Effect of pulping temperature on the morphological properties of TMP made from pine wood

Subject Chips from pine wood were subjected to thermomechanical pulping (TMP) at 140 and 180 degrees C for 5 minutes, whereas the cooked chips were defibrated using a single disk pressurized refiner at the same temperatures (140 and 180 degrees C). The fibres were tested for some of their morphological properties including fibre length, fibre width, cell-wall thickness. Moreover, the fine fibre fraction (zero fibres) and the content of splinters were also estimated. The results reveal, that increasing the temperature during thermomechanical pulping decreases the fibre length, the cell width and the fibre wall thickness. It also increases the amount of fine fibres and increases the curl factor.