A theoretical analysis of recirculation in pulp refiners

Abstract

Expressions have been developed to describe the influence of recirculation on the energy distribution on pulp in refiners. It was shown that for constant pulp flow to downstream operations, the average energy expenditure on pulp does not change with recirculation, but the energy expended on components of the pulp flow varies widely. In the case of reduced fiber flow, the recirculation to maintain constant flow and the power to maintain constant average specific energy produces a change in both the energy distribution on pulp and refining intensity. The implications of these findings to pulp refining are discussed in this work.