Glycerol-based polymers for reducing deposition of organic contaminants in papermaking processes

1. A method of reducing the deposition of organic contaminants during a pulp processing stage of a papermaking process, comprising adding to pulp or a papermaking system an effective amount of a branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer, wherein the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is cross-linked.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is a lipohydrophilic glycerol based polymer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is a random polymer of the monomeric units indicated in the following formula:

wherein:

m, n, o, p, q and r are independently 0 to 700;

R and R′ are independently —(CH 2 ) x —, wherein each x is independently 0 or 1; and

each R 1 is independently selected from hydrogen, acyl and C 1 -C 50 alkyl.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein each R 1 is independently selected from hydrogen, C 6 -C 18 alkyl, and —C(O)CH(OH)CH 3 .

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein each R 1 is independently selected from hydrogen, C 10 -C 16 alkyl, and —C(O)CH(OH)CH 3 .

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein m, n, o, p, q and r are independently selected from 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer has a weight-average molecular weight of about 1,000 Da to about 500,000 Da.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding to the pulp or the papermaking system at least one component selected from the group consisting of fixatives, detackifiers, and other dispersants.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contaminants are hydrophobic contaminants.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the hydrophobic contaminants are stickies.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the hydrophobic contaminants are pitch.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is added to a pulp slurry in a pulper, latency chest, reject refiner chest, disk filter or Decker feed or accept, whitewater system, pulp stock storage chest, blend chest, machine chest, headbox, saveall chest, or any combination thereof in the papermaking process.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is added to a surface in the papermaking process selected from a pipe wall, a chest wall, a machine wire, a press roll, a felt, a foil, an Uhle box, a dryer, or any combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is added to a pulp slurry in the papermaking process.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the effective amount of the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is from about 5 ppm to about 300 ppm based on the amount of pulp slurry.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the effective amount of the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is from about 50 ppm to about 200 ppm based on the amount of pulp slurry.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the effective amount of the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is about 100 ppm based on the amount of pulp slurry.

18. A method of reducing the deposition of organic contaminants in a papermaking process, comprising adding to pulp or a papermaking system a branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer at an amount 5 ppm or above based on the amount of pulp slurry, wherein the branched, cyclic glycerol-based polymer is cross-linked.