Refiner Disc Coplanar Pattern Wear Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Refiner discs with protruding bars and dams used for refining lignocellulosic materials experience wear due to abrasive contact, leading to decreased efficiency and the need for frequent replacement to maintain quality.
Innovation Solution
A refiner disc design featuring a pattern of bars and grooves on the active surface, where most bars are contained within pattern areas, allowing for optimized dimensions and orientations to achieve uniform fiber quality, reduce dust and shives, and promote seamless volumetric decrease, thereby extending the active surface's lifespan and reducing energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If bars and dams are provided as protruding structures on the refiner disc surface, then refining efficiency is improved, but wear resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the conventional protruding bars and dams with a planar pattern of raised elements that are substantially coplanar with the disc surface. This substitution maintains the mechanical refining function while eliminating the wear caused by protruding structures contacting the abrasive material. The patterned surface provides refining action through its geometry rather than through protruding elements that wear down.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the refining surface by transitioning from three-dimensional protruding structures to two-dimensional coplanar patterns. The raised elements are positioned at specific heights that are substantially coplanar with the surrounding surface, creating a planar refining pattern that maintains functionality while improving wear resistance.
2Manufacturing precision
If refiner segments are replaced frequently to maintain quality, then fiber quality is maintained, but production time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the refiner disc with a durable coplanar pattern that resists wear, effectively creating a long-lasting refining surface. This eliminates the need for frequent replacement of refiner segments, thereby reducing production time losses while maintaining consistent fiber quality throughout the extended service life of the disc.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent provides sufficient wear resistance through the coplanar pattern design that exceeds the typical service life requirements, ensuring that the refiner disc maintains its refining effectiveness well beyond what would normally require segment replacement, thus minimizing production interruptions.
3Ease of operation
If bars extend beyond pattern areas, then material flow is enhanced, but wear distribution becomes uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The patent confines the raised elements to specific pattern areas where they are arranged in organized patterns. Each pattern area contains raised elements positioned at defined intervals, creating localized zones of refined processing. This local organization ensures that wear is distributed uniformly across the disc surface while still providing effective material flow enhancement within each pattern zone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the refiner disc surface into multiple pattern areas, each containing a specific arrangement of raised elements. This segmentation allows for controlled material flow within each zone while ensuring that wear is distributed evenly across all pattern areas, preventing localized wear concentration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design provides a more stable and efficient refining process with uniform fiber quality, reduced wear, and longer active surface life, resulting in improved material flow and lower energy consumption.
Implementation Method 1
the bars and dams, being structures protruding from the surface of the refiner disc, will be worn down due to the abrasive contact they have with the material to be refined
Implementation Method 2
two relatively rotating discs between which the material is refined or defibrated
Implementation Method 3
A particular purpose with the dams is to lift the material that flows in the area between the bars (below called grooves) in an upward direction, towards a disc gap
Data Source
AI summary
A refiner disc of a refiner for refining of lignocellulosic material has an active surface configured to face another refiner disc when used in the refiner. active surface comprises a pattern of bars and grooves disposed in a plurality of pattern areas. The pattern areas are positioned side by side with each other to cover at least a part of the active surface.