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Mass deacidification is a term used in Library And Information Science for one possible measure against the degradation of Paper in old Books (the so-called " Slow Fires "). The goal of the process is to increase the PH of Acidic Paper works on a large scale. While current methods of mass deacidification can be effective in neutralizing the acid and halting further damage, they can not restore mechanical strength to the paper. Although Acid-free Paper has become more viable, a large body of acidic paper still exists from the 1980s and earlier because of its cheaper and simpler production methods. Acidic paper, especially when exposed to Light , yellows and becomes brittle over time. This damage can be prevented through mass deacidification. CURRENT SERVICES There are several commercial deacidification techniques currently on the market. The BookKeeper process is a non-aqueous, liquid phase process that uses magnesium oxide to neutralize acidic paper {Link without Title} . BookKeeper is in wide use in the United States and has expanded overseas with plants in Japan and the Netherlands. CSC Book Saver uses Magnesium Propylate in Heptaflouropropane for deacidification. It is available in Europe through PAL PRESERVATION ACADEMY GmbH Leipzig ( German / English ) The Paper''save'' process was developed by Battelle Engineering (and sometimes referred to as "the Battelle Process"). It is available in Europe through Nitrochemie Wimmis AG and the Zentrum für Bucherhaltung (ZfB). The Wei T'o process, which uses a Magnesium Carbonate complex to deacidify paper {Link without Title} . Some Wei T'o treatment continues for single item deacidification, but it is less common as a mass deacidification treatment. The Interleaf Vapor Phase process which uses cyclohexamine carbonate to deacidify paper {Link without Title} . EARLY EXPERIMENTS Although many attempts have been made to create a large scale commercially viable mass deacidifcation process, there have been very few successes. One technique proposed was to place books in an evacuated chamber, then introduce and was tested on books provided by the Library Of Congress . However, it was discovered in 1986 that the DEZ had not been removed in one of the deacidification runs and was pooled in the bottom of the chamber, and probably remained within some of the plumbing. DEZ is violently flammable when it comes in contact with oxygen, so the vacuum chamber could not be opened to remove the books within. Eventually, explosives were used to rupture the suspect plumbing; suspicions of the presence of residual DEZ were confirmed by the subsequent fire that destroyed the plant. In his book Double Fold , Nicholson Baker discusses the failure of the NASA program at great length. The chemical company Akzo made later attempts at refining the process; though the risks of fire and explosions were reduced by better process design, damage and odours remained a problem. In the end, Akzo decided the process was not a viable commercial proposition, and shut down their research at the end of 1994. SEE ALSO Double Fold EXTERNAL LINKS |
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