PRODUCTION OF CATIONIC STARCH ETHERS USING AN IMPROVED DRY PROCESS

Cationic starch ethers have been established as additives in the paper industry for many years. A number of production processes are known and documented in numerous patents and articles. Whereas in the past starches were predominantly etherified in aqueous suspension, a trend has lately been observed towards a "dry" cationisation. Apart from the commercial aspects, the advantages of a "dry" reaction control lie in the ecological sphere as well. The advantages of the dry process for producing cationic starch ethers will be discussed here and compared with the "slurry" process. In so doing, particular attention will be paid to a dry process developed by our company since it is gaining nowadays more and more commercial relevance.