactant
the targeted air content (50–70%) is reached or the vor- molecules is too small to stabilize all bubbles. As a conse-
tex closes. Air content is perhaps the most important quence, some bubbles break down and the air content
quality parameter, but other foam properties discussed in decays. Thus, increasing rotation speed might cause poor
Section 2 such as bubble size or half-life time can be fol- foam quality if the amount of surfactant is not increased as
lowed as well. Only a small fraction of the mixing energy well. The added fibers can further enhance this effect due to
is used to generate the actual foam structure. Almost all increased shear forces as shown in Figure 13a. In the
of the energy is dissipated as heat. In industrial applica- unstable region, fibers have only a minor effect.
tions, the efficiency of foam generation is important. The To better understand this behavior, the effect of changing
mixing efficiency can be improved, for example, by a surface tension needs to be considered in addition to the
proper choice of the mixing impeller(s) or by taking rotation speed and air content. Al-Qararah et al.[26] derived
advantage of dynamic foam generation instead of batch the following equation for the bubble diameter to describe
operation.[95] this mutual dependency between different properties of the
Al-Qararah et al.[26] studied how the mixing speed and generated foam:
the amount of surfactant affected mean bubble size and
r
foam density. These foam properties are shown in later D    [11]
chapters to play an important role in defining the density of N 1
u 1
the formed material and the ability to, for example, handle
very long fibers in the process. Figure 12 shows the meas- where r is the surface tension and u air content of the
ured air content as a function of rotation speed N for differ- foam. Figure 13b compares the predicted bubble size
ent SDS concentrations. The results shows two distinct flow obtained with Equation (11) with experimental data. The
regions: When the rotation speed is less than 5500 RPM, the agreement is very good.
final air content does not depend on the surfactant concen- As shown in Figure 13a, kraft fibers clearly affect the
tration. Above 5500 RPM, the air content becomes sensitive mean bubble size in the regular flow regime. To study this
to the surfactant concentration. Between these two regimes, more carefully, Figure 14 shows bubble size distributions for
the flow changes qualitatively from rather regular pure foam, foam with kraft pulp, and foam with viscose
(N < 5500 RPM) to chaotic (N > 5500 RPM), with visible ver- fibers. Foam with added kraft pulp differs clearly from the
tical flow patterns for the chaotic flow. Adding kraft fibers other two. This indicates an interaction between kraft fibers
does not change the flow behavior much (Figure 12b). The and foam bubbles. Foam with viscose fibers has a very simi-
threshold rotation speed decreases slightly to N ¼ 5000 RPM lar bubble size distribution to the pure foam, indicating
with added fibers, and the effect of varied consistency (mass much smaller interaction between viscose fibers and foam
fraction of the solid fibers in the water suspension before bubbles. The biggest differences between kraft and viscose
mixing the foam) is very small. fibers are surface chemistry and roughness together with the
A possible explanation for this behavior is the amount of amount of small particles and fibrils (called fines), and
surfactant needed to stabilize foam bubbles. When N and released non-cellulosics from natural wood fibers.[97] The
thus shear rate are increased, the Sauter diameter decreases kraft pulp is associated with a significant proportion of fines,
(Figure 13a) to compensate changes caused by other param- and the fiber surfaces are rough and chemically heteroge-
eters in the capillary number (Equation (7)). This leads to neous. On the other hand, the surface of a viscose fiber is
1472 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 12. Effect of added fibers on air content in mixing: (a) Air content of pure foam as a function of rotation speed N for SDS concentrations 0.2 g/l, 0.3 g/l,
0.7 g/l, and 1.0 g/l. (b) Similar to (a), but with added kraft pulp with consistency of 0.33% and 0.66% for the SDS concentrations 0.2 g/l and 0.7 g/l.[26]

Figure 13. Mean bubble size in mixing: (a) Sauter diameter as a function of mixing speed N for both pure foams and those with added kraft pulp for two different
surfactant concentrations. (b) Measured mean bubble size vs. the prediction of Equation (11) for pure foams. The air content varies between 0.6 and 0.82 among
the shown data.[26]

3.2. Laboratory forming

When the fiber foam suspension is ready, the mixing is

stopped and the wet fiber foam is poured into a modified
handsheet mold, where the flow is directed onto a forming
fabric (or wire). It is possible to use similar forming fabrics as
in water forming. Foam is often decanted into the handsheet
mold using a tilted plate, which orients fibers along the flow
direction. In this case, the usual ratio of tensile indices in
machine and cross-machine direction is about 2. If foam was
poured to the center of the mold directly from a container,
Figure 14. Area-weighted bubble size distribution for pure foam (blue dia-
the foam would spread radially along the fabric, causing circu-
monds, solid curve), foam with viscose fibers (black circles, dotted curve), and lar patterns in the formed sheet. The working procedure for
foam with kraft pulp (red crosses, dashed curve). The rotation speed is the foam-laid handsheets is described in Figure 15.
4000 RPM and the SDS concentration is 0.3 g/l. The curves are Gaussian distribu-
tions fitted to the data.[27]
In a mold, gravity drives the drainage of foam through
the forming fabric, which for some applications can be
rather smooth, and the lack of fines and chemical surface speeded up by vacuum-assisted dewatering. If the target is
heterogeneity[31] can cause the interaction with bubbles to to make thin sheets, the effect of the vacuum can be further
be minor. enhanced by putting a plastic film on top of the foam. On
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1473

Figure 15. The working procedure for the foam-laid handsheets: (a) Fiber foam is decanted into the handsheet mold; (b) fiber orientation is controlled with foam
flow determined by a tilted plate and the gap between this plate and a mold boundary; (c) foam-forming handsheet mold before foam removal.

the other hand, making thick and highly porous structures of such structures whose density can be as low as
allows the application of only very gentle or no vacuum at 5 kg/m3.[25]
all. Density differences in the structure can be created by To save energy, as much water as possible should be
first applying a short vacuum pulse and then letting gravity removed from the fiber network through drainage before
drain the rest of the free water from a sample. In this way, any heat application.[100] A higher solids content after drain-
the structure becomes denser on the wire side than the age can be achieved by increasing the initial pulp consist-
top side. ency or by increasing the mold height. The shrinkage of
When making fairly thin sheets, a wet sheet and forming samples during drainage is then only slightly higher than
fabric are both removed from the mold. Pre-drying the wet the volume of the drained water. Drainage rate and final
sheet on a special suction table is optional. This operation consistency can also be increased with a vacuum, or by
mimics the role of vacuum boxes in a paper machine, and using hot foam, but this can lead to severe sample compres-
helps remove the free water from the structure and speeding sion. However, a light vacuum of the order of one kilopascal
up the drying phase. The operation also applies some pres- can be used to fasten the dewatering stage without signifi-
sure on the structure, densifying it slightly. The resulting cant compression.
sheets can be wet-pressed and dried in the same way as Drying of the low-density laboratory sheets is usually
standard water-laid handsheets. J€arvinen et al.[98,99] show done in an oven. To find a more efficient drying technique,
that foam-formed sheets often recover better from compres- Timofeev et al.[101] carried out tests with several different
sion and have lower density after wet pressing than similar drying methods for softwood kraft pulp samples. After
water-formed sheets. 15 min of drainage, moisture content was 13–14 kg water/kg
dry solids. They tested convective drying in an oven,
impingement drying assisted with a vacuum, and combined
3.3. Preparation of low-density thick fiber structures
impingement-infrared drying as well as through-air drying.
If the aim is to make highly porous, lightweight structures, The combined drying method turned out to be the most
the procedure differs from the one used for paper-like promising technique, in which the drying rate was highest
sheets. After making a thick sample, the targeted thickness and shrinkage was lowest compared to the other techniques.
and density are usually adjusted in a separate phase. This At a certain moisture content level, the sample appeared to
includes rewetting the dried samples again by water spraying become permeable for the air flow through it. From that
and then pressing them to the target thickness manually or point onward, one could use through-air drying to speed up
with the help of a pressing device. The obtained structure is the final drying. The drying rate was lowest in an oven,
then dried – for example, in an oven. This procedure to where the speed depended strongly on the air temperature.
make lightweight cellulose structures is presented in Figure By increasing the air temperature from 90 to 150  C, the
16. In Section 5.2, there is more discussion on the properties drying rate could be doubled. However, high temperatures
1474 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 16. The procedure of making lightweight structures: (a) After dewatering, the wet sample is removed from the mold with the forming fabric, and the rest of
the water is evaporated in an oven (70–105  C) for about 12–24 h. This results in highly porous fibrous structures with a thickness of 10–100 mm. Density depends
mainly on consistency and air content. (b) Dried sample made from chemithermomechanical (CTMP) and softwood kraft pulps. (c) A foam-formed CTMP structure
having higher density on the side of the forming fabric (wire).

might lead to degradation of surfactant (indicated by a color approximately 2% macroscopic shrinkage of the formed pro-
change from white to brown). totypes during drying.
Other drying methods for foam-formed samples were
tested by Korehei et al.,[102] with an interest in FD, vacuum-
4. Manufacturing process operations
dewatered air-drying (VAD) as well as in vacuum-assisted
dewatering followed by freeze-drying (VFD). VFD was used The pioneering work on foam-laid webs was carried out by
only in the last part of the drying process to reduce drying Bronislaw Radvan et al. in the 1960s[1,104] and early 70s at
time and costs and to maintain the porous structure. They the Wiggins Teape Research & Development Laboratories,
noticed that the lowest density and the most open structure Beaconsfield, UK.[2,3,105] Their original goal was to better
was achieved with the FD method. The highest compression understand the forming mechanisms and to create bulky
strength properties were achieved with VAD samples, and fiber structures. In laboratory-scale experiments, they found
the VFD sample properties were between those of the other that a good fiber dispersion and an exceptionally good sheet
two techniques. The VFD samples had a lower density than uniformity was achieved when a viscous foam was used as a
the FD samples and had their compression properties carrier fluid.[76] After a few decades in late 2000s, interest in
between the corresponding values obtained for the FD and foam-forming technology was raised again, and several
VAD samples. pilot-scale studies have been published during the last 10
years.[4–6,18,45,106–108]

3.4. Foam molding of 3D shapes 4.1. Unit operations on a manufacturing line

Foam forming enables the production of porous 3D shapes A manufacturing line of water-laid webs typically consists of
that can be used for various purposes, like packaging or different unit operations or sections. The first manufacturing
interior decorative acoustic elements; see examples in Figure process is the furnish preparation, which typically comprises
17. The product shape can be set during the manufacturing refining, mixing, screening, and dilution processes.
phase, for example, by placing obstacles against the forming Typically, some papermaking chemicals such as sizing or
fabric that affect foam/water flow or by using specially- retention agents and non-organic filler materials are mixed
designed molds. into a suspension before the forming section. Prepared fiber
H€ark€asalmi et al.[19] tested different mold types to make suspension is fed into a forming section through a headbox,
foam-formed materials into various 3D forms. The molding which distributes the very dilute (consistency from 0.1% to
was done using a similar technique to that used in molded 1.5%) fiber–water suspension evenly in a cross-MD. On a
pulp production. Different molds were produced, for forming section, most of the water is removed by means of
example, from gypsum, polystyrene, and 3D-printed polylac- gravity and vacuum. On modern machines, the dewatering-
tic acid (PLA). The mold penetration channels affected the forming process is completely (gab formers) or partly
formed surface textures. Large holes speeded up drainage (hybrid formers) two-sided. After the forming section, the
but also left stronger marking on the product surface. solids content is in the order of 20%, and the next step is
Dimensional stability was improved with restricted drying, mechanical pressing between the press felts on a press sec-
where the kraft fiber structure was kept between two molds tion. A press section may consist of several press nips or
until the fibers were no longer wet. This led to an longer shoe nips. After the press section, the solids content
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1475

Figure 17. Examples of 3D shapes formed using foam: (a) Glass shapes made with foam handsheet mold. (b) Acoustic panel formed with a triangular mold using
colored fibers.[19] (c) 3D structure that could be used to replace expanded polystyrene.[103]

Figure 18. Pilot forming machine SUORA at VTT (Jyv€askyl€a, Finland) that can be operated both in foam and water mode. For basic operating principles, see Ref. [45].
The blowup shows the headbox region where wet foam is injected on a moving forming fabric.

of a web is between 40% and 50%. The last step is thermal paper machine in which the foam process was installed in
drying, where the web passes over a series of steam-heated 2013. The installation did not require any major changes to
cylinders. After drying there are typically various finishing the system. The installation consisted of foam generation
steps such as sizing, coating, and calendering. systems, air removal pumps, modifications to the vacuum
The basic unit operations are quite similar if a paper or systems, and foam quality monitoring systems. Today both
board production line is converted to a foam process foam- and water-laid processes can be run with the same
(Figure 18). When making highly porous webs or structures, machinery, just by turning the foam generation on and off.
the pressing of the web is avoided and the water is removed The second pilot SAMPO has been designed and built for
with vacuums and thermal drying. However, the processes non-pressed webs. The pilot consists of the vertical headbox
of foam-laid and water-laid web production differ to some and non-contact impingement, through-air and infrared dry-
extent. Firstly, there has to be a system for generating the ers. There is no press section on this pilot. It is possible to
foam. Secondly, the properties of the foam have to be
form multi-ply products with both pilots. Foam can be gen-
known and controllable. Thirdly, the process components
erated in tanks or by utilizing the in-line gener-
have to be selected so that they can handle compressible
ation system.[110]
foams. There is a risk that air is separated from the foam
and may cause problems if the system is not designed to
handle aqueous foams. 4.2. Process waters and surfactant recovery
In the industrial scale, different kinds of mixers are typic-
ally used for foam generation. The geometry of a mixer may The cost-effectiveness of the foam-laid process depends
vary depending on a desired air content and the production largely on water and surfactant consumption within the pro-
rate of foam. For very light foams (density <200 kg/m3) that cess. The water consumption of today’s papermaking proc-
are typically used in foam-coating applications, a rotor-sta- esses varies between 5 and 20 m3/t, and for some special
tor mixer[109] is a commonly-used generator. Fibrous sus- grades, the consumption can be as high as 80 m3/t.[111]
pension foam can be generated in a large tank mixer[18,76] Waste water is typically treated at the waste-water treatment
or by using a continuous flash mixer.[110] plant, where key pollutants are removed by different meth-
Figures 18 and 19 present two foam-forming pilots at ods. Separation technologies include physicochemical meth-
VTT in Finland. The first pilot SUORA was originally a ods like sedimentation, flotation, coagulation, precipitation,
1476 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 19. Foam-forming pilot SAMPO at VTT (Jyv€askyl€a, Finland), with a closer view of the vertical foam headbox. There is no wet pressing in this process, and
only non-contact dryers are used to allow the production of low-density webs.

membrane separation, adsorption, or oxidation, and bio- concentration. Accordingly, with the membrane unit, the typical
logical techniques based on fungal or aerobic treatment or rejection level with the 400 Da membrane is in the order of 90%.
anaerobic digestion.[112] When selecting surfactant for a
foam-forming process, one must take into account the pos-
sible residues of the surfactants in the waste water and also 4.3. Process measurements
the effect of surfactant on existing chemistry, for example, When designing a new process based on foam-laid forming
in the retention system. technology or when changing from water forming to a
Surfactants can be recovered from process waters by foam-based process on paper and board machines, foam
using different separation technologies. In addition to eco- characteristics need to be determined online. In addition to
nomic reasons, the surfactant recovery is beneficial due to that, information on flow rates, container levels, and jet
environmental reasons since some surfactants are known to speeds are needed for monitoring and controlling the foam
be harmful to various organisms.[113] In sewage treatment, processes. Some commonly-used measurement technologies
overly high surfactant concentrations may cause unwanted and sensors can be directly transferred to the aqueous foams
foaming and problems, for example, in pumps. There is very but some measurements must be adjusted.
little information available related to surfactant dosages of
industrial foam-laid forming processes. In laboratory-scale
studies, the dosage of surfactant typically varies in the range 4.3.1. Surface level of foam containers
of 0.3–4.0 g/l.[21,91] In the pilot and at the industrial scale, The level of a process vessel containing foam can be meas-
the surfactant level could be somewhat lower. ured with soundwave and ultrasound instruments. A sensor
There are two technologies that can be used in industrial- sends a high-powered acoustic pulse, which is then reflected
scale processes that use large volumes of process waters: foam from the surface of the material to be detected. Acoustic
fractionation and membrane separation (Figure 20). In a and ultrasonic sensors contain a wide selection of parame-
foam fractionation process, the solution containing the surfac- ters to adjust the measurement so that the right reflected
tant is placed in a tank and small air bubbles are generated echoes from the fluid surface are recognized. Both sound
by blowing pressurized air through a porous material at the and ultrasound measurements have worked well for most of
bottom of the tank. Air bubbles then travel through the liquid the time, but problems have been encountered. Sometimes,
volume and surfactant is adsorbed at the air–water interface fibers or dirt gather in the sound horn and the ultrasonic
of the bubbles. In a continuous process, the surfactant-rich sensor. In some cases, the reasons for the malfunction of a
froth is accumulated on the top of the tank and can be sensor remain unclear. Inhomogeneity such as suspended
removed and concentrated. According to Du et al.,[114] the particles, fog, and turbulence regions can weaken a sound
foam fractionation can be used for diluted solutions in cases beam substantially. Fog droplets can cause a substantial
where other separation technologies do not work. decrease in sound velocity.
In a membrane separation process, the surfactant-containing Water and aqueous foam as acoustic media are quite
water is pumped through a semi-permeable membrane. The rigid, compared to air. If a sound wave propagates in the air
membrane acts as a barrier for high molecular weight solutes and is reflected from the water surface, the ratio of the
while the water, a permeate, can pass through the membrane. reflected and incident sound pressure amplitudes is[116]
Permeability of the membrane is determined by its pore size.[115]
r2  r1
In a membrane separation system, filtering of solids material is , [12]
r2 þ r1
required before the membrane unit. Both systems have been
studied in laboratory and semi-pilot scales at VTT (Figure 20). where r1 ¼ 415 Pa s/m is the acoustic impedance (resistance)
With the foam fractionator, the level of enrichment varies of air, and r2 ¼ 1.48  106 Pa s/m that of water at tempera-
between 25% and 60% depending on the surfactant ture of 20  C. According to Equation (12), the sound wave
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1477

Figure 20. Principle of two surfactant separation technologies (a, b) and semi-pilot scale foam fractionator (c) and a membrane separation unit (d) at VTT.

will reflect rather fully from the air–water interface. If an For accurate operation, the process liquid must have a min-
aqueous foam had a density of 300 kg/m3, and a sound vel- imum conductivity of 1–5 lS/cm.[118]
ocity of 23 m/s,[117] its acoustic impedance would be 300 kg/ In the case of fibrous foam, the assumption of the equal
m3 23 m/s ¼ 6900 Pa s/m. Also, in this case, foam would be velocity of different phases is valid, and the conductivity
a rigid fluid compared with air, and theoretically the requirement is very likely to be fulfilled (>5 lS/cm). A foam
reflected pressure amplitude from the air–foam interface flow can have a different flow profile than a water flow, but
would be 89% of the incident amplitude. this does not disturb the measurement. Successful use of an
electromagnetic flowmeter in the case of fibrous foam
requires that the density and corresponding pressure of
4.3.2. Volumetric flow of foam foam are known at some point in the process line where the
The operation for an electromagnetic flowmeter at pipe flow flowmeter is installed.
is based on Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction. In
the flowmeter, the magnetic field, the direction of the flow 4.3.3. Density of foam
of the conductor, and the electromotive force are perpen- The density of foam can be measured by several methods,
dicular to each other. Electromagnetic flowmeters can be the simplest one being the weighing of a known volume of
based on alternating current (AC), direct current (DC), or foam. More sophisticated automatic sample-taking and
permanent magnets. If the magnetic field across the pipe is weighing can be applied. The measurement of foam density
constant, and the diameter of the pipe is fixed, the magni- in a pipe can be based on differential pressures from the
tude of the induced voltage will be proportional to the mean horizontal and vertical parts of piping. Gamma-ray attenu-
velocity or the volumetric flow rate of the conductor flow in ation or microwave methods can also be applied for foam
the pipe. The voltage induced is supplied to the amplifier density measurements.
using two measuring electrodes, for example, of stainless In a weighting method, the known volume of foam flows
steel, mounted opposite each other inside the metering pipe. continuously through a bucket. The flow rate of foam is
1478 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 21. Arrangement for the measurement of foam density with differen-
tial pressures.
Figure 22. The effect of foam density and surfactant content on specific forma-
tion of kraft pulp and CTMP-based sheets produced by a pilot machine.[45]
adjusted with a valve in the inlet pipe and with an adjustable
hole in the bottom of the bucket so that a small amount of An effect of foam density on product quality is illustrated
foam goes over the edges of the bucket, and some foam in Figure 22. The best formation was obtained with the lowest
(and water) leaks from the bottom hole or tube. The net foam density. In that case also the surfactant concentration
weight of the foam bucket is measured continuously with a was the highest. According to these results, quite significant
load sensor. The foam volume is known, and the density quality improvements compared to water-laid references can
foam can be calculated in the process automation system. A be obtained with denser foams and lower surfactant concentra-
cone-shape bottom to the bucket would be preferred, but a tions. Optimal foam density for different products may vary
flat bottom also works. The measurement works quite well and need to be determined experimentally.
if the density and viscosity of fibrous foam does not vary
significantly.
A more advanced method is to utilize a setup consisting 4.3.4. Bubble size distribution of foam
of pressure-difference and absolute pressure sensors in the A method for monitoring the bubble size distribution from
piping, where horizontal and vertical parts are near to each the headbox of a paper machine has been presented by
other (Figure 21). It is good to have a straight pipe with the Koponen et al.[119] The system consists of a flow-through
length of some pipe diameters before and after the pressure cuvette. In a 3-mm thick cuvette,[120] the bubble suspension
is imaged with the optical imaging system utilizing the
measurement ports, although foam can be viscous and flow
trans-immuminated geometry (Figure 23).
laminar in many cases. When the density of foam or fibrous
From the images, several characteristics describing the qual-
foam is known at pressure p and temperature T, the density
ity of foam can be calculated. Typically, Sauter mean radius is
of the same foam can be calculated for other pro-
used. The system provides 10 images per second and typically
cess conditions.
the results are averaged over a given period, for example, for
It is assumed that the quality of foam is constant through
60 s. A pilot-scale experiment verified that the sheet uniformity
the 90 bend, and wall friction is the same for the horizontal
improved with decreasing bubble size.[119]
and vertical pipe sections. Thus, the density of foam qf at
temperature T and pressure p is
4.3.5. Velocity of slice jet
Dp ðp1  p2 Þ  ðp3  p4 Þ
qf ¼ ¼ , [13] The velocity of a slice jet can be determined with a high-speed
hg hg 3D scanner, applied, for example, for the detection of object
where p1  p2 and p3  p4 are pressure differences over the ver- location or for building 3D images of shapes. Shape profiles of
tical and horizontal pipe sections, and g is the acceleration of the object are collected while the object moves through the
gravity. Typically, the length h could be 100–200 cm. If the measurement area. The combination of these shape slices is a
length is not the same for the horizontal and vertical parts, the description of the complete object shape. In the VTT pilot, a
calculation can still be made with data on the pressure drop Sick Ruler-E4111 sensor was used for the determination of the
from the horizontal section. Pressure from the measurement slice-jet velocity. It uses laser wavelength 660 ± 15 nm, and can
point from the pipe under study is transmitted to the sensor collect 10,000 3D profiles per second.[121]
through a small-diameter (plastic) tube. Each of the four meas-
urement tubes is purged with a constant flow rate of deaerated 4.3.6. Consistency of fibers
water, for example, 0.05–0.2 l/min. Because of measurement In water-based technology, shear force sensors[122] can be uti-
accuracy, it is important that the flow rate of water is rather lized for fiber consistency measurements. These are either
constant in a measurement tube and that air bubbles cannot blade-type or rotating-type sensors. They are sensitive to pulp
accumulate there. grade, fiber length distribution, and freeness. A shear force
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1479

Figure 23. Operation principle (a) and image (b) of the bubble size analyzator,[119] together with measured distributions (c) from online images (d–e) of foam in
foam-forming pilot conditions. The foams have been generated with a combination of tank and in-line generation. The foam density is 640 kg/m3. (d) Average bub-
ble diameter is 67 mm, and the share of injected air is 19%. (e) Average bubble diameter is 83 mm, and the share of injected air is 45%. Reprinted with permission
from Ref. [45].

sensor does not see pigments clearly. Depending on the pulp At very low density, it is difficult to define the boundaries
and blade type, a consistency transmitter can work well in the of a sample or of an individual pore. Moreover, the forming
consistency range of 0.7–1.0% to a maximum of 4–16%.[123] process can cause variation, for example, in fiber orientation
An optimal blade type can be selected for the application based in different parts of a macroscopic sample. In spite of these
on consistency range and pulp type. The optimum flow vel- challenges, the existing methods are sufficient for pointing
ocity of the measurement for a particular blade type varies out the fundamental characteristics of fiber network struc-
from 0.1–0.5 m/s to the maximum of 2–5 m/s. At first glance, tures obtained with foam forming. In particular, the struc-
blade consistency transmitters could be suitable for the consist- tural analysis indicates how the foam properties affect the
ency measurement of fibrous foam. If consistency is higher microscopic structure.
than in water forming, it would be good to keep the flow vel- Direct microscopic imaging is often an effective way of
ocity within a suitable range for a shear force sensor already getting an idea of the overall structure of material. There are
available in an existing process pipe. both 2D and 3D imaging methods whose differences have
been discussed in detail by Al-Qararah et al.[124] The average
bubble diameter of typical wet foams is of the order of
5. Unique microstructure and properties of foam- 100 mm, which leads to a slightly smaller average pore size
formed fiber networks of the formed fiber network. Thus, the 1 mm resolution of
5.1. Structural analysis and physical testing methods today’s X-ray microtomography is usually quite sufficient to
obtain a good 3D image of the porous structure (Figure 24)
In order to develop material performance, it is important to and to benchmark other methods against the obtained
characterize the structural features that are responsible for results. Usually, it is most convenient to image the sample
properties such as strength, permeability, or thermal insula- with different resolutions so that both fine details and the
tion. There is a multitude of conventional and modern ana- large-scale structural variation become visible. In general,
lytical tools for this purpose. The main challenges in the the 2D methods such as SEM, light microscopy, or direct
characterization are the relatively low density of the formed CCD imaging yield similar results as X-ray microtomogra-
samples, their wide pore-size distributions, and multi-scale phy.[124] However, because of the cumbersome sample prep-
structures caused by fibers and fines of different dimensions. aration procedures, the available data are much more
1480 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 24. X-ray tomographic images of foam-formed structures with varying densities: (a) 3D sample[125] (density 32 kg/m3) consisting of viscose fibers and natural
rubber latex (shown in green). The vertical fiber orientation is caused by the direction of foam flow in filling the mold. (b) A small part of a thick plate-like sam-
ple[126] with natural wood fibers (density 60 kg/m3). (c) Sheet with CTMP fibers (density 111 kg/m3).[21] (d) Nonwoven sample with natural and viscose fibers
together with fiber yarn (density 290 kg/m3).

limited when using these methods than with X-ray microto- can orientate fibers away from the lateral direction. These
mography, and therefore, for example, the 2D pore size ana- two factors together can give rise to extremely low density
lysis is less accurate. On the other hand, indirect methods of the final dried material.[12,25] The lowest density achieved
such as mercury porosimetry[124] can deform a low-density in laboratory foam molding for normal wood pulp fibers
structure during the measurement, and extreme care is (fiber wall density 1500 kg/m3) has been about 5 kg/m3.[25]
needed in interpreting such results. This implies that the porosity of such a material is over
Suitable testing methods for mechanical properties of 99.5%. In this case, the fibrous structure is made with very
fibrous materials depend on sample geometry. There is a stable foam and dried as gently as possible so that compres-
standardized testing method (Tensile strength, EN 1608) for sive stresses during drying are largely avoided. The density
tensile properties like strength, elastic modulus, and breaking of the dried material can also be reduced by decreasing the
strain. On the other hand, for insulation and construction fiber consistency of the liquid phase within the
materials, compression and bending strengths are often more wet foam.[127]
relevant. The standardized method (Compression strength, EN Higher densities can be produced by reducing the air
826) is for 10% strain, but it is often useful to also look at content (Figure 26) and stability of the foam or by using
larger compression levels and the recovery of the deformation shorter fibers.[12,128] Moreover, drainage affects the density a
after compression. These kinds of features are particularly lot. Especially with the applied vacuum and wet pressing,[98]
important for cushioning applications, where high impact it is possible to make fiber networks with a similar density
forces impose large and fast deformations. Some specific tests (exceeding 300 kg/m3) as that obtained by water forming.
for thick materials are illustrated in Figure 25. The vacuum causes a collapse of the wet fiber foam, leading
There is a multitude of other important properties for to planar fiber orientation. Despite this rather drastic change
various material applications, which can be influenced by in the fiber foam structure, traces of bubble structure still
the foam-forming process. Some important characterizations remain visible in the final dried sheet.[21,77,129,130] Al-
are listed in Table 1. Qararah[22] showed that lower density can be achieved in a
sheet sample by using foam as the carrier phase instead of
water with equal surfactant concentration. Thus, the bubble
5.2. Material density
structure is essential in setting the density – not only the
The finite yield stress of foam above the critical air content reduced bonding because of surfactant. Inside the wet foam,
of uc
64% (Section 2.3.1) helps in supporting the fiber fibers are pushed into narrow gaps between the bubbles.
network during drainage. Moreover, the forming process This creates regions of higher local density, which resists
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1481

Figure 25. Mechanical testing methods for thick material samples: (a) Compression strength, EN 826 standard (at 10% strain). (b) Bending strength, EN 12089
standard. (c) Point load test. (d) Platen drop test for testing cushioning properties.

Table 1. Special physical properties and related tests for fibrous materials.
Physical property Testing standard
Air permeability ISO 5636-3
Filtration efficiency ISO 21083-1
Fire resistance Ignitability: Single-flame source test, ISO 11925-2:2010
Heat release rate (Cone calorimeter), ISO 5660-1:2002
Sound absorption coefficient ISO 10534-2 (ACUPRO impedance tube)
Specific air flow resistance ISO 9053
Thermal conductivity EN12667
Water binding capacity EDANA 10.1-72.1 standard
Water retention capacity ISO 17190-6 modified

network collapse during drainage. These effects on the fiber 5.3. Pore-size distribution
distribution are also seen later in the dried porous structure
(Figure 27a). The porous structure is central for transport properties such as
In the making of planar structures, it is quite common to liquid and gas permeability,[131] and heat insulation. The vol-
re-moisten the dried material and press it into a target ume-weighted pore-size distribution is usually determined based
thickness or density.[77,126] In this way, the average density on the local thickness map over a predefined sample region. In
can be increased considerably but at the same time, the this method, for each point of the void space, one determines the
pressed smooth sample surfaces are densified compared to largest sphere around that point which fits inside the void space.
the middle parts of the material (Figure 27b). Moreover, the The diameter of the sphere is called the local thickness at that
collapse of pores formed by the bubbles can be very large in point. The normalized frequency of various diameters gives the
the thickness direction. Still in the planar directions, the size volume-weighted pore-size distribution.[21,124]
and location of pores can follow the original bubble struc- As said earlier, the structure of the wet foam leaves special
ture that was found before the drying, re-moistening, and traces in the formed fiber network. This is seen in Figure 28
pressing operations in the respective material layer.[77] where we show the pore-size distribution characterized with
1482 T. HJELT ET AL.

X-ray microtomography for a foam-formed CTMP pulp sheet.

Random deposition of fibers typically leads to a lognormal
distribution of pore sizes, which is visible in Figure 28a in the
small pore diameters. However, the foam carrier causes an
additional Gaussian component g in the distribution, so that
the probability of large pores becomes much higher than in
water forming. The total pore-size distribution can be pre-
sented as a linear combination,[21]
f ðrÞ ¼ Ag ðr; l1 , r1 Þ þ ð1  AÞlognormðr; l2 , r2 Þ, [14]

where l1, 2 and r1, 2 describe the mean and standard devi-
ation of the two distributions. These parameters can be fit-
ted together with the coefficient A to the measured data. Al-
Qararah et al.[21] found the Gaussian component to domin-
Figure 26. Very low densities of the fiber network can be achieved by increas-
ing the air content of the foam,[12] which stabilizes the structure during drain- ate this fitting for foam-formed sheets (A 0:5). Moreover,
age. The density can also be affected by fiber length, as shown in the figure. a higher value of A was obtained for stiff CTMP fibers

Figure 27. Structural images of foam-formed fiber network as obtained with X-ray tomography: (a) In a thin slice viewed from above,[77] the bubble structure of
the wet foam is visible as a planar distribution of fibers (shown in light color) into polygonal patterns formed by gaps between the bubbles after drying. The vor-
tex-type denser regions probably originate from instabilities in the foam flow. (b) A side-view of sample cross-section containing refined kraft pulp and hemp fibers
(SDS surfactant). Re-moistening and pressing has led to higher local density near sample surfaces. Reprinted from Ref. [77] under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license.

Figure 28. Relation between pore and bubble sizes: (a) Probability density function (volume-weighted pore-size distribution) for varied pore diameter for a chemi-
thermomechanical (CTMP) pulp fiber network at the density of 115 kg/m3. A very broad Gaussian component describing the contribution from large pores exists
besides the characteristic lognormal component at small diameters. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [21]. (b) Mean pore diameter follows the mean bubble
diameter extrapolating close to the mean pore size for water forming at vanishing bubble size.[21]
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1483

Figure 29. Kraft fiber orientation, described by tensile strength ratio between machine and cross-machine direction, and specific b-formation for (a) foam-laid paper
(closed slice jet forming geometry), and (b) water-laid paper (open slice jet forming geometry) as a function of the jet-to-wire ratio.[108]

(A ¼ 0:7  0:8) than for flexible kraft fibers (A ¼ 0:5), prob- well-bonded at contact points. As a consequence, possible
ably because of the stronger collapse of the kraft sheet dur- large voids of a low-density structure can even increase the
ing drainage.[21] amount of network connections, when compared to a fully
The mean bubble size is reflected in the Sauter mean random fiber distribution.
pore size of the fiber network. The mean pore size is directly Foam-formed fiber networks have a unique microporous
proportional to the mean bubble size, as shown in Figure structure with planar structural variation originating from
28b. The extrapolation to vanishing bubble diameter gives a bubbles,[77,130] as discussed earlier in Sections 5.2 and 5.3.
value close to the mean pore size of water forming, using Moreover, X-ray microtomography has shown that fiber net-
the same CTMP fibers. Similar qualitative features are works tend to form separate layers in the thickness direction
obtained with flexible kraft fibers but the variation of mean at very low average material density.[130] Therefore, the
pore size with bubble size is not as strong. In conclusion, structure can deviate a lot from a simple random fiber net-
the bubble size gives an additional way to tune the pore-size work, and one has to be cautious when using averaging for-
distribution besides the fiber type. mulas such as Equation (15).
The fiber orientation in materials prepared using foam
5.4. Fiber network structure can be much more diverse than in water-formed samples.[96]
This results from the initial thick foam layer, where fibers
The strength properties of fibrous materials are determined have fewer geometrical restrictions for their orientation and
mainly by the mechanical properties of fibers and their the foam has some structural rigidity sustaining even verti-
orientation and bonding. Moreover, small particles released cally orientated fibers until the water is removed. However,
from fibers (called fines) not only improve the strength of when the thickness of the dried sample becomes smaller
inter-fiber bonds, but also densify the material and increase than the fiber length, geometrical restrictions enforce fibers
the number of inter-fiber joints. The average number of to align, mainly in the planar direction.
inter-fiber joints is determined not only by material density In a similar way to water-formed webs, shear stresses
but also by the geometric properties of fibers and their arising from the flow of viscous foam can orient fibers
orientation. There are several classical models for the rela- effectively. This strong orientating effect is seen both in
tionship between these factors. Assuming a random network foam-formed pilot webs[108] (Figure 29) and in laboratory
made of idealized fibers with circular cross-section, the samples,[98] where the direction of foam flow seems to affect
number of inter-fiber joints Njoint is given by[132] the average fiber alignment.[25] The shear forces are particu-
2
DðNLÞ J larly strong near a forming fabric so that the bottom layer
Njoint ¼ , [15] of the fiber network is strongly orientated along the relative
V
direction of foam flow. However, in thick samples, the fiber
where D is the average fiber diameter, N is the number of
orientation can vary in different layers of the sheet struc-
fibers, L is the average length of fibers, V is volume, and J is
ture.[98] For example, a tumbling instability inside the flow can
the orientation density function having the value of p=4 for
affect the fiber orientation before the wet foam is removed.
isotropic fiber networks and the value of 2=p for sheet-like
networks. Equation (15) suggests a rapid increase in the Such an instability has been seen in modeling studies[133] for
number of joints, if the volume in which the fibers are con- individual fibers. Moreover, the upper foam layer dries earlier
fined is reduced by voids of the structure: than the bottom layer during drainage. The associated water
flow can turn fibers toward the vertical direction in the dried
dNjoint 1 material.[130] This mechanism may be important, especially
  2  q2 [16]
dV V when increasing the foam volume, so that the upper network
Here, q is the local density. Thus, the bonding of the net- layers are formed by flow that enters the forming section later
work increases as the square of local density if fibers are than the bottom flow. The delayed application of vacuum for
1484 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 30. Compression stress at 50% strain as a function of material density for samples made with unrefined bleached softwood kraft (BSKP0, left) and CTMP
(right) fibers using three different foaming agents: SDS (triangles), Tween 20 (dots), and PVA (crosses). Reprinted from Ref. [126] under the terms of the CC BY
4.0 license.

the upper layers gives additional time for the vertical water principal, this improves tensile strength but reduces, for
flow before the structure collapses. example, tear strength, for which small flocs in the structure
may be beneficial as they couple different fiber layers
together in the thickness direction.
5.5. Structural effects on mechanical performance The type of foaming agent may affect the tensile strength by
The density and fiber network structure of foam-formed sam- changing the strength of inter-fiber bonds or the network struc-
ples have a direct impact on the strength properties. There is a ture.[94] For laboratory kraft sheets, Al-Qararah[22] found a slight
vast literature on the mechanical properties of fibrous materi- reduction in tensile strength with high SDS surfactant concentra-
als related to, for example, paper[134] and wool. Paper has rela- tion when comparing with a water-formed structure at an equal
tively high density, and the underlying fiber network is well density of ca. 200 kg/m3. For pilot-scale webs with a density of ca.
bonded. On the other hand, the density of wool is much 600 kg/m3, Lehmonen et al.[107] found a similar tensile strength
lower, and the fibers are mechanically entangled with one for both forming methods with SDS surfactant. However, this
required that the foam density was high enough, in the range of
another with no similar chemical bonding, as there is in
400–600 kg/m3. Interestingly, a slightly higher strain at break was
papermaking. Foam-formed bio-based materials with low
obtained for foam forming because of the improved homogeneity
density lie in between these two classical cases with a well-
of a web. On the other hand, the strength in thickness direction
bonded fiber network but also with long free fiber segments
(often called Z-strength) was reduced by foam technology in the
between the bonded areas. A common denominator for all
same foam density range.[107,108] This probably resulted from the
three types of random fiber network is the exponential distri- structure having fewer fiber flocs and instead large pores that
bution of the segment lengths, valid also for flocculated net- could act as failure sources.
works.[135] This distribution can been taken as a starting point
for theoretical models related to mechanical behavior.
5.5.2. Compression behavior
For thick materials with low density, compression behavior
5.5.1. Tensile and thickness-directional strength is often the most important strength characteristic. As sug-
For paper-like thinner fiber networks with a density of over gested by Equations (15) and (16), the compression modulus
300 kg/m3, the so-called relative bonded area is quite high and stress depend strongly on the density of the material
(even up to 50% of the surface area of fibers).[134] In this together with the bending stiffness of the fibers and their
case, network deformations are affine,[136] which means that bonding. This is shown in Figure 30, where the stiffer
local strains follow the macroscopic strain. The tensile CTMP fibers lead to much higher compression stress than
strength in this case is directly proportional to material the flexible kraft fibers. However, for both types of fibers,
density,[137] assuming that the bond strength is not signifi- the stress increases with density as a power law with the
cantly affected by network density. The tensile strength power close to 2. This is explained by the increasing number
properties obtained with foam forming can differ slightly of inter-fiber joints, as described by Equation (16).
from those in the water forming. Foam forming improves The strength of foam-formed network structures can be
the homogeneity (or formation) of a sheet, see Figure 29. In improved by using polymeric foaming agents such as PVA or
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1485

Figure 31. Measured stress and energy release behavior during compression are compared to model predictions: (a) Compression measurement with combined
analysis of released acoustic energy (AE). (b) Measured number of acoustic events n in a cyclic compression test for a CTMP sample, where  is the compressive
strain as a function of time t (10 parallel measurements). Significant acoustic emission is observed only when the previous compression levels are exceeded.[144] (c)
Comparison of measured (average shown in blue) and predicted (red, Equation (18)) stress–strain curves of a foam-formed kraft-pulp sample. The cumulative AE
energy (average shown in magenta) increases rapidly beyond  ¼ 0:5, when collective phenomena take place. (d) The measured normalized number of acoustic
events n (average shown in blue) follows the theoretical function exp ð3sðÞÞ (red) in the region where stress behavior is predicted correctly by Equation (18).
Reprinted from Ref. [144] – Published by The Royal Society of Chemistry under the terms of the CC BY 3.0 license.

adding nanocellulose or lignocellulosic fines in the fur- pDqf

a¼ [17]
nish.[77,138–140] However, the strengthening mechanisms can be 8qJ
different in these two cases. PVA acts as a cross linker for
inter-fiber bonds but can also open larger voids in the micro- where qf is fiber density. At material density q below
porous structure and at the same time densify certain local net- 100 kg/m3, the free segment lengths between neighboring
work regions.[77] On the other hand, the addition of inter-fiber joints can get very long. This means that there
nanocelluloses or fines generally not only increases bonding are only a few contacts per 1–2 mm long natural fiber. In
but also makes the structure more homogeneous. In Figure 30, reality, possible voids can increase local density and thus
slightly higher stress is seen with the PVA foaming agent, also the number of joints.
while the effects of SDS and Tween 20 surfactants are minor. The long free fiber segments make deformations non-affine so
Based on Equation (15), the mean segment length a (i.e., that local behavior can deviate strongly from the average
free span between neighboring inter-fiber joints) becomes[132] strain.[136] Moreover, new deformation modes appear.
1486 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 32. Comparison of simulated and measured permeability: (a) Fluid flow simulation for a tomographic image of a foam-formed sheet. The image shows 1/10
of the original tomographic sample having dimensions of 1.7 mm  1.9 mm. (b) Simulated normalized permeabilities of foam-formed samples having porosity of 0.9
made from CTMP pulp with foam having varied bubble size.[131] (c) Bendtsen air permeability of dry water-formed and foam-formed sheets at different SDS dos-
ages. The sheets have been made from grade softwood pulp and the basis weight is 85 g/m2. The sheets have been wet-pressed before drying.[86]

Subramanian and Picu[141] found that fiber bending dominates both collective phenomena and the formation of new contacts
the stress behavior of a compressed non-bonded fiber network can lead to deviations from this simple behavior. Moreover,
until axial stresses and strains develop and take over at higher den- added nanocellulose and fines can change the behavior so that
sities. Many later simulation models have also shown the import- a relatively high value of strain is needed before the theoretical
ance of fiber bending for the general deformation behavior of stress–strain behavior is approached.[77]
bonded networks.[142,143] However, these models are based on
uniform fibers without inherent heterogeneity. In reality, natural
fibers include not only weak points like kinks but also varying 5.6. Structural effects on transport properties
fiber cross-section along the fiber axes. Thus, smooth bending As discussed above, foam-formed sheets tend to have more
appearing in model simulations of the idealized fiber systems can big pores than water-formed sheets (Figure 28a). This is
give a wrong picture of the real deformation behavior. In fact, the reflected in a higher permeability of foam-formed sheets.
measurement of acoustic energy emissions in cyclic compression Koponen et al.[131] studied the permeability with fluid flow
tests[144] indicates that there has to be other causes for this energy simulations in structures obtained directly from X-ray tomo-
emission than fiber bending. Bending also takes place during graphic images of the sheets (Figure 32a). At the porosity
unloading but still significant acoustic energy emission is observed 0.9, the permeability was found to be even 90% higher for
only when exceeding previous compression levels; see Figure 31b. foam than water-formed sheets (Figure 32b). Moreover, for
Ketoja et al.[126] proposed that in low-density fibrous the sheets containing stiff CTMP fibers, the simulated per-
materials, axial stresses predicted by Subramanian and meability varied systematically with mean bubble size (recall
Picu[141] can be released by bucklings of the corresponding Figure 28b) as shown in Figure 32b. Lehmonen et al.[86]
fiber segments, causing abrupt displacements of neighboring made both types of sheets with a vacuum-assisted sheet for-
fibers. By assuming that fiber segments longer than a0 sðÞ mer and compared the dry-sheet properties. Figure 32c
(a0 is the mean segment length) undergo buckling at  (if shows the Bendtsen air permeability of the sheets at differ-
they have not bent earlier), the mean compressive stress r is ent SDS dosages. We can see that the air permeability of
given by[126] foam-formed sheets is generally higher. With the highest
r0 SDS dosages, they have almost 100% higher permeability
r ð Þ ¼ , [18]
½sðÞ 2 than the water-formed sheets. This result is comparable with
the simulations of Figure 32b. In this study, the densities of
½sðÞ þ 1 esðÞ ¼  [19] final sheets were similar and thus cannot explain the
Here, the constant r0 sets the absolute level of compression observed difference in the permeability.
stress, while the stress-compression behavior is described by
the same function sðÞ for all low-density random fiber net- 6. Novel product properties in different
works with exponentially distributed segment lengths. In other application areas
words, the fiber type or bonding properties would affect only
the coefficient r0 : This strong prediction for the stress-strain All of today’s fiber products that are made using the water-
behavior seems to be reasonably valid for very different types laid process could be made with foam-forming technology
of materials and different densities at the intermediate strain in the future. These include especially paper, board, molded
values of 0.1–0.5, as exemplified in Figure 31c.[77,126,144] fiber structures, and some nonwoven fabrics. The main
Moreover, the exponential distribution of segments lengths advantages of foam technology in these cases are the savings
gives an estimate expðsðÞÞ for the relative number of seg- in energy and water use[11] as well as good formation
ment bucklings as a function of strain. The power 3.0 of this (homogeneity) of the produced material. Foam-forming
function appears to describe the number of acoustic events up technology also enables the preparation of porous and light-
to about strain 0.5 (Figure 31d).[144] At higher strain levels, weight structures that could be used in thermal or sound
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1487

Table 2. Simplified list of potential application areas of foam-formed products together with target performances, characteristics, and challenges.
Advantageous characteristics of foam-
Application area Targeted performance formed structure Challenges
Nonwoven Versatile properties with long fibers Homogeneity Preprocessing
Packaging boards Lightweight Controlled density, pure layers Compensation of strength
Multi-ply products Raw-material savings, layer purity, Good layer purity Process water circulations
smaller investment
Specialty paper Surface smoothness, less calendering Good formation, thinner coating Deep surface pores, compatibility
(lower density), moldability with current chemistry
Tissue High porosity, structured fabrics, Material savings Cost-efficient chemical solution
strength at low basis weight
Filtering Particle capture with low Tunable microporous structure/ Fast penetration channels, strength
pressure loss permeability, density gradient
Thermal insulation Low thermal conductivity High porosity, thick material, Unevenness of pore sizes, fire
biobased self-standing resistance, water resistance,
sheet structure and absorption
Acoustic element Good sound absorption at all Porous structure with good Unevenness of pore sizes, mechanical
frequencies absorption properties performance
Cushioning High-impact energy absorption Controlled density, lightweight Resilience/elasticity, cost-efficient
structure with good manufacturing process,
cushioning properties dimensional stability
High-tech products: soft composites, Imbedded functionalities, novel High foam viscosity enabling Small enough bubble size, sustaining
hybrid materials, sensors, substrates, material combinations, interactive imbedding of, for example, the specific functionality of the
diagnostics materials, tailored porosity and electronic components during material (e.g., sound absorption)
transport properties forming, tunable microporous
structure/permeability

insulation,[12–14,145] lightweight packaging,[7] and filter- and see the effects on strength properties and formation.
ing.[16,17] Novel applications such as complex 3D forms[19] They showed that foam forming yielded very good forma-
and growth media[146] can also be produced with foam tion, even with the 20% addition of 6-mm lyocell fibers to
forming. Moreover, it is also possible to get tailored proper- softwood kraft pulp furnish. With shorter hardwood fibers,
ties such as antibacterial properties[147] in medical or formation was also good with water forming, but when con-
hygienic applications,[148,149] designed microstructures,[21] or sistency increased from 0.45% to 0.9%, formation decreased
conductive cellulose-based structures.[150] Possible other in the water process. It was concluded that improvements in
high-tech applications include soft composites,[151] sen- formation become more important when fiber length
sors,[152] chromatography and other diagnostics, substrates increases. This would be an interesting opportunity for mak-
for biocatalytic and chemical conversion, and fiber materials ing nonwovens with foam, although the fiber length in the
with imbedded optics and electronics. In Table 2, we sum- trials was not as long as the typical lengths used in the non-
marize the main potential application areas for foam form- woven industry.
ing and the characteristic features of each of them. Lehmonen et al.[155] presented a laboratory study where
6-mm, 12-mm, and 24-mm viscose fibers were used to make
handsheets. The formation was very good, especially with 6-
6.1. Nonwoven
mm fibers, while it decreased a little with longer fibers. In
Using foam-forming technology to produce nonwovens was their study, mechanical bonding (hydroentanglement) was
mentioned as early as in the early 1970s by Radvan and used to increase both strength and breaking strain. Heikkil€a
Gatward[2,153] and in a 1977 paper written by Hanson.[154] et al.[8] presented results on foam-laid nonwovens made in
Hanson mentioned that a Wiggins Teape factory was run- the laboratory from cellulosic fibers. They used 12-mm and
ning specialty papers using the foam process, but in the 24-mm viscose fibers as such and when mixed with soft-
laboratory they had also tried some long fibers and made wood kraft pulp fibers. It was concluded that textile-like
nice textile-like sheets. There are several advantages to make nonwovens could also be made with foam forming when
nonwovens using a foam manufacturing process. One is that mechanical bonding, like hydroentanglement, was used.
different fibers can be easily mixed with foam enabling the Asikainen et al.[10] studied the mixing of 24-mm staple
use of longer fibers or filaments than in the wet-laid process. fibers with foam, and made fibrous sheets from the fiber-
With longer fibers, higher strength properties can also be laden foam in a laboratory sheet mold. They found that the
achieved. Compared to currently-employed methods like the quality of final fiber sheets was very sensitive to mixing
air-laid process, the foam-laid process enables higher pro- time, foam air content, and fiber weight consistency.
duction speeds. Moreover, compared to the wet-laid process, Uniform sheets were obtained without the mechanical pre-
a higher forming consistency and better formation can treatment of fibers, with up to 0.3% fiber consistency, which
be achieved. is ten times higher than in the water-laid non-
Koponen et al.[18] published results in which hardwood woven industry.
kraft pulp fibers, softwood kraft pulp fibers (refined and Li et al.[54] made foams with carboxymethylated lignin
unrefined), as well as 6-mm man-made lyocell (TencelTM) and compared the properties to similar sheets obtained with
fiber were used in pilot trials. The target was to run long- SDS surfactant as well as to water-formed sheets. They
fiber suspensions with the current paper-machine geometries showed that foam-formed sheets made with
1488 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 33. Bulk (inverse of density) and press solids content for water- and foam-formed webs made with CTMP. Three different foam density levels, 400, 500, and
650 kg/m3, were tested.[6]

carboxymethylated lignin had better bonding and tensile significantly better formation. After wet pressing, dryness
strength properties than those made with SDS. One chal- increased by 5–7 percentage points in foam-formed samples
lenge to using the foam process for nonwovens is to design compared to water-formed samples. Further pilot trials
preprocessing, like the opening of fibers and mixing them showed that with the right surfactant and other additives, like
with foam so that pumps and mixers still work properly. the addition of fines, the internal strength could be compen-
sated to the reference level. Moreover, according to the study
by Lehmonen et al.,[107] strength loss often connected to foam
6.2. Packaging boards forming could also be compensated for by wet pressing.
Board manufacturers are targeting high bulk (here “bulk” refers In the presentation given by Lindfors et al.,[156] suitable
to the inverse of density), which leads to better bending stiff- strength additives were identified for foam-formed webs in
ness. With foam, improved water removal in the pressing sec- the laboratory and their performance was verified at the
tion makes it possible to use lower loads in wet pressing, pilot scale. They noticed that a cationic strength additive
can be used with different anionic and nonionic surfactants
resulting in lower density for the final product.[98] Furthermore,
when the dosing strategy is appropriate. If strength additives
to increase the bulk, the use of longer or coarser fibers is pos-
were applied after the addition of surfactant, anionic surfac-
sible, as foam offers high uniformity. Compensation for strength
tant prevented the performance of cationic strength addi-
loss can be done with chemicals or additives.
tives by making the additive more anionic and hydrophobic.
Bunker et al.[7] evaluated foam-forming technology in the
When a strength additive was added before the surfactant,
laboratory and at pilot scale when making middle-ply for fold-
an increase in tensile strength was seen with lower dosage of
ing box board. They reported a 10% bulk increase in middle-
cationic strength additive. It seemed that if anionic surfac-
ply at the equal internal strength level. Kiiskinen et al.[6] tant was used, there were still certain limitations, for
reported pilot-scale results for a single-ply board from CTMP example, with the dosing amount. With nonionic surfactant,
pulp. In their study, the increase in bulk of the foam-formed the tensile index was increased in both dosing strategies. In
board was 18–20% higher compared to water-laid reverence at pilot trials, they found a combination of cationic and
a given press solids content level (Figure 33). anionic strength additives used with nonionic surfactant,
Laboratory results of Bunker et al.[7] indicated that with which maintained the z-directional strength properties com-
course CTMP fibers, material savings of up to 30% would be pared to water-formed reference. Also, their results indicate
possible by changing from water forming to a foam-forming that foam forming with the right strength additives could be
process. They tested different dry strength agents, sprayed on used for light-weighting of multi-ply board, but the addition
wet foam-formed sheets. The potential combination was the of strength chemicals should be carefully planned for each
one where wet end cationic polymer and carboxymethyl cel- case, and this strategy depends highly on the surfactant type.
lulose (CMC) were added, and it showed a 35% increase in The production of multi-ply products with foam is an
Scott bond in MD compared to the reference. In pilot-scale interesting option. With foam-forming technology, good
trials, equal basis weights and Scott bond results were layer purity can be achieved and this might also lead to
achieved, while foam forming showed higher bulk and raw-material savings.
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1489

6.3. Specialty papers

In paper products, foam-forming technology offers good for-
mation compared to the traditional water-laid process, espe-
cially with increasing fiber length. The effect of using foam
to get superior formation was reported as early as in 1972
by Radvan and Gatward.[2] Some special paper grades, like
wallpaper, release papers, or industrial paper grades, could
benefit from the possibility of mixing different fiber types
and lengths. In addition, higher forming consistency can be
seen as an advantage. However, in printing and writing
paper grades, good formation is already gained with
shorter fibers.
Higher surface porosity or deep surface pores can be a
disadvantage if paper is coated. Forsstr€om et al.[157] coated
water-formed and foam-formed papers and noticed that a
more porous foam-formed structure led to a higher coat Figure 34. The effect of water and foam forming of softwood kraft pulp on ten-
sile strength properties at different grammages.[148]
weight. Moreover, the coating penetrated deeper into the
structure than in the case of water-formed papers when a
traditional coating process was used. Koskela et al.[158] Hellen et al.[149] showed that tensile strength of foam-formed
aimed to improve the coating quality of foam-formed webs softwood kraft sheets was higher than that of water-laid
by closing the paper surface by pre-calendering or by apply- sheets when the basis weight was below 70 g/m2. Moreover,
ing starch-foam coating before pigment coating, which was at low basis weights, there was a significant strength differ-
done either with a metered size press (MSP) or curtain coat- ence (Figure 34). Foam-formed papers also showed higher
ing. Coating penetration was reduced both by pre-calender- breaking strain at a certain density level and increased burst-
ing and by starch-foam coating, while pre-calendering ing strength compared to water-laid paper.[155]
improved coating hold-out and smoothness more than
starch but simultaneously density was increased. High bulk 6.5. Filtering
was maintained with starch-foam coating, and this operation
closed the surface well. In their research, it seemed that the Nowadays, filters are often made from synthetic fibers that
non-contact curtain coating led to lower coating penetration, are not biodegradable or recyclable. In air filtering, the main
maintained bulk well, and improved coating hold-out com- target is to achieve good particle capture with low pressure
pared to MSP that uses a high-pressure pulse. loss. Often, a large specific surface area and a tortuous struc-
From the processing point of view, Lehmonen et al.[107] ture improve the capturing properties. Foam forming could
reported that the achieved scale of jet-to-wire ratio as well also be an interesting technology in this application area. As
as MD/CD-ratio were wider with foam forming than with discussed in Section 5.3, pore-size distribution can be
water forming, indicating that this kind of behavior would affected by changing the bubble size distribution of the
be beneficial if the technology is scaled up to production foam. Tailor-made pore sizes could offer interesting oppor-
scale. Surfactants can be selected depending on the required tunities for filter manufacturing. Korehei et al.[102] tested
properties. Gottberg et al.[92] reported trials in which PVA how different refining energies of the MFC fiber affect filtra-
was used as a foaming agent for foam-formed paper or tion properties. Foam-formed samples were made by mixing
board produced at laboratory and pilot scale. They tested of bleached softwood kraft pulp and MFC at a ratio of
which type of PVA should be used when optimal foaming 90:10 wt%. They showed that when the refining energy was
properties and strength are required. There were differences increased from 500 to 1500 kW/t, the filtration efficiency
in foamability and strength properties, which depended on was improved. However, the highest refining energy level of
the molecular weight and degree of hydrolysis of PVA. By 2500 kW/t reduced the filtration efficiency dramatically. At
varying these parameters, one can tailor the characteristics this refining level, the fiber length is shortest, which leads to
of fiber foams and end-product properties. With paper and a reduction in fiber entanglement in formed paper. The
board pilot trials, PVA gave higher strength compared to high hydrodynamic capillary forces during testing could
anionic surfactant. The addition of PVA fibers improved then have caused holes and defects in the weak regions of
strength significantly and gave higher Z-strength in thick- the formed structure.
ness direction at low density. Jahangiri et al.[13] found that the foam-formed papers
made from bleached softwood kraft pulp and CTMP showed
poor filtration efficiency due to the large pores in the mater-
6.4. Tissue
ial. They found the best submicron filtration properties
For tissue, foam forming offers improved formation, which when 10% and 30% of valley-beaten fibers were added to
at low basis weights can lead to higher in-plane strength[149] the bleached softwood kraft pulp as well as when freeze-dry-
and surface smoothness. For low basis-weight products, foam ing was used with nano-fibrillated Lyocell fibers. However,
forming offers the highest potential for light weighting. FD deteriorated the strength properties dramatically. The
1490 T. HJELT ET AL.

conductivity values in the range of 0.034–0.040 W/m K

depending on the material density level (Figure 35). When
compared to the best cellulose-based insulation material,
foam-formed materials were better than commercial ones,
and they could even compete with mineral wools in thermal
conductivity. Density seemed to affect thermal conductivity
more than the fiber raw material. Some minor differences
between different pulps were seen and thermomechnical
pulp (TMP) showed the lowest thermal conductivity values.
Jahangiri et al.[13] also showed that the higher the air con-
tent in foaming, the better the thermal conductivity values
were. The properties of their 100 g/m2 sheets were close to
the commercial heat insulators like expanded polystyrene
(EPS). P€ohler et al.[14] mentioned that air flow resistance is
important for minimizing the heat transfer by thermal con-
vection, and it can be optimized by selecting fiber raw mate-
Figure 35. Thermal conductivity as a function of bulk density. The studied rials (particle size distribution) or by adjusting the z-
pulps were softwood kraft pulp (SW), hardwood pulp (HW), cellulose microfibrils directional density distribution,[15] for example. The differ-
(CMF), and thermomechanical pulp (TMP). The CMF (SEC 10 MWh/t) addition ence between foam-formed materials and current cellulose-
was 5%, 10%, and 20% at bulk density levels 25, 42, and 48 kg/m3, respectively.
Reprinted with permission from Ref. [14]. based insulation mats is that foam forming enables 100%
content of natural fibers in manufacturing. One advantage is
higher filtration efficiency was achieved with shorter fibers, also the low price of raw material compared to glass and
which also have a larger aspect ratio. The best structures polymer fibers.
captured between 85% and 90% of submicron particles, but Building products should meet fire safety regulations.
the pressure drops were high compared to the commer- The Euroclass is a classification system for building products
cial filters. based on the reaction-to-fire performance and used widely
Filtratation for purifying (drinking) water would need a in the member countries of the EU. In the Euroclass system,
structure that is water-stable or water-resistant and has high A1 and A2 are noncombustible materials and materials cer-
wet-strength properties. There have been a few attempts by tified from B to F are combustible in ascending order. One
Heydarifard et al.,[16,17] Jain et al.,[159] and Ottenhall challenge is that poor reaction-to-fire properties of foam-
et al.[147] to improve the wet strength and antimicrobial formed materials need to be improved to meet the fire safety
activity of foam-formed structures to capture and deactivate regulations. Zheng et al.[160–162] showed that foamed cellu-
micro-organisms. Heydarifard et al.[17] improved wet lose insulation panels with commercial fire retardants (20%
strength by using high molecular weight, cationically modi- expandable graphite or 25% synergetic) passed fire class E
fied poly(acryla-mide) (C-PAM). They showed that foam- according to the standard EN 13501-1. They also tested if
formed paper could improve household water quality after coating of foam-formed materials would improve fire retard-
adding antibacterial thermoplastic starch into the fiber net- ancy. A few bio-based fire retardants (sulfonated kraft lig-
work. The non-leaching effect of antimicrobial polymer was nin, kraft lignin, and nanoclay) and commercial fire
also proved. In another paper by Heydarifard et al.,[16] wet- retardants were mixed with MFC binder. The cellulose ther-
strength properties were improved by reacting hydroxyl-con- mal insulation panels were then coated with those formula-
taining polymers with glutaraldehyde. They showed that wet tions. Nanoclay-coated samples showed the best fire
strength was improved 10–12-fold if glutaraldehyde was retardancy properties. The coatings, however, increased the
used together with C-PAM. Jain et al.[159] tested the antibac- thermal conductivity compared to the reference with-
terial properties against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeru- out coating.
ginosa, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus cereus. Foamed cellulose Another challenge is to improve water resistance and
filter, impregnated with Ag2O nanoparticles, showed higher water absorption. Zheng et al.[163] impregnated foam-formed
antibacterial properties than filters impregnated with ZnO CTMP sheets with hydrophobic extractives (from birch
and CuO nanoparticles. Also, in this case glutaraldehyde bark). Water resistance was improved, and the materials
and C-PAM were used. absorbed 50% less moisture within 24 h compared to the
Ottenhall et al.[147] showed that structures with cationic unmodified structures. Thermal insulation properties, fungal
chitosan had good water-stability as well as good antibacter- resistance, or compressive strength properties were not
ial (against to E. coli) and antifungal (against to Aspergillus changed due to these modifications.
brasiliensis) properties.
6.7. Sound absorption and other possible
6.6. Thermal insulation construction materials
ohler et al.[14] have shown that foamed porous materials
P€ The open pore structure of low-density cellulose fiber mate-
made from papermaking pulps had good thermal rials is ideal for sound absorption. P€ohler et al.[144]
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1491

Figure 36. Example of combining foam-formed material with visual elements: (a) Foam molding with included optical and wood pulp fibers. The high viscosity of
wet foam helps in forming the structure. (b, c) Obtained panel after drying (photograph: Eeva Suorlahti).

benchmarked sound absorption properties of the fiber-based communicate with its surroundings. In thermal insulation, a
foam-formed materials to materials used commercially. In sensor could indicate, for example, increased moisture con-
comparison with a typical acoustic product made of mineral tent between the walls. A printed electronic or sensor foil
wool, polyester fibers, or textile shoddy, similar or better could be combined with a web in the foam forming or
sound absorption coefficients were reached. At the same molding process. However, combining the interactive tech-
density level, the air flow resistance of foam-formed soft- nology with the foam-formed structure should not jeopard-
wood kraft pulp materials was higher than that of the differ- ize the specific material functionality. Some nice interior
ent types of commercial materials. visual effects have already been demonstrated by merging
Debeleac et al.[164] performed experiments and computa- led foils or optical fibers with foam-formed panels
tional analyses to evaluate the sound absorption properties of (Figure 36).
foam-formed structures made from bleached hardwood cellu-
lose pulp and from recycled fibers. The results they gained
6.8. Fiber cushioning for EPS replacement
were compatible with the computational experimental results,
giving extended soundproof characteristics. Korehei et al.[102] Foam-formed materials could substitute some non-bio-
tested sound absorption properties of foam-formed materials degradable packaging solutions like inner packages based on
using three microphone impedance tubes. The effect of the EPS.[103] One advantage is that lightweight fiber structures
addition of MFC on the acoustical properties was on their can be made in 3D forms, and density gradient in the struc-
interest. The tested materials were bleached softwood kraft, ture can be adjusted in the processing stage. The foam-
blend of softwood kraft and MFC, as well as a freeze-dried formed fiber products are based on 100% renewable mater-
MFC sample. The first two samples were dried using the vac- ial, and could be recycled in current streams, like cardboard
uum-assisted air-drying technique. Their results showed that is recycled nowadays. The material could also be burned or
the addition of the MFC into the structure improved sound composted like paper. This is an interesting area when tak-
absorption properties. The high surface area of MFC or the ing into account the fact that there might be some future
increased number of fibers per unit volume was given as an limitations to the use or importation of EPS. Ketoja
explanation for this. The freeze-dried MFC sample had a sig- et al.[126] and P€
ohler et al.[77] have studied the compression
nificantly higher sound absorption coefficient, especially at strength properties of the foam-formed fiber structures and
higher frequencies. Dong and Wang[165] found similar those results are discussed in Section 5.5. On the other
improvement of sound absorption at high frequencies for hand, for this kind of inner packaging material, the fast
foam-formed kraft fiber network with silicasol. platen drop test (Figure 25d) is probably more relevant for
There are also many other interesting application areas in testing cushioning properties. Ketoja et al.[20] showed in
construction where foam-forming technology could be uti- their conference presentation that foam-formed complex
lized. One example is the replacing of gypsum boards with shapes can have high local density (>100 kg/m3), and in the
all-cellulose structures, where foam-formed structures would meantime have reduced effective density (<20 kg/m3)
be pressed into a higher density. Also, the replacement of because of empty regions. They showed a more than tenfold
polyurethane foam-like materials or 3D-printed insulation improvement in compression strength properties just by
materials could be interesting future opportunities for foam changing the geometry (Figure 37).
technology. Foam forming has also been seen as a feasible
technology for producing high-performance and cost-effi-
7. Summary and future prospects
cient thermoformable wood–plastic composite materials.[166]
In future applications, addition of sensors or signaling Foam forming is a new technology that helps the industry
into foam-formed products could let the material to meet several urgent material development needs: replacing
1492 T. HJELT ET AL.

Figure 37. Geometry of the complex foam-formed shapes also affects the strength properties, as can be seen from the picture where the ‘Pyramid B’ complex
shape made with CTMP fibers is compared with different kinds of polymer foams and other materials.[20]

plastics with biobased alternatives, improving the material rheological behavior, which is an asset in developing simple
efficiency (i.e., lowering the density of a product), enabling and stable processes and homogeneous product structures.
novel material combinations (e.g., including very long fibers The physical and chemical properties of the foam itself
and components that are lighter than water), and creating become a toolbox for advanced process and product control.
added-value products with a tailored porous structure. In particular, foam quality can be used to control the micro-
Moreover, foam can give new life to old paper machines porous structure beyond earlier possibilities.
that lack the efficiency required to compete against modern Foam forming improves production efficiency in terms of
paperboard production. It is relatively easy to update the significantly higher solids content after forming and wet
forming section of a paper machine to operate with foam, pressing. A typical improvement in solids content is about
keeping essential parts of the dewatering, pressing, and dry- 5%-units, which can lead to a ca. 20% saving in drying
ing units unchanged. Their operation needs to be optimized energy. Moreover, in web products, typically around 10%
for the foam forming, which requires systematic trials and lower material density can be achieved without deteriorating
planning work. The biggest burden is to modify the other material properties like strength and stiffness. This
approach and the circulation systems so that they can han- reduction in material usage has been a long-standing target
dle and recover surfactants during the process. Process ele- for paper and board makers, having a big impact on raw-
ments like pumps, screens, cleaning systems, and process material costs.
instrumentation are specifically designed for water processes A main challenge in foam forming is associated with
and do not necessary work for foam as they are. Efficient compensation of the strength loss caused by reduced dens-
process may also need systems for recovering surfactant ity. Besides selecting proper raw materials, the choice of
from the process water. However, there are already examples foaming agent may also be critical. For example, charges of
at the pilot scale showing that required process modifica- surfactant molecules can interact with those of fibers and
tions are possible with reasonable costs. polymers, affecting their bonding. Moreover, the compatibil-
Foam rheology is important for the mixing, transfer, and ity of surfactant with other process chemicals like hydro-
forming of fibers. Rheological studies using simple pipe geo- phobization agents has to be ensured. On the other hand,
metries indicate that added fibers play a minor role in foaming agents like PVA can also be used as a strength
 JOURNAL OF DISPERSION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1493

additive and to functionalize the formed structure, which ORCID

may help to reduce the amount of other chemicals in
Jukka A. Ketoja http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8260-4267
the process. Harri Kiiskinen http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8021-9157
Despite well-established research tradition on fundamen- Antti I. Koponen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9361-6693
tal foam physics and chemistry, there are several open scien- Elina P€a€akk€
onen http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9624-4875
tific questions related to the foam-forming application. Most
of the fundamental research has concentrated on relatively References
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