Increased drainage performance in papermaking systems using microfibrillated cellulose

A process for the production of paper, board, and cardboard comprising adding to a wet end of a paper machine (a) microfibrillated cellulose, wherein the microfibrillated cellulose is derived from carboxylate-substituted cellulose with a net ionic charge having an anionic degree of substitution of 0.10 to 0.30;

• and (b) at least one coadditive, wherein the coadditive is selected from the group consisting of at least one of (1) an acrylamide-containing, cationic aqueous dispersion polymer having a molecular weight from 100,000 D to 500,000 D, a cationic monomer charge of 20% to 40%, and a reduced specific viscosity of from 5.0 to 12.0 dL/g and (2) vinylamine-containing polymers chosen from N-vinylformamide homopolymers that have been partially hydrolyzed to vinylamine and having an N-vinylformamide charge from at least 75% to 100% and a hydrolysis from 30% to 75%, in an amount effective to improve drainage, wherein the ratio by weight of the microfibrillated cellulose to the coadditive is from 1:5 to 5:1, and wherein the total combined amount of microfibrillated cellulose and coadditive added to the wet end of the paper machine is from 0.025% to 0.3% by weight on the basis of combined total solids of microfibrillated cellulose and coadditive with respect to the weight of dry pulp;
• and (c) aluminum sulfate in an amount of 0.025% to 0.5% by weight with respect to the weight of dry pulp.