SAVUTEC^® - From plant fibre to vulcanized fibre.

The preliminary stage / / Raw paper
The basic material of the vulcanized fbre SAVUTEC^® is cotton, and it is the cotton fbres that are processed or, more precisely, the 3-5mm long linter fbres. These consist of cellulose that is gained from the seed hair of the cotton fower. After the harvest, the cotton linters are mechanically cleaned, cooked and bleached. The paper machine then forms the actual paper structure: For this purpose the cellulose is dissolved in water and made into a paper pulp. This pulp, which in the beginning consists of 99 % water, runs over an endless screed that dehydrates the pulp step by step. The rolled up raw paper sheet is parchmentized at Sachsenröder.

Parchmentizing / / SAVUTEC^® vulcanized fibre
For parchmentizing, one or several layers of raw paper are pulled through a bath with concentrated sulphuric acid, wrung out and subsequently washed out in several baths with decreasing concentration. The acid ensures that the fbres of the cotton tie together anew. »Hydrate cellulose« forms on the surface. The sulphuric acid serves as a catalyser which is washed out completely (neutral pH factor). Subsequently, the vulcanized fbre Savutec^® is cured, rolled up and packaged.