Mid Sweden University

Most of the earlier proposed ways to reduce energy con-sumption in high consistency refining requires operating at a small disc gap. However, a small gap is often associated with a severe fiber length reduction and often lead to unsta-ble refining and a small operational window. To address these issues, the idea of utilizing abrasive segments surfaces is here revisited. Abrasive refiner segments, consisting of abrasive surfaces in combinations with traditional bars and grooves or flat abrasive surfaces without any bars or grooves, were evaluated in both pilot and mill scale. From the trials it could be concluded, that particularly stable refin-ing was achieved with less power variations compared to when using standard segments, even when refining at very small disc gaps. The lw-mean fiber length of the pulps was not reduced or only slightly reduced, even when refining at very small disc gaps. Tensile index could be increased more efficiently or equally efficient as when using standard seg-ments. Improved energy efficiency could be achieved when combining the abrasive surface with high intensity treat-ment.