Wood fibres were produced on the pilot scale refiner at the BioComposites Centre, Bangor University, from a commercially sourced mix of chipped wood. The fibres were produced at refiner pressure 4, 6, 8 and 10 bar and dried in the associated flash drier. Surface energy characterization of the refined fibres was performed using inverse gas chromatography (IGC). The dispersive part of the total surface energy was analysed for duplicates of fibre samples at the four different refiner pressures. Non-polar alkane probes were used for the dispersive surface energy analysis at different surface coverage. Results indicate that the processing pressure has an effect of the dispersive surface energy and IGC analysis could be developed as a tool both for process development and process control in refining fibres.
Keywords: Inverse gas chromatography, dispersive surface energy, refined fibres
Authors
Källbom S.
Building Materials, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Ormondroyd G.A.
The BioComposites Centre, Bangor University, Bangor, Uk
Segerholm B.K.
SP Technical Research institute of Sweden, Wood Technology and Building Materials, KTH, Sweden
Jones D.
SP Technical Research institute of Sweden, Wood Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Wålinder M.E.P.
Building Materials, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
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