Abstract
The effects of refining consistency and plate gap on the specific energy consumption and physical properties of liner were investigated. Higher refining consistency and narrower plate gap brought about the reduction of specific energy consumption to decrease the freeness. Refining consistency and plate gap did not affect the bulk, Taber stiffness and compression index. The reduction of freeness and/or the increase of specific energy consumption caused the decrease of bulk and Taber stiffness, but increased the compression index. The effect of grammage on bulk was not observed, but Taber stiffness and compression index were increased with grammage. The bulk was decreased with the reduction of freeness rapidly at the above 400 mL CSF, and then levelled off. It is expected that the reduction of energy consumption could be obtained from the application of higher refining consistency and narrower plate gap during refining.