Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Conical mechanical refiners for treating fibrous material typically include two elements substantially opposite to one another. One of the refiner elements, the rotor, is arranged to move with respect to a stationary refiner element, the stator. Between the rotor and the stator, a refiner gap is created into which the fibrous material to be refined is fed. The refiner elements include the refining surfaces that carry out the actual refining. The refining surfaces may be one integral structure or they may consist of a plurality of refining surface segments arranged adjacent to one another forming the refining surface.
In the case of a conical mechanical refiner 100 shown in
It has been observed in practice that pulp treated with the type of refiner and plate designs illustrated in
Apparatuses for improving the flow pattern of pulp stock in a conical mechanical refiner are provided.
According to various aspects there is provided refiner plate segments for a conical mechanical refiner. In some aspects, the refiner plate segments may include: a rotor plate segment having inlet openings disposed at one or more inlet locations on the rotor plate segment and one or more rotor plate segment refining areas adjacent to the one or more inlet locations; and a stator plate segment having outlet openings disposed at one or more outlet locations on the stator plate segment and one or more stator plate segment refining areas adjacent to the one or more outlet locations.
The rotor plate segment may be disposed opposite the stator plate segment such that the one or more rotor plate segment refining areas and the one or more stator plate segment refining areas oppose each other. The one or more inlet locations and the one or more outlet locations may be separated by one or more refining zones formed by the rotor plate segment refining areas and the stator plate segment refining areas.
According to various aspects there is provided refiner plate segments for a conical mechanical refiner. In some aspects, the refiner plate segments may include: a rotor plate segment having first inlet openings disposed at a first end of the rotor plate segment, and a first rotor plate segment refining area. A first end of the first rotor plate segment refining area may be disposed adjacent to the first inlet openings in an axial direction with respect to a rotational direction of the rotor plate segment. Second inlet openings may be disposed adjacent to a second end of the first rotor plate segment refining area in the axial direction; and
The rotor plate segment may further include a second rotor plate segment refining area. A first end of the second rotor plate segment refining area may be disposed adjacent to the second inlet openings in the axial direction and a second end of the second rotor plate segment refining area may be disposed at a second end of the rotor plate segment.
The refiner plate segments may further include a stator plate segment having first outlet openings disposed at a first end of the stator plate segment, and a first stator plate segment refining area. A first end of the first stator plate segment refining area may be disposed adjacent to the first outlet openings in an axial direction with respect to the rotational direction of the rotor plate segment. Second outlet openings may be disposed adjacent to a second end of the first stator plate segment refining area in the axial direction.
The stator plate segment may further include a second stator plate segment refining area. A first end of the second stator plate segment refining area may be disposed adjacent to the second outlet openings in the axial direction and a second end of the second stator plate segment refining area may be disposed at a second end of the stator plate segment. The first end of the rotor plate segment may be disposed opposite the second end of the stator plate segment. The second end of the rotor plate segment may be disposed opposite the first end of the stator plate segment such that the first rotor plate segment refining area and the second stator plate segment refining area oppose each other, and the first stator plate segment refining area and the second rotor plate segment refining area oppose each other.
According to various aspects there is provided refiner plate elements for a conical mechanical refining apparatus. In some aspects, the refiner plate elements may include: a rotor plate element having a first rotor plate segment disposed between a first end of the rotor plate element and an intermediate location of the rotor plate element, the first rotor plate segment having a first rotor plate segment refining area; and a second rotor plate segment disposed between the intermediate location of the rotor plate element and a second end of the rotor plate element, the second rotor plate segment having a second rotor plate segment refining area. The rotor plate element may further include one or more inlet openings separated from the first rotor plate segment refining area and the second rotor plate segment refining area.
The refiner plate elements may further include: a stator plate element having a first stator plate segment disposed between a first end of the stator plate element and an intermediate location of the stator plate element, the first stator plate segment having a first stator plate segment refining area; and a second stator plate segment disposed between the intermediate location of the stator plate element and a second end of the stator plate element, the second stator plate segment having a second stator plate segment refining area. The stator plate element may further include one or more outlet openings separated from the first stator plate segment refining area and the second stator plate segment refining area.
The rotor plate element may be disposed opposite the stator plate element such that the first rotor plate segment refining area and the first stator plate segment refining area oppose each other and the second rotor plate segment refining area and the second stator plate segment refining area oppose each other. The one or more inlet openings and the one or more outlet openings may be separated by refining zones formed by the first rotor plate segment refining area and the first stator plate segment refining area, and the second rotor plate segment refining area and the second stator plate segment refining area.
Aspects and features of the various embodiments will be more apparent by describing examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection. The apparatuses, methods, and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.
Conical mechanical refiners for treating fibrous material include a conical rotor that is arranged to move with respect to a stationary conical stator. A refiner gap is created between the conical rotor and the conical stator, into which the fibrous material to be refined is fed. The fibrous material may be fed into the middle of the conical rotor and into the refining gap through a large number of homogeneously distributed openings. The fibrous material may exit the conical mechanical refiner through similar openings that are homogeneously distributed over the surface of the conical stator. The conical rotor and the conical stator include the refining surfaces that perform the refining of the fibrous material.
According to aspects of the present disclosure, the conical rotor and the conical stator may be made up of a plurality of segments that form the surfaces of the conical rotor and the conical stator. The rotor segments may include one or more inlet locations configured to conduct feedstock into the refining gap as well as one or more refining areas configured to refine the feedstock. The stator segments may include one or more outlet locations configured to conduct refined feedstock out of the refining gap as well as one or more refining areas configured to refine the feedstock. A number of refining areas may be created on the surface of the stator segments and the rotor segments. The refining areas may include various patterns of bars and grooves configured to refine the feedstock passing through the refining gap.
For each rotor segment, one or more inlet locations for feedstock may be defined outside of the refining areas such that the inlet locations are separated from the refining areas of the rotor segment, and for each stator segment, one or more outlet locations for the feedstock may be defined outside of the refining areas such that the outlet locations are separated from the refining areas of the stator segment. In some implementations, the one or more inlet locations and/or the one or more outlet locations may be covered or partially covered by the refining areas. The inlet location and the outlet location may be separated from each other by a specified axial distance along a surface of the rotor segment and/or the surface of the stator segment. Refining areas of the stator segment and the rotor segment may be disposed on the surfaces of the segments in the areas between the inlet location on the rotor segment and the outlet location on the stator segment. The feedstock thus can flow along the rotor and stator segments over the length of the refining zone in order to travel from the inlet location to the outlet location.
Each rotor segment 310a, 310b may include one or more inlet openings 320a, 320b and one or more rotor refining areas 315a, 315b. The one or more inlet openings 320a, 320b may be disposed at the first ends 312a, 312b of the rotor segments 310a, 310b. The one or more inlet openings 320a, 320b may enable feedstock to flow from a back side 305a, 305b of the rotor segments 310a, 310b to the front side 306a, 306b of the rotor segments 310a, 310b and then over the refining areas 315a, 315b. The rotor refining areas 315a, 315b may include patterns of bars and grooves and/or other features designed to refine the feedstock.
While one rotor refining area 315a, 315b is shown on each of the rotor segment 310a, 310b, the rotor segments may include more than one refining area and each refining area may have the same or different patterns of bars and grooves and/or other features configured to refine feedstock. In some implementations, one or more inlet openings may be provided in areas of the rotor segments between the more than one refining areas.
In some implementations, each rotor element may include two or more rotor segments arranged in a longitudinal direction with respect to an axis of rotation “R” of the conical rotor. In some implementations, the conical mechanical refiner may accommodate only one rotor segment per rotor element. In such implementations, the rotor segment may include one inlet opening location having one or more inlet openings, or multiple inlet opening locations each including one or more inlet openings.
Each stator segment 410a, 410b may include one or more outlet openings 420a, 420b and one or more stator refining areas 415a, 415b. The one or more outlet openings 420a, 420b may be disposed at the second ends 414a, 414b of the stator segments 410a, 410b. The stator refining areas 415a, 415b may include patterns of bars and grooves and/or other features designed to refine the feedstock. The one or more outlet openings 420a, 420b may enable feedstock to flow from the refining areas 415a, 415b on a front side 405a, 405b of the stator segments 410a, 410b to the back side 406a, 406b of the stator segments 310a, 310b and then exit the conical mechanical refiner.
The stator segments 410a, 410b may form the cone around the rotor segment 310a, 310b with the stator refining areas 415a, 415b disposed opposite the rotor refining areas 315a, 315b to form a refining gap (e.g., the refining gap 140 in
While one stator refining area 415a, 415b is shown on each of the stator segment 410a, 410b, the stator segments may include more than one refining area and each refining area may have the same or different patterns of bars and grooves and/or other features configured to refine feedstock. In some implementations, one or more outlet openings may be provided in areas of the stator segments between the more than one refining areas.
In some implementations, each stator element may include two or more stator segments arranged in a longitudinal direction with respect to an axis of rotation “R” of the conical rotor. In some implementations, the conical mechanical refiner may accommodate only one stator segment per stator element. In such implementations, the stator segment may include one outlet opening location having one or more outlet openings, or multiple outlet opening locations each including one or more outlet openings
Referring to
The stator segments 520a, 520b may include outlet openings 522a, 522b, and stator segment refining areas 524a, 524b. In some implementation, the outlet openings 522a, 522b may not extend into the stator segment refining areas 524a, 524b. In some implementation, the outlet openings 522a, 522b may extend partially or completely into the stator segment refining areas 524a, 524b. The stator segments 520a, 520b may be coupled to a conical stator frame 525. Multiple stator segments may be coupled around the conical stator frame 525 forming a conical shape disposed around the conical shape formed by the rotor segments. In some implementations, the conical stator frame 525 and stator segments may be stationary. In some implementations, the conical stator frame 525 and stator segments may rotate around the axis 516 in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the conical rotor frame 515 and the rotor segments.
In some implementations, each rotor segment and stator segment may form multiple refining zones. For each refining zone, one or more feedstock inlet openings in the rotor segment may be disposed at one end of the rotor segment refining area, and one or more feedstock outlet openings in the stator segment may be disposed at an opposite end of the stator segment refining area. In some implementations, the rotor segments and stator segments may form a single refining zone having one inlet and one outlet. For example, referring to
In some implementations, the refining zones may not span the entire length of the rotor and stator segments. For example, rotor segments 510a, 510b may each include two refining areas (e.g., each refining area 514a, 514b may be split to form two refining areas for each segment) with inlet openings 512a, 512b plus additional inlet openings in the middle of the segments between the refining areas. Similarly, stator segments 520a, 520b may each include two refining areas (e.g., each refining area 524a, 524b may be split to form two refining areas for each segment) with outlet openings 522a, 522b plus additional outlet openings in the middle of the segments between the refining areas but prior to the additional feed openings on the rotor segments.
The area between the inlet openings and the outlet openings of a refining zone is substantially covered by a pattern of bars and grooves. Typically, the refining areas of the rotor segments and the stator segments are covered by a relatively continuous design of bars and grooves that run substantially parallel in configurations that may be straight, curved, bent, or a combination of the configurations. Each refining areas of the rotor segments and stator segments can be continuous with a constant design of bars and grooves, can be separated in sections, can have different patterns of bars and grooves, such as a coarser zone and a finer zone, and/or can have different bar heights, different bar angles, etc.
As shown in
The inlet opening locations for each refining zone may be defined on the rotor segments and may be at a defined location along the length of the rotor segments. In some implementations, the inlet openings may be openings at/between the edges of the rotor segments when assembled on the conical rotor frame. An assembled conical-shaped rotor may have two or more inlet openings disposed around a circumference of the conical shape. In some implementations, the conical-shaped rotor may have the same number of inlet openings as the number of rotor segments (e.g., one inlet opening per rotor segment). In some implementations, each rotor segment may have multiple inlet openings. In some implementations, less than all of the rotor segments may have one or more inlet openings. The size and number of the inlet openings that create an inlet location may depend on the required feedstock flow that needs to pass through the defined refining zone that will be fed by that inlet location.
The outlet opening locations for each refining zone may be defined on the stator segments and may be at a defined location along the length of the stator segments. The outlet opening locations may be similar types of openings having the same range of parameters described above for the inlet openings on the rotor segments. The outlet opening locations may be offset relative to the rotor inlet openings by at least a distance across a refining zone. Thus, as the feedstock enters through the inlet openings in the rotor segment, the feedstock will travel some distance along the refining gap created between the rotor refining area and the stator refining area (e.g., the refining zone) before it reaches the outlet openings in the stator.
The distance between the inlet openings and outlet openings along the refining gap may be, for example, 50 mm,-300 mm or another distance. In some implementations, multiple refining zones may be disposed along the length of a gap between the rotor and stator segments, and each refining zone may have its own inlet and outlet location with the rotor and stator refining areas spanning between them.
In some implementations, two or more refining zones may have a common outlet opening or inlet opening, for example, at a mid-point between two rotor segments or two stator segments, when the feedstock flow travel towards or away from each segment, respectively.
Inlet openings 612a, 612b may be disposed at locations at opposite ends of the rotor element 610 in each of rotor segments 610a, 610b. Outlet openings 622a may be disposed at a location at an intermediate point between the stator segments 620a, 620b. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In some implementations, feedstock may flow from the smaller end of the conical shape towards the larger end of the conical shape in all refining zones. In some implementations, the feedstock may flow from the larger end of the conical shape towards the smaller end of the conical shape in all refining zones. In some implementations, feedstock may flow from the smaller end of the conical shape towards the larger end of the conical shape in some refining zones, while feedstock may flow from the larger end of the conical shape towards the smaller end of the conical shape in other refining zones.
In some implementations, the inlet openings and/or the outlet openings may be openings at/between the edges of the rotor segments when assembled on the conical rotor frame. contoured side edges that create the openings when segments are assembled as a set.
When assembled on the conical rotor frame, the contoured side edges form the inlet openings. For example, when rotor element 710 is assembled to the conical rotor frame adjacent to rotor element 720, contoured side edge 712a and contoured side edge 722a form an inlet opening. Similarly, contoured side edge 714a and contoured side edge 724a form an inlet opening.
In some implementations, each rotor segment may include one contoured side edge and one non-contoured edge (e.g., a substantially straight side edge). In such implantations, when assembled to the conical rotor frame, the one contoured edge of the rotor segment may form the inlet openings together with the non-contoured edge of the adjacent rotor segment.
When assembled on the conical stator frame, the contoured side edges form the outlet openings. For example, when stator element 810 is assembled to the conical stator frame adjacent to stator element 820, contoured side edge 812a and contoured side edge 822a form an outlet opening. Similarly, contoured side edge 814a and contoured side edge 824a form an outlet opening.
In some implementations, each stator segment may include one contoured side edge and one non-contoured edge (e.g., a substantially straight side edge). In such implantations, when assembled to the conical stator frame, the one contoured edge of the stator segment may form the inlet openings together with the non-contoured edge of the adjacent stator segment.
Similarly, as shown in
While
As can be seen from
The rotor and stator segments may include any combination and number of inlet port locations and outlet port locations provided that the configuration causes flow to travel from inlet port locations and outlet port locations through refining zones (e.g., refining zones having a length of 50 mm, 300 mm, or another length). The number of refining zones formed by the rotor and stator segments may be limited only by the available area on the rotor and stator segments.
Aspects of the present disclosure may provide a blocking mechanism to prevent feedstock from flowing between adjacent inlet openings on the rotor and outlet openings on the stator. Referring back to
While
An alternate method may use a pattern of bars and grooves to seal off the flow going in directly from the inlet opening to the outlet opening. For example, the pumping effect of angled bars may be utilized, and dams or other obstructions that limit the ability for feedstock flow to pass through that area may be added. Other possible methods may be utilized without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
While the above examples have been explained in terms of multiple rotor elements and stator elements that are assembled to form conical-shaped rotors and conical-shaped stators, in some implementations, a conical-shaped rotor and/or a conical-shaped stator may be formed as a single conical-shaped element without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
The examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only. Various modifications or changes in light thereof will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. These are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application, and the scope of the appended claims, which follow.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/175,752, filed Apr. 16, 2021, the contents of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63175752 | Apr 2021 | US |