New technology for producing fibrillar fines directly from wood

A method for producing lignocellulosic fibrillar fines directly from moist wood through a grinding process was evaluated. The method is based on a conventional stone wood grinding process with a novel grinding stone surface structure. The grinding stone (wheel) with a surface profile serrated in the axial direction of the wheel, forces fibres to break down into fibrils instead of detaching as fibres from the wood matrix. The arrangement mimics the inclined feeding of a log against a grinding stone and is completed without any related technical difficulties. Typically over a 90% conversion rate to fines (passing the Standard Mesh 200 wire) were achieved. The characteristics of the fines were influenced by the details of the surface structures, the velocity of the grinding stones, the feeding rate of the woods, and the specific energy consumption. This method enables novel means to adjusting the structure and properties of paper and paperboard products, as well as those of novel fibre and fibre-composite products.