| Abstract: | Pulp fiber length distribution characterization has been examined in this study. Because of the fiber morphology: slender in shape, fiber size distribution characterization is a very difficult task. Traditional technique involves separation of the particles by size,such as Bauer-McNett fiber classifier, and measuring the weight fractions. The particle fractions obtained may or may not reflect the desired size classification.On the other hand, the more recent technique through optical measurement of fiber length is limited by its inability to measure the mass of the particle fractions.Therefore, not only the two techniques fail to generate identical results, either one was accepted to be of better value. Pure hardwood kraft, softwood kraft, and their mixture samples have been measured for their fiber length distributions using an optical fiber quality analyzer: FQA. The data obtained from FQA are extensively studied to investigate more reliable way of representing the fiber length data and thus examining the viable route for measuring the fiber size distributions. It has been found that the fiber length averaged length 11 is a viable indicator of the average pulp fiber length. The fiber size fraction and/or distribution can be represented by the fiber "length" fractions. |
