Development and optimisation of disk filter for high consistency paper stock dewatering and fiber recovery

在过去的10年里，加拿大的纸张和纸板生产发生了重要的转变。印刷和书写品级的需求急剧下降导致了几家工厂关闭，但纸巾和包装行业的需求却出现了强劲而持续的增长。该行业还必须面对在提高产品质量的同时降低能源和水资源消耗的挑战。因此，工业上迫切需要高效的设备，首先准备纸浆，然后生产所需的纸张和纸板等级。Kadant是浆料准备和接近流动系统的领先供应商，旨在生产高质量的白纸和棕纸等级，在使用再生纤维纸浆方面拥有丰富的专业知识。该公司开始开发一种圆盘式过滤器，可以处理高固相比例(高浓度)的纤维浆料。InnoFibre在这一开发中处于领先地位。专门为开发工作而设计的盘式过滤器的中试装置位于InnoFibre，Kadant和Innofibre的共同努力已经取得了重大进展。本研究提案的目标是在纸浆和造纸工业的现代背景下追求盘式过滤器的发展。该项目将首先专注于白水纤维的回收，然后进一步开发圆盘过滤器，用于相对较高浓度的纸浆(固含量大于1%)的浓缩。这些目标与加拿大纸浆和造纸业最近转向生产纸板和提高纸厂生产能力是一致的，这两种现象都需要更好的脱水能力和水循环。

The last 10 years have seen an important shift in the production of papers and boards in Canada. The sharpdemand decline for printing and writing grades lead to several mill closures but the tissue and packagingsectors of the industry rather see a strong and persistent increase in demand. The industry must also face thechallenge of reducing energy and water consumption while increasing the quality of its products. There is thusa strong industrial need for efficient equipment, both to first prepare the pulp and then produce the requiredpaper and board grades.Kadant is a leading supplier of stock preparation and approach flow systems designed to produce high-qualitywhite and brown paper grades, with extended expertise in the use of recycled fiber pulps. The company startedthe development of a disk filter that can process a fiber slurry with a high solid proportion (high consistency).Innofibre plays a leading role in this development. A pilot scale unit of the disk filter, specially designed fordevelopment work, is located at Innofibre and joint efforts by Kadant and Innofibre already led to significantadvances.The goal of the present research proposal is to pursue the development of the disk filter in the modern contextof the pulp and paper industry. This project will first focus on white water fiber recovery and then further thedevelopment of the disk filter to the thickening of relatively high consistency pulp (larger than 1 % in solidcontent). These objectives are in line with recent shifts in the Canadian pulp and paper industry towards theproduction of linerboard and the increased mill production capacity, both phenomena requiring betterdewatering capacity and water recycling.