Air-stream drying of paper
by Eva Glück, Gerhard Banik, Ernst Becker, Michael Kühner
Airflow drying has originally been applied in printmaking and hand papermaking workshops in order to shorten drying times and maintaining planarity of paper.
The technique was already suggested by R. Futernick in 1988 and was first introduced to paper conservation at the Western Regional Paper Conservation Laboratory in San Francisco. In this contribution, the physical bascis of the drying process, including a simple drying stack prepared from corrugated board, are described. Drying is carried out in stacks of archival-quality corrugated cardboards and other paperboard materials under slight pressure. The stack of cardboards is equipped with a blower that provides a continuous airflow through the open channels of the cardboards. The water is removed from the stacks by continuous evaporation through the moisture absorbing board until equilibrium with the ambient air is reached.
Read more about this study in our Knowledge section, where you may find the summarized results of the research study. You may print your personal copy here >> Basic information (PDF).
