Characterization of Absorbent Flow Rate in Towel and Tissue

The quality of a paper towel is often judged based on how quickly it can wipe up a spill. However, the test methods currently available cannot repeatably measure significant differences in absorbent rate between samples. Recent round-robin testing evaluations by TAPPI and CEN organizations have shown that past methods, such as ASTM D5802-95 and TAPPI T561-pm [1], are unreliable due to high variability. The reasons for the lack of repeatability are unclear. The relation between the wicking mechanism and the fundamental absorbent properties needs to be better understood. This paper uses x-ray imaging to show the overall flow characteristics of fluid absorption within a towel, and compares the results to model predictions to show which parameters are important to the process. From this understanding, a revised test method is proposed that provides adequate statistical discernment of absorbent rate properties of tissue on a simple lab-bench scale device.