Method for measuring permeability of pulp suspension at high basis weights

• During the formation of pulp to paper, a large amount of water is added to dilute the pulp in order to obtain a homogenous material. This water call be mechanically and/or thermodynamically removed by different process solutions. The pulp suspension flows through various process equipment that influence the pulp suspension by changing its properties before the pulp suspension finally becomes paper. It is important to understand the mechanisms behind the transport path of water in this process in order to reduce cost and to increase the production rate of pulp and paper. The resistance to flow must be known in order to describe the flow path and the corresponding pressure drop in dewatering equipment in a pull.? mill. For networks with a complex geometry, a reliable method is to measure the resistance to flow at discrete points and to fit suitable resistance models to the results obtained. The objective of this study is to investigate how the history of pulp suspensions affects their permeability. A device for measuring the permeability of various pulp suspensions at high basis weights is developed and validated. Then the permeability of a number of virgin pulp species is measured. Some of the suspensions are then circulated in a closed flow loop and permeability is measured as a function of the number of loops. The results from two separate test's show that a basis weight variation and a different process treatment of the pulp suspension do not influence permeability.

Subject headings

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

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

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Strömningsmekanik och akustik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Fluid Mechanics and Acoustics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Wood fibre

porosity

permeability

pulp suspension

Strömningslära

Fluid Mechanics

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)