Some new developments for characterising wood pulp fibres in pulp and paper mills

摘要

Data are presented to show that procedures normally used for characterising fluffing pulps for baby diapers and incontinent pads can be used effectively for monitoring variations in fibre quality. Both shred energy and the subsequent pad integrity correlate well with fibre length and coarseness for the radiata pine fibres. Intense pulp pad compression tests are described and some preliminary data presented to show that some measurements of fibre collapsibility and flexibility can be obtained for fibres that have never been dried, those that have been conventionally dried, and those that have been dried by various other techniques, such as freeze drying, cool-air drying and microwave drying. Data are also presented for correlations among percentage volume recovery and specific fibre properties. Rapid acceleration and deceleration of visco-elastic fibre suspensions show that the hysteresis envelope can be used to evaluate dynamic flocculation, characterise fibres, and also small changes in fibre properties in-line. Further work is presented using heat and momentum transfer measurements to characterise specific fibre properties of fibres flowing in suspension. All these methods could be used to monitor fibre quality in a pulp and paper mill for improved control of the fibres going to the papermachine.