Cellulosic fibrous aggregate and a process for its preparation

Abstract

A cellulosic fibrous aggregate formed from sections of cellulosic fibrous material by a process which comprises: a softening stage comprising softening a plurality of sections of cellulosic fibrous material by the action of an aqueous softening agent at elevated temperature, thereby at least partially breaking down the cellulosic cross-linking in the cellulosic fibrous material; a compression stage comprising pressing together the softened sections of cellulosic fibrous material to form a compressed matrix; and a consolidation stage comprising dewatering and consolidating the compressed matrix to form a consolidated matrix, and a process for its preparation comprising the aforementioned softening, compression and consolidation stages.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.