Effect of Plate Patterns on TMP Refining Performance

Abstract

Two thermomechanical pulp (TMP) refiner plates with different cutting edge length (CEL) were designed and manufactured to assess their impact on energy consumption, fiber properties, and pulp quality. Under the same refining conditions, refiner plates with higher CEL, referred to as TMP casting plates (TP), consumed more refining power than those with lower CEL, denoted as lightweight TMP plate (DP). TP with high CEL exhibited reduced fiber length loss and maintained low fiber coarseness in TMP and CTMP. TP resulted in superior strength development, while DP with smaller CEL were more effective in reducing shive content because of high-intensity refining. Consequently, it is worth considering different patterned plates to reduce refining energy consumption, minimize fiber length loss, and achieve superior strength development during TMP and CTMP manufacturing.