Characterization of morphological changes of chemical pulp fibres and fines due to refining

• The influence of the refining process on the morphological changes of a chemical softwood pulp was investigated. An industrial-like laboratory refiner was used, where the pulp was refined with five refining segments with differences in bar widths, groove widths, and cutting angles. The refined pulp was characterized with a fibre analyser with a spatial resolution of approximately 4 µm/pixel and a wide size range. The fines fraction of the refined pulp was also characterized with an imaging flow cytometer with a spatial resolution of 0.33 µm/pixel and a narrower size range.The fibre analyser measurements showed that the mean length, width, and aspect ratio of the fines decreased monotonically with accumulated refining energy. The imaging flow cytometer with its higher spatial resolution showed little change in fines morphology with accumulated refining energy.The morphology of the fines was more dependent on the applied specific refining energy than the design of the refining segment. However, a segment with much finer grooves and bars, initially designed for hardwood, gave significantly less fibre shortening, fines generation, external fibrillation, kink, and fines that were more fibrillar, compared to the other segments. 

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Pappers-, massa- och fiberteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Paper, Pulp and Fiber Technology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Chemical pulp

morphology

stock characterization

refining

fines

fibrillation

Fiber- och polymervetenskap

Fibre and Polymer Science

Production Engineering

Industriell produktion

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

ovr (subject category)