Refining of fibres at laboratory scale

Mechanically converting the fibres to improve the paper properties

To evaluate the potential for developing the mechanical properties of lignocellulosic fibres by doing a refining curve
To determine the refining impact on fibres morphological characteristics and on the paper mechanical properties
To produce a batch of refined pulp (chemical or mechanical pulps)

General informations

The CTP is equipped with 3 different systems at laboratory scale for refining pulps to answer to the industrialists demand or for their own research projects:

a PFI mill,
a Valley beater,
a disc refiner (for all pulp grades)

The experiments with the PFI mill and the Valley beater are standardized. They allow evaluating the refining behavior of paper pulps. They represent a preliminary step for fibres refining at bigger scale with:

the “low consistency refining pilot” (batch of 7.5 kg of o.d. pulp ) for chemical pulps,
the FCBA ITF “TMP pilot” for the high consistency refining (batch of 1 kg of o.d. pulp).

Technical data and realisations

The refining is a preliminary step in the preparation of handsheets at laboratory scale for the measurement of the pulp physical properties. These physical tests of pulps refined at laboratory scale can generate data, which help to determine the final performances of the pulp when it is converted into paper.
These laboratory refining processes are used by the pulp mills to establish the technical data sheets of the market pulps. They are also utilized for the research projects to evaluate the impact of new pulping processes or new pre-treatments on the refining behaviour of fibres.

Method based on Valley beater (ISO 5264-1 standard)