Capillary penetration of a wetting liquid in a microtomographic image of paper board, whose linear dimension was close to the average length of wood fibers, was simulated by the lattice-Boltzmann method. In spite of the size of the system not being large with respect to the size of structural inhomogeneities in the sample, for unidirectional penetration the simulated behavior was described well by that of the Lucas-Washburn equation, while for radial penetration a radial capillary equation described the behavior. In both cases the average penetration depth of the liquid front as a function of time followed a power law over many orders of magnitude. Capillary penetration of small droplets of liquid was also simulated in the same three-dimensional image of paper. In this case the simulation results could be described by a generalized form of the radial-penetration equation.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Fiber suspensions, such as microfibrillated cellulose, are a challenge for conventional rheometers to measure. This is because rheometers have small flow channel dimensions that can restrict flocculation. Often, questionable assumptions are also made about the fluid behavior in the gap. A pipe rheometer and ultrasound velocity profiling-pressure difference (UVP-PD) concept can be used, by which the real flow behavior is used for the rheological analysis of the bulk properties of the suspension. Unfortunately, the resolution of UVP is too low for studying near-wall phenomena, such as the lubrication layer, that are often very important for understanding the rheology and to upscale the results to industrial flows. To address this problem, we have widened the UVP-PD concept with optical coherence tomography measurements. This enables us to measure the bulk and wall-layer behavior simultaneously. Our results demonstrate the benefits of having direct, detailed measurement of the velocity profile inside the rheometer.

Foam forming has recently attracted increasing interest due to the paper industry’s continual efforts to find new possibilities to minimize raw material consumption, and to improve energy and water efficiency. Foam forming is also thought to be a possible solution to the industry’s need to widen its product portfolio with novel and more valuable products. In foam forming, foam properties (air content, bubble size and half-life) are obviously key process variables, but there are only a few studies in which their effect on the sheet properties have been studied in pilot conditions. Moreover, all previous studies have used foam generated in stirring tanks, and there are hitherto no studies in which in-line foam generation has been considered. In this paper both these gaps are filled with experiments performed in VTT’s pilot foam forming environment. The combination of tank and in-line generation was found to work well in foam forming, providing extra flexibility for foam generation and decreasing surfactant needs. The results show that foam forming generally improves formation, but the foam quality can have a significant effect on sheet properties.

No abstract

A shear flow of particulate suspension is analyzed for the qualitative effect of particle clustering on viscosity using a simple kinetic clustering model and direct numerical simulations. The clusters formed in a Couette flow can be divided into rotating chainlike clusters and layers of particles at the channel walls. The size distribution of the rotating clusters is scale invariant in the small-cluster regime and decreases rapidly above a characteristic length scale that diverges at a jamming transition. The behavior of the suspension can qualitatively be divided into three regimes. For particle Reynolds number Re(p) less than or approximately equal 0.1, viscosity is controlled by the characteristic cluster size deduced from the kinetic clustering model. For Re(p) approximately 1, clustering is maximal, but the simple kinetic model becomes inapplicable presumably due to onset of instabilities. In this transition regime viscosity begins to increase. For Re(p) greater than or approximately equal 10, inertial effects become important, clusters begin to breakup, and suspension displays shear thickening. This phenomenon may be attributed to enhanced contribution of solid phase in the total shear stress.