AN OPTICAL METHOD FOR MONITORING PULP REFINING

An optical method has been developed to provide for an indication or p ulp refining. The method requires that a small sample of pulp be dilut ed to a consistency of approximately 0.1% during the measurement proce ss. The measurement is not affected by nominal Variation in the size o r consistency Of the sample and does not require latency removal. The measurement cycle takes approximately 5 min to complete and the repeat ability of the results in indicating the degree of refining is compara ble to that obtained from normal freeness measurements. In pilot plant refiner trials, in which changes in fibre surface development were in duced by changes in refiner specific energy, good agreement between th e method and freeness was observed for both chemical and mechanical pu lps.