Patent ID: 8262852

Claim:
A method of improving a mechanical pulping process, said method comprising: contacting a pulp material with a surfactant composition including an effective amount of an alkyl alcohol alkoxylate surfactant having formula RO[(CH 2 CHCH 3 O) X (CH 2 CH 2 O) Y ]M; wherein R is C 4 to C 40 straight, branched, or ring alkyl, X is from 1 to about 50, Y is from 0 to about 100, and M is H or an alkali metal; introducing to the pulp material at least one hydrotrope, and optionally introducing to the pulp material separately from the surfactant composition, as part of the surfactant composition, or with the surfactant composition but not as part of the surfactant composition one or more formulations selected from the group consisting of one or more additional surfactants; one or more chelants; one or more reductive pulp modifiers; one or more oxidative pulp modifiers; one or more pH-controlling chemicals; and combinations thereof, wherein the mechanical pulping process is one selected form the list consisting of: stone ground wood; pressurized ground wood; refiner mechanical pulp; pressurized refiner mechanical pulp; thermo-refiner mechanical pulp; thermo-mechanical pulp, and wherein substantially all of the surfactant composition is passed along with the pulp material into a refiner and wherein the resulting paper has a higher brightness than if the alkyl alcohol alkoxylate surfactant had not been added.