A LIMITING-CONSITENCY MODEL FOR PULP DEWATERING AND WET PRESSING

Dewatering is a common and critical component of pulp and paper making operations, with impacts on production capacity, product quality, and process economics. This paper presents a new model for dewatering and pressing based on the concept of ''limiting consistency'' and the Koz eny-Carman equation for permeable flow. The new model fits well with d ata from preliminary low-consistency drainage experiments and with dat a for high-consistency pressing from the literature. The advantages of the limiting-consistency model include mathematical simplicity, readi ly measurable parameters, and applicability over a wide range of consi stency (1-50%). The theoretical development of the model and the initi al results are presented.