New innovations for the study of fibre furnish characteristics

作者：Saren Matti P^*; Niskanen Tommi; Ruonala Jarkko; Kalkaja Tuomo; Riippa Timo

来源：Appita Journal, 2013, 66(1): 39-44.

Several fibre length measurement and classification methods for fibre furnishes have reached the position of industry standards among pulp and paper makers. However, recent developments in machine vision, optics design and sample pre-treatments have enabled the use of new methods for the purpose. This paper presents a summary of recent technological advances, and gives a brief introduction to tube flow fractionation technology and high resolution fibre imaging. New applications for retention chemistry control and deinking are described together with the results of a new methodology for vessel cell counting. %26lt;br%26gt;Higher resolution and data processing capacity have opened the door to such new methods as fibrillation measurement and reliable classification of vessels, both of which have been shown to have a remarkable effect on end product properties (1). The performance of this technology, resulting in a new era for fibre measurements, is discussed and some applications proposed. %26lt;br%26gt;Tube flow fractionation technology enables continuous fractionation similar to the Bauer-McNett method: particles are separated according to size, from the largest ones with the highest specific surface area to the very smallest (2). Combined with optical consistency measurement and image analysis, this pretreatment gives new insights into fibre-fibre and fines-fibre interaction, as the specific surface area of particles is influenced by the flocculation of fibres, fines or fillers. In this paper a practical example - measuring the response to retention chemical - is given. %26lt;br%26gt;Fractionation technology can be used for automatic hyper-washing of samples from deinking processes (3). The attachment of ink particles to fibres can be rapidly determined by applying image analysis to the separated samples (4).

• 出版日期2013-3