RU2776143C1 - Segments of a refiner plate and method for manufacturing a segment of a refiner plate - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: mechanical engineering.

SUBSTANCE: group of inventions relates to segments of a refiner plate and to a method for manufacturing a segment of a refiner plate. Segment of a refiner plate comprises refiner blades connected to the base on the refining side, wherein the refiner blades have the refiner blade height and the first pair of adjacent refiner blades and the base together form a first groove between the adjacent refiner blades, and the subsequent pairs of refiner blades and the base together form second grooves; protrusions located in said first groove, wherein each protrusion has the protrusion height, wherein the protrusion height is not greater than 30% of the refiner blade height, and jumpers located in each of the second grooves, wherein said jumpers include fully overlapping jumpers and partially overlapping jumpers, wherein the distance between adjacent protrusions in the first groove is less than the distance between adjacent partially overlapping jumpers in the second grooves containing partially overlapping jumpers. Each protrusion can also have a top of the protrusion, a base of the protrusion and the protrusion height between the top of the protrusion and the base of the protrusion, as well as a side connecting the top of the protrusion and the base of the protrusion, wherein any protrusion of said protrusions has a longitudinal cross-sectional area measured from the plane located along the longest length of the protrusion, when measured from the part of the protrusion nearest to the inner arch to the part of the protrusion located nearest to the outer arch, wherein the adjacent refiner blade from said refiner blades has a cross-sectional area measured from the plane crossing the refining section transversely to the length of the refiner blade, wherein said longitudinal cross-sectional area of the protrusion is less than 20% of the cross-sectional area of said adjacent refiner blade. Each of said protrusions can also constitute a flow limiter containing a first limiter end located distally from the second limiter end, wherein the first limiter end is connected with the front surface of the first refiner blade from said first pair of adjacent refiner blades, wherein the flow limiter is located above the base of said first groove.

EFFECT: inventions reduce the energy consumption in refiners throughout the operating life of the refining assembly.

23 cl, 17 dwg

Description

PRIOR ART

1. RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of the earlier filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/744,391, filed October 11, 2018, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

2. FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to refiner boards capable of pulverizing fibrous material, and more particularly to refiner board segments capable of pulverizing wood chips or other lignocellulosic material.

3. STATE OF THE ART

[0003] The processed cellulosic material can be the main component in several fiber-based products, including, for example, fibrous semi-finished products, paper, medium density fibreboard ("MDF"), fibrous packaging materials, and liquid absorbent fillers. For the commercial production of these products, operators often start with lignocellulosic material as the raw material. Lignocellulosic material is usually a plant-derived material that contains celluloses and hemicelluloses chemically bonded to proteinaceous lignin. Examples of lignocellulosic vegetable matter include wood chips, straw, sugarcane bagasse, and recycled paper.

[0004] For example, for MDF production, operators may feed lignocellulosic material (typically in the form of wood chips, wood waste, sawdust, wood shavings, building material waste, or agricultural waste) through a mechanical refiner.

[0005] A mechanical refiner typically includes two or more opposing refiner assemblies. Each assembly has a pattern of raised refiner blades on the refining side. Grooves separate adjacent refiner knives. Typically these refining units are either round discs, annular discs, nested truncated cones, or nested cylinders rotatable about a common axis. Each refiner assembly may comprise a plurality of segments in the form of annular sectors attached to a support structure to form a round disc, annular disc, frustocone, or cylinder. The refining sides of opposite refining units face each other, and a narrow refining gap separates the opposite refining units. At least one of the refining units is a rotor rotatable around said axis. As the rotary refining assembly rotates at high speed, operators feed the lignocellulosic material or other feed material through the refining gap to separate, open, and cut the fiber components. As the mechanical refiner breaks down the lignocellulosic material, some water may be released as steam.

[0006] The inlet of the refining gap is located closer to the center of rotation than the outlet of the refining gap. As the refining rotor assembly rotates, the feed material passes radially outward through the refining gap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The problem of increased power consumption in mechanical refiners over the lifetime of the mechanical refiner is mitigated by using an exemplary refiner plate segment comprising a refining side and a back side distal to the refining side, refiner blades connected to the refining side base, with in this case, the refiner knives have the height of the refiner knife, and at the same time, the adjacent refiner knives and the base form grooves between adjacent knives, and the protrusions located in the grooves, while the protrusions have a protrusion height, while the height of the protrusion is 25% or less of the height of the refiner knife, and wherein the protrusions are made with the possibility of wear over time.

[0008] A problem with low consistency refining is that new refiner plate segments can have excessive throughput, due in part to the initial volume of the grooves. This is particularly true for tall refiner knives, which in turn create larger grooves. Higher capacity refiner plate segments allow the thinner feed material to pass through the refining section in a given amount of time. If the specified throughput exceeds the refining capacity, the refiner will generate more pumping and the energy required to rotate the refiner will be higher, resulting in energy losses that are greater than normal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF GRAPHICS

[0009] The foregoing will become apparent from the following more specific description of exemplary embodiments of this disclosure as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts in different views. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, with emphasis instead being placed on illustrating the disclosed embodiments.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a front view of the refining side of an exemplary refiner plate segment having a series of protrusions located between adjacent refiner blades.

[0011] FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the refiner plate segment of FIG. 1 along line AA showing the ridges and the refiner blade.

[0012] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of an exemplary refining section of a refiner plate segment having a number of protrusions disposed within a groove.

[0013] FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the longitudinal sectional area of the ridges, partially overlapping webs, and fully overlapping webs compared to the longitudinal sectional area of an adjacent refiner blade.

[0014] FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of the cross-sectional area of exemplary ridges compared to the cross-sectional areas of partially overlapping bridges, fully overlapping bridges, and refiner knives.

[0015] FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional side view of a mechanical refiner showing opposing refiner plate segments forming a gap.

[0016] FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a mechanical refiner in an open position. In FIG. 7 highlights the refiner plate segments compared to the mechanical refiner as a whole.

[0017] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a schematic representation of the refining section of an exemplary refiner plate segment having ridges, the ridges acting as flow restrictors.

[0018] FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional side view of an exemplary refiner plate segment having flow restrictors along the length of the groove.

[0019] FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an exemplary refiner plate segment having flow restrictors.

[0020] FIG. 11A is a front view of a mold section that illustrates part of the casting process for an exemplary refiner plate segment.

[0021] FIG. 11B is a side view of a mold section that illustrates part of the casting process for an exemplary refiner plate segment.

[0022] FIG. 11C is a perspective view of the protrusion before the protrusion is inserted into the mould.

[0023] FIG. 11D is a front view of an exemplary refiner plate segment made using the exemplary manufacturing technique.

[0024] FIG. 11E is a side view of an exemplary refiner plate segment made using the exemplary manufacturing technique.

[0025] FIG. 12A is a perspective view of the lip and wedge mounting device.

[0026] FIG. 12B is a side view showing the installation of a wedge-shaped protrusion using a protrusion setting device.

[0027] FIG. 12C is a front view showing the installation of a wedge-shaped protrusion using a protrusion setting device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] The following detailed description of the preferred embodiments is presented for illustrative and descriptive purposes only and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope and spirit of the invention. Embodiments have been selected and described to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that many changes can be made to the invention disclosed in this specification without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

[0029] Respective reference numbers designate respective parts in several views. Although these drawings represent embodiments of various features and components in accordance with the present disclosure, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some features may be exaggerated to better illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure, and such examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of this disclosure in any way.

[0030] References in the description to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "an exemplary embodiment", etc. indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but each an embodiment may not necessarily include said particular feature, design, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, when a particular feature, design, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is contemplated that a person skilled in the art can influence such feature, design, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not they are explicitly described. or not.

[0031] Although specific terms are used in the following description for clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to a particular design of the embodiment chosen for illustration in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0032] The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should be understood that numeric values include numeric values that are the same when reduced to the same number of significant digits, and numeric values that differ from the state value by less than the experimental error of a conventional measurement method of the type described in this application for determining said value. .

[0033] To the extent necessary to provide descriptive support, the subject matter and/or text of the appended claims are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0034] The enumeration of value ranges herein is simply intended to be used as a shorthand method for individually referring to each individual value falling within a range within any subranges in between, unless otherwise expressly stated herein. Each individual value in the specified range is included in the description or claims, as if each individual value were specified in this document separately. When a specific range of values is provided, every intermediate value, up to a tenth or less unit of the lower limit between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other declared or intermediate value in the specified range or subrange, is intended to be included in this document, unless the context clearly indicates dictates otherwise. All subranges are also included. It also includes the upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges, subject to any specifically and expressly excluded limit in the claimed range.

[0035] The approximation language used herein can be used to modify any quantitative representation that can change without changing the underlying function to which it refers. Accordingly, the meaning modified by the term or terms such as "about" and "essentially" cannot be limited to the specified exact meanings. The "about" modifier should also be thought of as a revealing range, defined by the absolute values of the two endpoints. For example, the expression "from about 2 to about 4" also covers the range "from 2 to 4".

[0036] It should be noted that many of the terms used in this document are relative terms. For example, the terms "top" and "bottom" refer to each other by location, that is, the top component is at a higher height than the bottom component in a given orientation, but these terms may change if the device is turned upside down. The terms "inlet" and "outlet" refer to the fluid flowing through them, in relation to a given structure, for example , fluid flows through the inlet into the structure and flows through the outlet out of the structure. The terms "upstream" and "downstream" refer to the direction in which the fluid flows through the various components, that is, the flow of the fluid through the upstream component before flowing through the downstream component.

[0037] The terms "horizontal" and "vertical" are used to refer to a direction relative to an absolute reference, ie ground level. However, these terms should not be construed as requiring that the structures be absolutely parallel or absolutely perpendicular to each other. For example, the first vertical structure and the second vertical structure are not necessarily parallel to each other. The terms "top" and "bottom" or "base" are used to refer to places/surfaces where the top is always higher than the bottom/base relative to the absolute reference point, i.e. the surface of the Earth. The terms "up" and "down" also refer to the absolute reference point; the upward flow always opposes the Earth's gravity.

[0038] The term "straight", used to refer to two components of the system, such as valves or pumps, or other control devices or sensors ( for example , temperature or pressure), can be located on the path between the two named components.

[0039] FIG. 7 shows an example of a mechanical disc refiner 702 in the open position. The rotor assembly 703 and the stator assembly 704 are inside the housing 779 . Each refining assembly 703 ', 704 ' contains a plurality of refiner plate segments 700 arranged in an annular manner to form a ring mounted on a support structure 786 '. To better illustrate refiner plate segments 700 on rotor assembly 703 , FIG. 7 is a partially exploded view showing some of the refiner plate segments 700 aligned with but removed from mounting holes 788 on support structure 786 '. In FIG. 7 shows the stator side 795 of the housing 779 ' exposed around the hinges 783 ' to better show the respective refining units 703 ', 704 '. However, during operation, the stator assembly 704 is closed around the hinges 783 , and bolts (not shown) pass through the respective mounting holes 788z to firmly connect the stator side 795 of the housing 779 to the rotor side 793 . In this regard, it can be said that the node 703 of the rotor is located opposite the node 704 of the stator. When the stator assembly 704 and rotor assembly 703 face each other, the stator assembly 704 and rotor assembly 703 form a gap 619 ( FIG. 6 ) between refining sides 705 of opposite refiner plate segments 700, 700z . It should be understood that other mechanical refiners have different opening mechanisms ( ie, not necessarily the 783 hinge).

[0040] For large diameter mechanical disc refiners 702 , one or more rings of intermediate refiner plate segments may be located between the breaking blade segment 729 and the outer refiner plate segment 700 . However, it should also be understood that such intermediate rings are rare. Bolts or fasteners may pass through the attachment holes 788 to connect the refiner plate segments 700 , 729 to the support structure 786 and thereby permanently connect the annular sector refiner plate segments 700 , 729 to the support structure 786 . It should be understood that other known methods for attaching refiner plate segments to a support structure are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure and within the scope of the term "fixed-join".

[0041] As used herein, and unless otherwise indicated, the term "refiner plate segment 700 , 729 " may refer to a refiner plate segment 700 having an integrated refining section 707 and a breaking blade section 734 , breaking blade segments 729 (see FIG . .3A ), and a refiner plate segment containing a refining section 707 but without a breaking blade section 734 . In embodiments having outer refiner plate segments 700 and breaker blade segments 729 , the outer refiner plate segments 700 may still comprise an integrated refining section 707 and a breaker blade section 734 . However, the breaking knives 725 on the outer segment 700 of the refiner plate are typically smaller than the breaking knives 725 on the breaking knives segment 729 . When installed on the support node 786 , segments 729 destroying knives are located radially inward from the outer segments 700 of the refiner plate. In FIG. 7 segments 729 destroying knives are located around the annular reflector 747 . The annular reflector, in turn, is located around the hub 743 .

[0042] Although in FIG. 7 and 6 depict a disc mechanical refiner 702 , 602 to illustrate the general concept of a refiner, conical refiners and cylindrical refiners are also common types of mechanical refiners, and it will be appreciated that the exemplary refiner plate segments disclosed herein, which are configured to operations with mechanical refiners of the conical and cylindrical types are within the scope of this disclosure. While the disc refiner has two or more opposing discs as shown in FIG. 7 and 6 , a conical refiner has two or more nested truncated cones arranged about a common axis, wherein at least one of the nested truncated cones contains a rotor assembly. Similarly, a cylindrical refiner has two or more nested cylindrical refining units located around a common axis, with at least one of the cylindrical refining units being a rotor.

[0043] Cylindrical and conical mechanical refiners may have a rotor assembly (see 703 , 603 ) and a stator assembly ( 704 , 604 ). Other disc, conical, dual flow and cylindrical refiners may have counter-rotating refining assemblies or multiple refining assemblies facing (or nested in) opposite stator assemblies. It should be understood that refiner plate segments made for a conical refiner or cylindrical refiner are adapted to form a truncated cone or cylinder when fully assembled on the respective refining assembly.

[0044] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a mechanical refiner 602 similar to the mechanical refiner shown in FIG. 7 . This particular mechanical refiner 602 has a rotor assembly 603 facing an opposite stator assembly 604 . The refiner plate segments 600, 600z are bolted to the rotor 603 and stator 604 , respectively. The refining sides 105 ( FIG. 1 ) of opposing refiner plate segments 600, 600z face each other to form a gap 619 . The feed material 669 enters the mechanical refiner 602 through the inlet 611 . As the rotor assembly 603 rotates about the central axis of rotation C , hub 643 and deflector 647 direct feed 669 into gap 619 between refining sides 605 of opposing refiner plate segments 600, 600z . The breaker blades 623 in the breaker blade section 108 ( FIG. 1 ) break the feed 669 into smaller pieces before feeding the feed 669 into the refining section 107 ( FIG. 1 ) containing the refiner blades 625 and grooves 130 ( FIG. 1 ). The depicted embodiment shows the inner arc 610 of the refiner plate segments 600 . The outer arch 615 is positioned distally from the inner arch 610 along the base 620 . The rear side 606 of each segment 600, 600z of the refiner plate is connected to the supporting structure 686 of the corresponding refining unit 603, 604 .

[0045] Although in FIG. 6 depicts a rotary-stator mechanical refiner 602, nothing in this disclosure should be construed as limiting exemplary refiner plate segments 600 having exemplary projections 150 for use in a particular type mechanical refiner 602 . It will be appreciated that refiner plate segments 100 having exemplary ridges 150 as described herein may be used in disc refiners, conical refiners, dual flow refiners, stator and rotor refiners, counter-rotating refiners, refiners having multiple opposite discs or cones, and any other mechanical refiner.

[0046] In a typical mechanical refiner, when at least one of the rotor assemblies 703 , 603 is rotated, one edge of each refiner blade 125 ( FIG. 1 ) tends to collide with the feed material 669 ( FIG. 6 ) ahead of the coplanar transverse distal edge of each corresponding knife 125 refiner. The edge that first tends to be the first to encounter the feed material is known as the "leading edge" 135 ( FIG. 1 ). The designation of the leading edge 135 depends on the direction of rotation. For example, when the direction of rotation is reversed, the previously designated distal edge becomes the leading edge 135 .

[0047] A typical rotor assembly 703 , 603 rotates between 900 and 2300 revolutions per minute (“rpm”) for high consistency refining and for MDF production and is configured to impart significant kinetic energy to the feed 669 as the feed moves 669 through the refining gap 619 . When refining with a low consistency, the rotor can rotate at a speed of 400 to 1500 rpm. As the refiner rotor assembly 603 rotates, the leading edges 135 of the refiner knives 625 on the opposing refiner assemblies 603 ', 604 sequentially overlap and capture the feed material 669 between the opposing refiner's knives 625 ', 625z . As the refiner rotor assembly continues to rotate, opposing knives shear the feed material 669 to open, separate and cut the fibers. Thus, the successively overlapping knives 625 ', 625z compress the feed 669 ', thereby transferring more energy to the feed 669 and doing more work on the feed 669' .

[0048] As the refiner rotor assembly 603 continues to rotate, the opposing blades 625, 625z will pass through each other and adjacent opposing grooves (see 130 , FIG. 1 and FIG. 6 ) on the opposing refiner assemblies 603 , 604 are sequentially aligned . This expansion step sequentially follows the compression step and allows the feed material 669 to move radially outward towards the outlet of the refining gap 619 more freely than during the compression step.

[0049] The accumulation of feed material 669 in the refining gap 619 and in the grooves 130 creates a fiber cushion. The successive events of contraction and expansion in the fiber pad are believed to be the primary site where mechanical refining takes place. That is, the forced movement of the feed material 669 toward the adjacent feed material 669 in the fiber pad primarily facilitates opening, separating, and cutting the fibers.

[0050] Over time, impurities that may be present in the feed 669 wear out the refiner blades 625 , 125 . Because the space between adjacent blades 125 , 125z ( FIG. 1 ) defines the grooves 130 , the grooves 130 become shallower as the height of the adjacent blades 125 , 125z decreases . The shallower grooves allow more of the feed material 669 to accumulate in the refining gap 619 , thereby creating a thicker and denser fiber pad. That is, shallow worn grooves have less volume than tall new grooves. The lignocellulosic feed 669 that could have been moved through the new high grooves is instead moved into the refining gap 619 when the grooves 130 become worn and shallow. Thus, the compression stage imparts more kinetic energy to more feed material 669 in the refining gap 619 , and additional feed material 669 provides more friction between the fibers. Thus, a thicker fiber pad absorbs more energy than a thinner fiber pad, other things being equal.

[0051] The excess energy in the thicker fiber pad tends to over-refine the feed 669 , creating an excess fire. "Kostra" represents thin strips of refined material that are not desirable for use in the final product. As a result, as the segments of the refiner plate wear out, the quality of the product deteriorates, assuming that the energy consumption remains constant. Eventually, the refiner blade wear becomes so severe that the refiner plate segments 600 will need to be replaced. This usually occurs when the energy consumption per unit of acceptable fiber produced becomes unacceptably high, or when spitting becomes so severe that an acceptable end product can no longer be produced.

[0052] Too high an ash content in the final product may render the final product unsuitable for its intended use. For example, in the production of MDF, if there is too much fire in the medium density fibreboard, the board will most likely not have the required properties ( for example , strength, durability , etc. ). Therefore, as the knives wear, the energy inside the mechanical refiner increases without improving the quality of the product. In other words: as the knives wear out, operators spend more energy producing low quality fiber, resulting in a low quality end product ( like MDF) that is often sold at lower prices. To solve this problem, operators periodically turn off the mechanical refiners 602 ', 702 ' to replace the refiner plate segments 600 ', 700 ', which contain the refining units 603 ', 703 ', 604 ', 704 . This downtime results in further production losses.

[0053] To solve this problem, some manufacturers have tried to increase the height of the refiner blade. Increasing the height of the refiner blade also increases the depth of adjacent grooves. However, taller refiner knives tend to degrade initial performance. Excessively tall blades in MDF and high consistency refining ( e.g. around 8 mm or higher) can lead to unstable operation, more raw material (and can form more fires), and can also make it difficult to apply the refining load due to insufficient feed material 669 held in the gap 619 for refining. These negative factors cancel out any possible increase in wear life. Also, excessively tall refiner blades (relative to refiner blade widths) in MDF, high consistency and low consistency refining can increase the risk of refiner blade breakage during operation. Metal debris in a mechanical refiner can rapidly increase wear and degradation of the refiner plate segment.

[0054] In the case of low consistency refiners, high knives create a high pumping effect and high outlet pressure, resulting in higher pumping energy and higher operating costs. Thus, the cost (in terms of energy and capital) of running new low consistency refiners with excessively tall refiner blades ( e.g. , about 8 mm or higher) exceeds the value that can be obtained from the 669 feed that has been processed through such a refiner. with low consistency. These costs offset any increase in refiner plate segment life. As the blades wear, the pumping energy reaches cost-competitive values. When the height of the knives gets too low, the refiner will not be able to handle the flow and pumping requirements, resulting in more raw 669 feed. Thus, low consistency refiners have a narrow range of knife heights where efficient refining can take place. This adversely affects the useful life of the low consistency refiner plate segments.

[0055] Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure allow for a wider range of refiner blade heights ( i.e., refiner blades have longer time to wear) without the additional problems of higher energy consumption and/or poor quality. product. The problem of increased power consumption in mechanical refiners over the lifetime of the mechanical refiner is mitigated by using an exemplary refiner plate segment comprising a refining side and a back side distal to the refining side, refiner blades connected to the refining side base, wherein the refiner blades have a refiner blade height, wherein adjacent refiner blades and the base form grooves between adjacent blades, and protrusions disposed in the grooves, wherein the protrusions have a protrusion height, wherein the protrusion height is 25% or less of the refiner blade height, and the protrusions are made with the possibility of wear over time.

[0056] FIG. 1 shows the refining side 105 of an exemplary refiner plate segment 100 having exemplary projections 150 ' located on the base 120 within the grooves 130 '. The refiner plate segment 100 has a curved inner arc 110 ' located radially inward from a curved outer arc 115 ' measured along a radial line 112 ' extending from the center of rotation C of the refiner plate when installed in the mechanical refiner 602 '. The refiner plate segment 100 further comprises a first end 113 ' located distally from the second end 116 '. First end 113 and second end 116 extend from inner arc 110 to outer arc 115 along a radial line (see 112 ). Base 120 extends between inner arc 110 , outer arc 115 , first end 113 , and second end 116 .

[0057] The depicted refiner plate segment 100 is a refiner plate segment for a disc refiner. It should be understood that the exemplary refiner plate segments can be used in all types of mechanical refiners, in particular conical refiners and cylindrical refiners. In addition, the exemplary refiner board segments described in more detail herein can be made for all thermomechanical refining applications, including high consistency refining, low consistency refining, and medium density fibreboard production. In operation, the first end 113 of the refiner plate segment 100 abuts the second end 116 of the adjacent refiner plate segment 100 (see FIG. 7 ) until the assembly of adjacent refiner plate segments 100 forms an annular disk, resulting in aligned, curved inner arcs 110 form the inner circumference of the disc, and the aligned curved outer arcs 115 define the outer circumference of the disc. Each refiner plate segment 100 is attached to a support structure 738 on a rotor 603 or stator 604 .

[0058] Breaking knives 123 and refiner knives 125 are connected to the base 120 on the refining side 105 . Adjacent refiner blades (see, for example, 125z and 125zz ) and base 120 define grooves 130 between adjacent refiner blades 125z and 125zz , thereby forming a pattern of refiner blades 125 and grooves 130 throughout the refining section 107 ( e.g. , pattern area of refiner blades 125 and grooves 130 indicated by a dotted line in Fig. 1 ). Likewise, adjacent breaking blades (see, for example, 123z and 123zz ) and base 120 form breaking grooves 127 along the breaking blade section 108 . The breaking blade section 108 is defined by the area of the refiner plate segment 100 occupied by the breaking grooves 127 and the breaking knives 123 ', while the refining section 107 is defined by the area of the refiner plate segment 100 comprising the pattern of the refiner knives 125 and the grooves 130 '. Section 107 refining is located radially outward from the section 108 destroying knives. In the exemplary embodiment, projections 150 are located in the breaking blade section 108 between adjacent breaking knives 123z and 123zz .

[0059] As the feed 169 approaches the refining gap 619 ( FIG. 6 ), the break knives 123 located on or near the inner arc 110 of the annular or conical plate break the incoming feed 169 into smaller pieces before the feed material 169 will collide with the refining section 107 . The fiber pad is formed between the refining sections 107 on opposite plates. Therefore, the refining section 107 and the fiber pad is the place where the feed material 169 is impacted, opened and cut into fibers.

[0060] The pattern of refiner blades 125 and grooves 130 shown in FIG. 1 is included for purposes of exemplary presentation. It should be understood that refiner plate segments 100 having different patterns or configurations of refiner blades 125 and grooves 130 are considered to be within the scope of this disclosure. The refiner plate segments 100 may have webs 140 ″, 145 ″ located between adjacent refiner blades 125 . In the depicted embodiment, some of the bridges are fully overlapping bridges 140 which are the same height as the height H of the refiner blade ( FIG. 2 ), while some other bridges are partially overlapping bridges 145 . The height sh of the partially overlapping bridge ( FIG. 3 ) is typically 30% to 90% of the height H of the refiner blade ( ie the depth of the groove). For example, in MDF and high consistency applications, the height sh of the partially overlapping web is typically 30% to 50% of the height H of the refiner blade. Additionally, designers typically include partially overlapping webs 145 to structurally reinforce the blades.

[0061] Fully overlapping webs 140 block the grooves 130 and are designed to guide the feed material 169 into the gap 619 for refining. The webs 140 ', 145 ' are less frequently placed in the grooves 130 than the projections 150 '. Some exemplary refiner plates have projections in combination with only fully overlapping webs, or projections in combination with only partially overlapping webs. The other exemplary refiner plate segments do not have bridges. In addition, the web 140 ', 145 has a larger cross-sectional area than the protrusion 150 ' located in the same groove 130 (see FIG. 3 ). In an exemplary embodiment, the protrusion 150 ', 250 may be about 1 millimeter ("mm") long at the top 257 ( FIG. 2 ) and no more than 3 mm long at the base 258 ( FIG. 2 ), where the protrusion 150 is attached to the base 120 of the groove 130 . In the exemplary embodiment, the refiner knives 125 may have an initial height of 12 mm and the ridges may have a height of 2 mm.

[0062] In other exemplary embodiments, the refiner knives 125 have an initial height of 12 mm to 15 mm or any height in between, and the protrusions have an initial height of 2 mm to 3 mm and any height in between. In other exemplary embodiments, the refiner blades 125 are higher than 15 mm. In still other exemplary embodiments, the projections may be high when the height required for the functional structures is low. For example, in low consistency refiners, the height of the refiner blade for pumping and flow purposes may be 4 mm - 6 mm. In such low consistency refiner plate segments, the initial height of the refiner blade is 12 mm - 16 mm, and the initial height of the protrusion is 4 mm - 6 mm. Preferably, such an arrangement in the low consistency refiner plate segments has thin ridges (compared to any comparable webs 140 ', 145 ') made of a softer material than the refiner blades 125 , or being both thinner than the webs 140 ', 145, and made softer material than 125 refiner blades.

[0063] For comparison, the partially overlapping webs 145 may be 1 mm - 3 mm in length at the top 387 of the partially overlapping web ( FIG. 3) and 6 mm - 10 mm at the base 398 of the partially overlapping web ( FIG. 3 ), where the partially overlapping web 145 is connected to the base 120 of the grooves 130 '. Fully overlapping webs can be 1 mm - 4 mm long at the top 397 of the fully overlapping web ( FIG. 3 ) and 6 mm - 15 mm long at the base 338 of the fully overlapping web ( FIG. 3 ). The function of the partially overlapping webs 145 is to reinforce the refiner plate segment of the refiner blade pattern 125 and grooves 130 against the risk of breakage and divert the feed 169 towards the refining gap 619 between the rotor and stator. The function of the ridges 150 , in contrast, is to make the deep groove look like a shallower groove, allowing said ridges 150 to wear along with the refiner blades 125 and thus maintain a more constant effective depth of groove 226 ( FIG. 2 ) as the top the refiner blade portion 228 wears out during use.

[0064] FIG. 1 further shows a plurality of protrusions 150 located within grooves 130 . The base 258 of each projection 150 connects to the base 120 . The first side 582 ( FIG. 5 ) of the protrusion 150 is connected to the front surface 121 of the adjacent refiner blade 125z , and the second side 581 ( FIG. 5 ) of the protrusion 150 is connected to the back surface 124 of another adjacent refiner blade 125zz . The protrusions 150 are characterized in that they are thin ( ie, have a short protrusion length l , FIG. 2 ) relative to the refiner blade width W at the refiner blade base 359 ( FIG. 3 ). The projections 250 also have a small cross-section ( i.e., small projection height h ( FIG. 2 ) and projection length l ) compared to the nominal dimensions of the adjacent refiner blade 125z (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 for more details). ). The projections 150 have a projection height h that is no more than 25% of the refiner blade height H. In some exemplary embodiments, the length l of the protrusion is no more than 10% of the length L of the refiner blade. In refining applications, including, for example, low and high consistency applications as well as MDF, the projection height h is preferably less than 30% of the refiner blade height H. In other exemplary embodiments, the projection height h is preferably less than 25% of the refiner blade height H. The height h of the protrusion is about 20% of the height H of the refiner blade in other exemplary embodiments. Groove 130 may contain several projections 150 . In other exemplary embodiments, refiner plate segment 100 may have at least one projection 150 located within groove 130 . In still other exemplary embodiments, multiple projections 150 ' may be located in each groove 130 on the refining section 107 . In other exemplary embodiments, most of the grooves 130 on the refiner plate segment 100 comprise a plurality of protrusions 150 .

[0065] Preferably, a plurality of protrusions 150 are positioned within the groove 130 such that the first side 582 of the protrusion ( FIG. 5) is connected to the front surface 121 of the adjacent refiner blade 125z , and the second side of the protrusion ( 581 ( FIG. 5 ) is connected to the rear surface 124 another adjacent knife 125zz refiner. However, in other exemplary embodiments, the sides 582 ', 581 of the protrusion should not be connected to the front surface 121 or back surface 124 of adjacent refiner knives 125z' , 125zz . In other exemplary embodiments, only one side 582 or 581 is connected to the surface 121 or 124 of the refiner blade. These several protrusions 150 are located at intervals 163 . Intervals 463 ( FIG. 4 ) may be equal intervals or unequal intervals. In the exemplary embodiment, the protrusions 150 may be located every 6 mm - 25 mm, and preferably every 10 mm. In comparison, partially overlapping webs 145 are typically spaced every 25-50 mm.

[0066] Without being limited by theory, it is believed that placing the protrusions 150 at regular intervals within the groove 130 every 6 mm - 25 mm can behave as effectively as raising the bottom of the groove 130 to form the bottom of the secondary groove 273 ( Fig. 2 ) . That is, most of the feed material 169 can flow through the top 257 ( FIG. 2 ) of the projections 150 without contacting the base 120 . As discussed in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 , it is assumed that the raised bottom portion 273 of the secondary groove creates an effective groove depth 226 that remains within the acceptable groove depth range throughout the life of the refiner plate segment 100 . Also, in cases where wear is excessive, the effective height loss H of the refiner blade (and hence the change in effective groove depth 226 ) will be less than the actual height loss H of the refiner blade. For example, if the knife tops wear twice as fast as the ridge tops 257 , the effective loss in knife height and hence the change in effective groove depth 226 will be only half the actual loss in refiner knife height H , thereby allowing the exemplary embodiments to maintain a more uniform performance, or slower decline over the life of the slab. In some exemplary embodiments, the projections 150 may be located within the grooves 130 at intervals 463 every 15 mm - 20 mm. In other exemplary embodiments, the projections 150 may be located within the grooves 130 at intervals 463 every 12 mm-15 mm depending on the feed material 169 fed through the mechanical refiner 702 , 602 .

[0067] FIG. 1 , the projections 150 generally have the shape of a rectangle or rectangular prism, in particular an irregular rectangular prism. The projections 150 extend generally orthogonally between adjacent refiner blades 125z and 125zz . In other exemplary embodiments, the projections 150 may be located at an acute angle with respect to the length L ( FIG. 3 ) of the adjacent refiner blade 325z ( FIG. 3 ) or at an obtuse angle with respect to the adjacent refiner blade 325z . In FIG. 1 also shows projections 150 connecting each adjacent refiner blade 125z and 125zz . In other exemplary embodiments, exemplary protrusion 150 may connect one adjacent refiner blade 125z , but not an opposite adjacent refiner blade 125zz . In still other exemplary embodiments, the exemplary protrusion 150 does not connect to either adjacent refiner blade 125z or adjacent refiner blade 125zz .

[0068] It should be understood that the protrusions 150 can be made in various forms, ensuring that the protrusions 150 were made with the possibility of wear over time, preferably at the same or less rate than the knives 125 of the refiner. This wear can be caused by impurities in the feed material. A non-exhaustive list of exemplary flow restrictor shapes includes: rectangle, rectangular prism, rectangular prism segment, triangular prism, triangular prism segment, prism having four or more sides exposed to the feed material, or a segment thereof, polyhedron, polyhedron segment, triangular pyramid, triangular pyramid segment, quadrangular pyramid, quadrilateral pyramid segment, pyramid having five or more faces exposed to the feed material, or segment thereof, truncated pyramid, truncated pyramid segment, spherical dome, spherical dome segment , spheroid dome, spheroid dome segment, parabolic prism, parabolic prism segment, truncated parabolic prism, truncated parabolic prism segment, cone, cone segment, spheroid cone, spheroid cone segment, elliptical cone, elliptical cone segment , truncated cone, capsule, cylindrical segment, ellipsoid truncated cone, ellipsoid truncated cone segment, cylinder, cylinder segment, elliptical cylinder, elliptical cylinder segment, sphere, sphere segment, spheroid, spheroid segment, or combinations or permutations of any of the above shapes.

[0069] In the exemplary embodiment, the projections 150 wear at substantially the same rate as the refiner blades 125 . In other exemplary embodiments, the refiner blades 125 wear faster than the ridges 150 '.

[0070] The projections 150 may be cast together with the refiner plate segment 100 . In other exemplary embodiments, the projections 150 may be machined from cast projections. In other exemplary embodiments, manufacturers can machine the protrusions 150 from the molded groove base (see 120 ). In other embodiments, manufacturers may use additive manufacturing techniques, such as welding or three-dimensional (3D) printing, to add projections 150 within grooves 130 . In yet other exemplary embodiments, manufacturers may cast the exemplary refiner plate segment with the projections 150 ″ located in the mold before the manufacturers pour the molten metal into the mold. The molten casting metal can then fuse to the projections 150 ' inserted into the mold. In still other exemplary manufacturing methods, manufacturers may glue the protrusions 150 to the base 120 . In other exemplary embodiments, manufacturers may press or hammer individual protrusions 150 into a groove between adjacent refiner knives 125z , 125zz such that protrusion 150 effectively weds securely between adjacent refiner knives 125z , 125zz .

[0071] In other exemplary manufacturing methods, exemplary refiner plate segment 100 may be made from metal sheets and knives. In such methods, projections 150 may extend from refiner blades 125 and manufacturers may glue, fuse, or otherwise attach refiner blades 125 to base 120 to form a pattern of alternating refiner blades 125 and grooves 130 . In other manufacturing methods, the manufacturer may add the projections 150 separately to the refiner blades 125 (see FIGS. 12A-12C ). In other exemplary manufacturing methods, exemplary refiner plate segment 100 may have projections 150 laser cut into grooves 130 . Other methods of securing or creating protrusions 150 between adjacent refiner knives 125z , 125zz are considered to be within the scope of this disclosure.

[0072] In some exemplary embodiments, the projections 150 may be made from the same material as the refiner blades 125 . In other exemplary embodiments, the projections 150 comprise a material different from that of the refiner blades 125 . In some exemplary embodiments, the projections 150 comprise a material selected from the group consisting of: aluminum, copper, brass, steel, plastic, wood, and epoxy.

[0073]Fig. 2is a segment cut100refiner plates along the lineAAon thefig. one. Refining side205located opposite the back206segment100refiner plates. On thefig. 1-2ledges are depicted250shaped like an irregular rectangular prism. Every ledge250has a front surface267ledge at an angleƟ regarding the basis220. CornerƟbetween the front267ledge and base220preferably is blunt. short heighth protrusion (compared to the heightH refiner knife) and an obtuse angleƟ front surface267 protrusions guide the feed material269, remaining in the groove230 over the top257ledge250. On the other hand, the front surface341(fig. 3) and heightsh, fh jumpers140, 145 quite high (compared to the heightH refiner blade) to guide the feed material269from the groove230into the gap619 for refining.

[0074] Without being limited by theory, the applicant believes that the distance between the top 257 of the ledge 250 and the top 228 of the adjacent refiner blade 225 forms the effective depth 226 of the groove. The spacings 263 of the projections are desirably small enough to allow the feed material 269 to flow over the projections 250 under normal operating conditions. Thus, the tops 257 of the multiple ridges 250 and the speed at which the feed material 269 passes through the tops 257 of the multiple ridges 250 can function as the bottom 273 of the secondary groove located above the base 220 of the groove.

[0075] Over time, the upper portion 228 of the refiner blades 225 and the upper portion 257 of the projections 250 wear out. The rate of wear may vary depending on the type of refining and the type and quality of the material being refined. As the refiner blades 225 wear, the adjacent grooves 330 ( FIG. 3 ) become narrower GWz ( FIG. 3 ), due to the angle Δ at which the refiner blade surfaces 321 , 324 ( FIG. 3 ) connect to the base 320 . In other words, the groove width GW ( FIG. 3 ) at the top of the groove is wider than the groove width GWz below the top groove width GW . In embodiments where the refiner blades 225 and ridges 250 wear at substantially the same rate, the refiner blade height H and ridge height h decrease over time; but the effective groove depth 226 remains substantially constant. The substantially constant effective groove depth 226 can extend the life of the refiner plate segment 100 even if the groove width GWz narrows.

[0076] It should be noted that the refiner plate segments 100 and 300 shown in FIG. 1 and 3 respectively represent refiner plate segments 100 , 300 that have been cast from the mould. It is possible to create square grooves ( i.e. grooves that have the volume of a regular rectangular prism) using fabricated plates (in which knives are made attached to the base 120 , 320 of a refiner plate segment) or from refiner plate segments cast using molds created from the process additive manufacturing ( i.e. , 3D printing). In exemplary embodiments in which the grooves do not have the volume of a trapezoidal prism, the refiner blade height H and protrusion height h still decrease over time; but the effective groove depth 226 may vary depending on the respective wear rates of the projections 250 and adjacent refiner blades 225 .

[0077] Thus, the protrusions 250 ' located in the groove 230 at intervals 263 ', in which the protrusions 250 have a protrusion height h that is 25% or less of the adjacent rod height H , alleviate the problem of having a thicker and denser fiber cushion between the opposite refiner nodes (see 603 , 604 ) due to grooves 130 , which become less deep over time. Without being limited by theory, the effective groove depth 226 functions similarly to a conventional groove of the same depth and therefore allows the desired thickness of the fiber pad to be maintained for longer periods of time. Because the difference in refiner blade height H and protrusion height h determines the effective groove depth 226 , the effective groove depth 226 moves closer to the base 220 ' over time while continuing to function as groove 230 '.

[0078] In embodiments where the refiner blades 225 wear at a faster rate than the ridges 250 , the loss of effective groove depth 226 is a fraction of the loss in actual refiner blade height H , thereby slowing down the decline in refiner plate segment performance.

[0079] FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the refining section 307 of an exemplary refiner plate segment 300 comprising refiner blades 325 and adjacent grooves 330 ′ located between refiner blades 325 . The refiner blade surfaces 321, 324 and base 320 define grooves 330. One or more grooves 330 comprise a plurality of ridges 350 spaced at 363 ' intervals. The refiner plate segment (see 100 ) rotates in the R direction. The front surface 321 of the refiner knives 325 tends to contact the feed material 369 until the back surfaces 324 . Each rear surface 324 is located on the opposite side of the refiner blade 325 .

[0080] FIG. 3 shows projection volume 351 , partially overlapping web volume 361 , and fully overlapping web volume 371 , relative to nominal knife volumes 368, 368z, and 368zz , respectively. Each projection 350 has a base 358 coupled to a base 320 . The base 358 of the protrusion contains the width w of the protrusion, multiplied by the length l of the protrusion. The formula for determining the volume 351 of the protrusion varies depending on the three-dimensional shape of the protrusion 350 .

[0081] The nominal knife volume 368 is the volume of the adjacent refiner knife 325z , 325zz , which has an overall length Lz equal to the longest length l of the projection 350 . Similarly, the nominal knife base 359 extends along with the adjacent boss base 358 along the longest length l of the boss. The width W of the refiner blade multiplied by the joint length Lz determines the nominal base 359 of the refiner blade. The joint length Lz extends for the same length as the length l of the protrusion. In the depicted embodiment, the length l of the protrusion at the base 358 of the protrusion is greater than the length at the top 357 of the protrusion 350 . It should be understood that in embodiments in which the length l of the protrusion 350 is non-uniform, the coexisting length Lz of the nominal knife volume 368 is measured from the longest length l of the protrusion 350 ', forming the part of the protrusion closest to the inner arc 110 ', to the part of the protrusion, located closest to the outer arc 115 .

[0082] The nominal volume 368 of the refiner blade varies depending on the three-dimensional shape of the refiner blade 325 . In the depicted embodiment, the angle Δ of inclination between front surface 321 and base 320 and the angle Δ of inclination between rear surface 324 and base 320 define the refiner blade 325 as a trapezoidal prism. Therefore, the formula ½(W+(Wz))(Lz)H provides a nominal knife volume of 351 in the depicted embodiment. Where W is the width of the refiner blade at the nominal refiner blade base 359 , Wz is the width of the refiner blade at the top 328 of the refiner blade 325 , Lz is the length that the nominal blade 325 shares with the length l of the adjacent ledge, and H is the height of the part of the nominal knife 325 adjacent to the protrusion 350 . The exemplary projections 350 have a volume that is less than 40% of the nominal volume 368 of the knife.

[0083] In other exemplary embodiments, the projections 350 may have a volume that is greater than 0% but less than 25% of the nominal volume 368 of the knife. The ratio of ridge volume 351 to blade nominal volume 368 is expected to remain within the disclosed range throughout the lifetime of refiner plate segment 100 due to the rates at which ridges 350 and refiner blades 325 wear. Without being limited by theory, it is believed that an exemplary protrusion 350 having a volume that is less than 40% of the nominal knife volume 368 and having a height that is 30% or less of the height H of an adjacent refiner knife will allow the protrusion 350 create an effective groove depth 326 that will work within error limits to achieve the desired refiner performance and product quality.

[0084] FIG. 3 further shows a partially overlapping web 345 ' having a partially overlapping web base 348 coupled to a base 320 '. The base 348 of the partially overlapping web contains a length sl of the partially overlapping web and a width sw of the partially overlapping web. The volume 361 of the partially overlapping bridge varies depending on the three-dimensional shape of the partially overlapping bridge 345 . The nominal joint length Lz of the knife extends by the same amount as the longest length sl of the partially overlapping web, measured from the part of the partially overlapping web closest to the inner arc 110 ′ to the part of the partially overlapping web closest to the outer arc 115 .

[0085] Fully overlapping web 340 has a fully overlapping web base 338 coupled to base 320 '. The fully overlapping web base 338 comprises a fully overlapping web length fl and a fully overlapping web width fw . The volume 371 of the fully overlapping web changes depending on the three-dimensional shape of the fully overlapping web 340 . The nominal joint length Lz of the knife extends by the same amount as the longest length fl of the fully overlapping web, measured from the part of the fully overlapping web closest to the inner arc 110 to the part of the fully overlapping web closest to the outer arc 115 .

[0086] In contrast to the exemplary projections, the partially overlapping webs 345 have a partially overlapping web volume 361 that is 40% and 60% of the nominal knife volume 368z . Similarly, the fully overlapping web 340 has a fully overlapping web volume 371 that is between 60% and 100% of the nominal knife volume 368″ .

[0087] FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a refining section 407 of an exemplary refiner plate segment 400 cut in half along the length of the groove 430 ' to show longitudinal sectional areas 472 of the exemplary projections 450 '. In FIG. 4 shows the general path of the feed material 469 flowing from a location near the inner arc 410 through the projections 450 towards the outer arc 415 . The depicted longitudinal sectional areas 472 of the projections 450 can be compared with the cross-sectional areas 546 ( FIG. 5 ) of the adjacent nominal blade 425,525 . The depicted longitudinal section area 472 is the thickest part of the protrusion 450 . Similarly, the depicted longitudinal cross-sectional areas 474, 476 of the webs represent the thickest portion of the partially overlapping web 445 and the fully overlapping web 440 , respectively. The formula for determining the longitudinal sectional area 472 of the ledge, the longitudinal sectional area 474 of the partially overlapping bridge, the longitudinal sectional area 476 of the fully overlapping bridge, and the cross-sectional area 546 of the refiner knife will vary depending on the shape of the longitudinal section of the projections 450 , partially overlapping bridges 445 , fully overlapping bridges 440 and cross-sectional shapes of the adjacent nominal knife 425, 525, respectively.

[0088] For example, the protrusion 450a has a curved protrusion front surface 467 configured to guide feed material 469 through the top 457 of each protrusion 450' . The cross-sectional area of the protrusion 450a can be calculated by adding the area of the square component ( ie, the length l times the height h ) to the remaining area. As another example, cross-sectional area 742 of the other protrusions 450 of FIG. 4 can be calculated using the formula A=½lh+lh, where A is the area 472 of the cross section, l is the length l of the base of the 450 rib , and h is the height of the 450 rib .

[0089] In the illustrated embodiments, the refiner knives 425 , 525 are generally trapezoidal in shape. However, it should be understood that the refiner blades 425 , 525 may have a number of possible shapes. The cross-sectional area 546 of the trapezoidal refiner blade 525 can be calculated using the formula A=½(W+Wz)H, where A is the cross-sectional area 546 , W is the width of the refiner blade 525 at the base 359 of the refiner blade, Wz is the width of the refiner blade 525 at the top 528 of the refiner blade 525 , and H is the height of the refiner blade 525 . The nominal refiner blade 525 is adjacent to the ledge 550 .

[0090] In the exemplary embodiment, the longitudinal cross-sectional area 472 of the protrusion is no more than 20% of the cross-sectional area 546 of the adjacent refiner blade. For example, a typical protrusion 450 may have a longitudinal sectional area 472 of 3-4 ^mm2 , while an adjacent refiner blade 425z typically has a cross-sectional area 546 of ^30-50mm2 . By way of comparison, a partially overlapping web 445 typically has a longitudinal sectional area 474 of at least 12-25 mm ² ( ie, 24% to 83% of the cross-sectional area 546 of a typical refiner knife 425 , 525 ). However, the partially overlapping webs 445 typically have an even larger longitudinal cross-sectional area 474 . Similarly, the fully overlapping webs 440 have a longitudinal sectional area 476 that is 60%-100% of the cross-sectional area 546 of the adjacent refiner blade 425,525 , depending on the shape of the longitudinal sectional area 476 of the fully overlapping web.

[0091] FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a refining section 507 of an exemplary refiner plate segment 500 comprising refiner blades 525 disposed on a base 520 " located inside such grooves 530 . The cross-sectional area 562, 544, 542 and 546 is measured from a plane intersecting the refining section 507 perpendicular to the length L of the refiner blade. That is, said plane is orthogonal to the length L of the refiner blade. In FIG. 5 shows the differences in the cross-sectional area 562 of the ledge, the cross-sectional area 544 of the partially overlapping web, and the cross-sectional area 542 of the fully overlapping web, relative to the cross-sectional area 546 of an adjacent refiner blade, as measured along the thickest portion of the corresponding shoulder 550 ' jumper 540 and knife 525 refiner.

[0092] The cross-sectional area 562 of the ledge, the cross-sectional area 544 of the partially overlapping bridge, the cross-sectional area 542 of the fully overlapping bridge, and the cross-sectional area 546 of the refiner blade will vary depending on the shape of the ledge 550 , the partially overlapping bridge 545 , the fully overlapping bridge 540 , and refiner blade 525 respectively. In the depicted embodiment, the cross-sectional areas 562 ', 544 ', 542 and 546 are trapezoid. Accordingly, the cross-sectional area is determined by the formula: ½(w+(wz))h. In the exemplary embodiment, the longitudinal cross-sectional area 472 of the protrusion is no more than 20% of the cross-sectional area 546 of the adjacent refiner blade. For example, a typical protrusion 550 may have a longitudinal sectional area 472 of 3-5 ^mm2 , while an adjacent refiner blade 525z typically has a cross-sectional area 546 of ^20-50mm2 . As a comparison, a partially overlapping web 545 typically has a minimum cross-sectional area 544 of 10 mm ² ( ie, 20% to 67% of the cross-sectional area 562 of a typical refiner blade 525 ). However, the partially overlapping webs 545 typically have an even larger cross-sectional area 544 . Similarly, the fully overlapping bridges 540 have a cross-sectional area 546 that is typically equal to or even greater than the cross-sectional area 562 of the adjacent refiner blade 525z .

[0093] In other exemplary embodiments, the longitudinal cross-sectional area 472 of the protrusion 550 is no more than 15% of the cross-sectional area 546 of the corresponding adjacent refiner blade 525z . In other exemplary embodiments, the longitudinal cross-sectional area 472 of the protrusion 550 is no more than 15% of the cross-sectional area 546 of the corresponding adjacent refiner blade 525z . In yet another exemplary embodiment, the cross-sectional area 562 of the projection 550 is no more than 10% of the cross-sectional area 546 of the corresponding adjacent refiner blade 525z . In another exemplary embodiment, the cross-sectional area 562 of the projection 550 is no more than 15% of the cross-sectional area 546 of the corresponding adjacent refiner blade 525z .

[0094] FIG. 8-10 show exemplary embodiments in which the projections 850, 950, 1050 are a type of projection 850 , which may also be referred to as a "flow restrictor". The exemplary flow restrictors 850b, 850c, 850d may be used in any type of refiner plate segment 800 ; however, it is contemplated that flow restrictors 850b, 850c, 850d may be particularly useful in low consistency refining.

[0095] In low consistency refining, operators typically significantly dilute the feed 869 before pumping the feed 869 into a mechanical refiner (see 702 ). For example, low consistency feed 869 can be diluted in the range of 2% - 6%.

[0096] The problem with conventional low consistency refiner plate segments with excessively high refiner blades ( e.g., about 10 mm or higher) is that these high blades created a high pumping effect and high outlet pressure, resulting in higher energy for pumping and increased operating costs. Thus, the costs (in terms of energy and capital) of operating new low consistency refiners with excessively tall refiner blades ( e.g. , about 10 mm or higher) exceed the value that can be obtained from a feed that has been processed through such a refiner with low consistency. These costs offset any increase in refiner plate segment life. When the height of the refiner blades becomes too low, the refiner will not be able to handle the flow and pumping requirements, creating a capacity constraint. Thus, low consistency refiners have a narrow range of knife heights where efficient refining can take place. This adversely affects the useful life of the low consistency refiner plate segments.

[0097] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a schematic representation of the refining section 807 of an exemplary refiner plate segment 800 . The problem of having a narrow range of effective mechanical refining, in particular in low consistency refiners (see 702 ), is mitigated by using an exemplary refiner plate segment containing: an inner arc (see 110, Fig. 1 ), an outer arc 115 , located distally from the inner arc 110 , the first end 113 , located distally from the second end 116 , with the first end 113 and the second end 116 passing between the inner arc 110 and the outer arc 115 , the base 820 located between the inner arc 110 , the first end 113 , the second end 116 and the outer arch 115″ , the refining side 805 of the base 820 and the rear side 206 of the base 820 distally from the refining side 805 . The refiner blades 825 are connected to the base 820 on the refining side 805 . The refiner blades 825 have a refiner blade height H , and adjacent refiner blades (see eg 825z and 825zz ) and base 820 form a groove 830 between adjacent refiner blades 825z, 825zz . The ledge 850b, 850c, 850d is located in the groove 830 between two adjacent refiner knives 825z, 825zz , while the ledge 850b, 850c, 850d is a flow restrictor 850b, 850c, 850d , containing the first end 855 of the restrictor distal to the second end 854 of the restrictor (see also 1054, fig. 10 ). The first end 855 of the stopper is connected to the front surface 821 of the first refiner blade 825z of two adjacent refiner blades 825z, 825zz . The second end 854 of the restrictor is connected to the rear surface 824 of the second refiner blade 825zz of two adjacent refiner blades 825z, 825zz , with the flow restrictor 850b, 850c, 850d located above the base 820 of the groove 830 '.

[0098] In other exemplary embodiments, only the first end 855 of the stopper is connected to the front surface 821' . In still other exemplary embodiments, only the second end 854 of the stopper is connected to the rear surface 824 .

[0099] It should be understood that the flow restrictor 850b , 850c , 850d is a type of projection 850 . Thus, any description relating to the protrusion (see 150, 250 ', 350 ', 450 ', 550 in FIGS. 1-5 , respectively) also describes possible embodiments of the flow restrictor 850b , 850c , 850d , unless otherwise noted. For example, flow restrictor 850b , 850c , 850d may take various forms.

[00100] A non-exhaustive list of exemplary flow restrictor shapes includes: a rectangle, a rectangular prism, a segment of a rectangular prism, a triangular prism, a segment of a triangular prism, a prism that has four or more sides exposed to the feed material, or its segment, polyhedron, polyhedron segment, triangular pyramid, triangular pyramid segment, quadrangular pyramid, quadrangular pyramid segment, pyramid having five or more faces exposed to the feed material, or segment thereof, truncated pyramid, truncated pyramid segment, spherical dome, spheroid dome segment, spheroid dome, spheroid dome segment, parabolic prism, parabolic prism segment, truncated parabolic prism, truncated parabolic prism segment, cone, cone segment, spheroid cone, spheroid cone segment, elliptical cone, elliptical segment o cone, truncated cone, capsule, cylindrical segment, ellipsoid truncated cone, ellipsoid truncated cone segment, cylinder, cylinder segment, elliptical cylinder, elliptical cylinder segment, sphere, sphere segment, spheroid, spheroid segment, or combinations or permutations of any of the above shapes.

[00101] Exemplary refiner segments 800 comprising flow restrictors 850b , 850c , 850d may have a flow restrictor located at any height in groove 830 , provided that flow restrictor 850b , 850c , 850d is not coupled to groove base 820 830 , in which the flow restrictor 850b , 850c , 850d is located. In some exemplary embodiments, flow restrictor 850b , 850c , 850d, 850b , 850c , 850d may be positioned partially above groove 830 ( i.e., partially above adjacent refiner knives 825z, 825zz ). It is generally believed that this generally cylindrical shape flow restrictor 850b may be desirable for many refining applications because the cylindrical shape is considered to wear more evenly over time than other shapes. However, a flow restrictor 850b with a slight offset in the middle may also be desirable.

[00102] Flow restrictor 850c is generally diamond-shaped with front surfaces 867a , 867b oriented to direct feed material 869 around flow restrictor 850c . The flow restrictor 850d has the general shape of a quadrangular prism having a front surface 867 oriented towards the surface of the counter feed material 869 .

[00103] Without being limited by theory, it is assumed that flow restrictors 850b , 850c , 850d , spaced at equal or unequal intervals 963 ( FIG. 9 ) along the length GL of the groove 830 , having a height of no more than 25% of the height H of the refiner blade , will reduce the available flow volume of the groove 830 in which the flow restrictors 850b , 850c , 850d are located. The flow restrictors 850b , 850c , 850d may be located in the grooves 830 to achieve an effective initial throughput. Thus, the new refiner plate segments 800 of the present disclosure may have an effective initial throughput that matches the desired refiner throughput. It is expected that over time the flow restrictors 850b , 850c , 850d will wear out at about the same rate as the refiner blades 825 . Therefore, when the refiner blades 825 are shortened due to wear, the volume of the grooves 830 is reduced, but since the limit rods 850b , 850c , 850d are reduced in volume due to wear, the difference in the original size of the limit rods 850b , 850c , 850d compared to the size of the worn limit rods 850b , 850c , 850d are again added to the volume of the groove. Thus, effective throughput can be maintained over the life of the refiner plate segment 800 .

[00104] In addition, the flow restrictors 850b , 850c , 850d located near the top 828 of the refiner blades 825 will wear along with the refiner blades 825 when the height H of the refiner blades 825 reaches the level of the flow restrictor 850b , 850c , 850d . This will gradually remove some of the uppermost flow restrictors 850b , 850c , 850d , thereby gradually reducing the restriction as the blade height H decreases.

[00105] In other exemplary embodiments, flow restrictors 850b , 850c , 850d may be configured to wear at a slower rate than refiner blades 825 . In such embodiments, it is expected that the throughput will decrease over time, but the refining capacity will increase.

[00106] FIG. 9 is a sectional side view of an exemplary refiner plate segment 900 comprising flow restrictors 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e . Without being limited by theory, it is believed that the location of the projections 950 ( i.e. flow restrictors 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e in this embodiment) at equal intervals 963 within the groove 930 every 10 mm - 50 mm. In other exemplary embodiments, the flow restrictors 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e may be located within the grooves 930 at intervals 463 every 20 mm-40 mm depending on the feed material 969 supplied through the mechanical refiner 702 , 602 .

[00107] As shown in FIG. 9 , the flow restrictors 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e may be located at any height H within the groove 930 , provided that the flow restrictor 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e is not connected to the base 920 . For example, the flow restrictor 950d is located at the first flow restrictor height frh1 , and the flow restrictor 950b is located at the second flow restrictor height frh2 . The first height frh1 of the flow restrictor is different from the second height frh2 of the flow restrictor. The advantage of having the flow restrictors 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e arranged in the groove 930 in the manner described is that the flow restrictors 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e also support the taller refiner blades 925 and resist breakage, thereby solving another problem, which tormented refiner plate segments with taller knives but no flow restrictors 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e , or other types of protrusions (see 350 ).

[00108] FIG. 9 further illustrates that the flow restrictors 950b, 950c, 950d, 950e have a longitudinal sectional area 972 measured from a plane along the longest length l of the flow restrictor 950b, 950c, 950d, 950e measured from a portion of the restrictor 950b, 950c, 950d, 950e of the flow closest to the inner arc 910 ' to the portion of the flow restrictor 950b, 950c, 950d, 950e closest to the outer arc 915 '. The first refiner blade 1025 of two adjacent refiner blades 1025z, 1025zz has a cross-sectional area 1046 measured from a plane intersecting the refining section 1007 across the length L of the refiner blade. The longitudinal sectional area 972 of the flow restrictor is less than 15% of the cross sectional area 1046 of the adjacent refiner blade.

[00109] Flow restrictors 950b , 950c , 950d , 950e are shown as examples. The flow restrictor 950b has a generally cylindrical shape and a sectional area 872 . The flow restrictor 950c has a generally rhombic shape oriented such that the front surfaces 967a and 967b deflect the feed material 969 around the flow restrictor 950c . The flow restrictor 950d is a quadrangular prism having a front surface 967 ' directed directly to the surface of the counter-feed material 969 '. The flow restrictor 950e is shaped like an elliptical cylinder and has an oval cross-sectional area 972 .

[00110] FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a refining section 1007 of an exemplary refiner plate segment 1000 , comprising refiner blades 1025 disposed on a base 1020 " are flow restrictors 1050b, 1050c, 1050f located within such grooves 1030 '. In FIG . 10 more clearly shows the first end 1055 of the stopper connected to the front face 1021 of the refiner knife 1025z and the second end 1054 of the stopper connected to the back face 1024 of the adjacent refiner knife 1025zz .

[00111] The flow restrictor 1050f illustrates that some exemplary flow restrictors 1050f may have, within the groove 1030 , a first flow restrictor end 1055 located at a different height than the second flow restrictor end 1054 .

[00112] The cross-sectional area 1062 of the ledge, the cross-sectional area ( 544, FIG. 5 ) of the partially overlapping bridge, the cross-sectional area ( 542, Figure 5 ) of the fully overlapping bridge, and the cross-sectional area 1046 of the refiner blade will vary depending on the shape of the ledge 1050 , a partially overlapping bridge ( 545, Fig. 5 ), a fully overlapping bridge ( 540 , Fig. 5 ), and a refiner knife 1025 , respectively. In the depicted embodiment, the cross-sectional area 1046 of the refiner blade 1025 is a trapezium. Accordingly, the cross-sectional area 1046 is determined by the formula: ½(W+(Wz))H. The cross - sectional areas 1062 of the flow restrictor are rectangular in the depicted embodiment and are determined by the formula ( w • h ) . For example, a typical flow restrictor 1050b , 1050c , 1050f may have a cross-sectional area 1062 of 3-8 ^mm2 , while an adjacent refiner blade 1025z typically has a cross-sectional area 1046 of ^20-50mm2 .

[00113] In other exemplary embodiments, the longitudinal cross-sectional area 972 of the protrusion 1050 is no more than 20% of the cross-sectional area 1046 of the corresponding adjacent refiner blade 1025z . In another exemplary embodiment, the cross-sectional area 1062 of the projection 1050 is no more than 15% of the cross-sectional area 1046 of the corresponding adjacent refiner blade 1025z .

[00114] FIG. 11A is a front view of a mold 1194 having a series of peaks 1130x that will form the grooves 1130 ( FIG. 11D ) of the refiner plate segment 1100 ( FIG. 11D ). Peaks 1130x define a set of notches 1137 ( FIG. 11B ) on top 1196 of peaks 1130x . The tops 1196 of the peaks 1130x will eventually form the bottom of the grooves 1130 (or at least the bottom of the grooves 1130 before milling (or machining) if the refiner plate segment 1100 is later milled or machined). Desirably, the recesses 1137 are shaped to accommodate a projection 1150 made of a softer metal than the metal of the rest of the refiner plate segment 1100 .

[00115] In the depicted embodiment, two or more notches 1137 are transversely aligned between adjacent peaks 1130x such that one protrusion 1150 can be supported by a line of transversely aligned notches 1137 to thus encompass a plurality of adjacent 1130x peaks. This embodiment is believed to be the most efficient way to cast refiner plate segments 1100 according to the exemplary process. In other exemplary embodiments, recesses 1137 are not transversely aligned between adjacent peaks 1130x . In still other exemplary embodiments, the insertion projections 1150 may have a lattice or other complex shape, wherein the lattice or other complex shape positions the projection 1150 at different lengths along the groove length GL . In other exemplary embodiments, a lattice or other complex shape places protrusions 1150 with different groove lengths among different grooves 1130 . In this manufacturing method, the protruding insert 1150 ( FIG. 11C ) is desirably shaped so that it is flush with the shape of the recess 1130x when inserted into the mold 1194 . The protrusion 1150 located in the notch 1130x is an "inserted protrusion". In the exemplary embodiment, boss 1150 ( FIG. 11C ) may be made of a softer metal ( eg, aluminum) than the alloy of the rest of refiner plate segment 1100 ( eg , typically a steel alloy). When the mold 1194 is closed, the projections 1150 may be held in place by gravity. In other exemplary embodiments, the inserted projections 1150 are held in place by clamping the two mold halves 1194 . In other exemplary embodiments, the inserted protrusions 1150 may be held in place by adhesive, adhesive, or friction forces.

[00116] When the molten metal or alloy that will become the refiner plate segment 1100 is poured into the mold 1194 , the molten metal or alloy fuses with the inserted protrusions 1150 , thereby creating a strong bond. Thus, manufacturers pour molten metal or alloy into the mold 1194 (represented by step 1185 ), allowing the molten metal to cool and solidify (represented by step 1170 ), and remove the refiner plate segment 1150 from the mold 1194 (represented by step 1160 ). This is usually done by breaking the mold 1194 .

[00117] FIG. 11D is a front view of an exemplary refiner plate segment 1100 created using the exemplary manufacturing method. The tops 1128 of the refiner knives 1125 were created in the bottoms of the spaces 1125x formed between adjacent peaks 1130x of the mold 1194 . In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the projections 1150 extend through and between adjacent refiner blades 1125 . Fig. 11E is a side sectional view of an exemplary refiner plate segment 1100 of FIG. 11D . Using this exemplary manufacturing process, the projections 1150 are built into the base 1120 of the refiner plate segment 1100 .

[00118] FIG. 12A, 12B, and 12C depict a manufacturing method in which projections 1250 are wedged between adjacent refiner knives 1225z, 1225zz ( FIG. 12C ). The protrusions can be wedged between adjacent refiner knives 1225z, 1225zz of a finished or near-finished refiner plate segment 1200 . This can be done by pressing the tabs 1250 with a hydraulic press, a hammer, or any other known method.

[00119] FIG. 12A shows a lug installer 1239 having a slot 1277 '. Desirably, the shape of the slot 1277 encloses the top of the protrusion 1250 . The lug mounting device 1239 and lug 1250 are located in the groove 1230 above the desired mounting location. A hydraulic press, hammer, or other device capable of applying a downward force then transmits the downward force through the lip inserter 1239 to the lip 1250 to wedge the lip 1250 down and between two adjacent refiner knives 1225z, 1225zz . Fig. 12B is a side view showing the installation of the protrusion 1250 in accordance with this exemplary method. Fig. 12C is a front view of the same.

[00120] An exemplary method includes: placing protrusions in the positive grooves of the mold to form inserted protrusions, the protrusions having a protrusion height, the protrusion height being no more than 25% of the negative height of the refiner knife in the mold, pouring molten metal into the mold, fusing the inserted protrusions with the molten metal, allowing the molten metal to cool to form a cast refiner plate segment, removing the cast refiner plate segment from said mold. The exemplary method may further include: machining the cast refiner blades and the cast refining ridges on the refining side of the cast segment of the refiner plate.

[00121] Another exemplary method includes: pouring molten metal into a mould, allowing the molten metal to cool to form a cast refiner plate segment, removing the cast refiner plate segment from said mold, and machining a base groove to form projections, wherein the ledges have a ledge height, wherein the height of the ledge is not more than 25% of the height of the refiner knife adjacent to the ledges.

[00122] An exemplary refiner plate segment comprises: an inner arc, an outer arc distal to the inner arc, a first end distal to a second end, the first end and the second end extending between the inner arc and the outer arc, a base located between the inner arc, the first end, the second end and the outer arc, the refining side and the rear side distally from the refining side, the refiner knives connected to the base at the refining side, the refiner knives having the height of the refiner knife, and the adjacent refiner knives and the base form a groove between adjacent refiner blades, and a protrusion located in the groove, the protrusions having a protrusion height, wherein the protrusion height is not more than 30% of the refiner blade height.

[00123] The exemplary refiner plate segment may further comprise a plurality of protrusions, with the protrusions spaced equally within the groove, ranging from 6 millimeters to 25 millimeters. The exemplary refiner plate segment may further comprise a plurality of protrusions, with the protrusions spaced at unequal intervals.

[00124] The exemplary refiner platen segment may further be in the form of a rectangle, a rectangular prism, wherein the protrusion comprises a front surface angled relative to the base on the refining side of the refiner platen segment, said angle being an obtuse angle.

[00125] In an exemplary embodiment, the protrusion comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: aluminum, copper, brass, steel, plastic, wood, and epoxy.

[00126] In the exemplary embodiment, the refiner blades have an initial blade height of 12 mm - 15 mm and the lip has an initial rib height of 2 mm - 3 mm. In yet another exemplary embodiment, the refiner knives have an initial knife height of 10mm-20mm and the lip has an initial lip height of 2mm-5mm. In yet another exemplary embodiment, the refiner knives have an initial knife height of 12mm-15mm and the lip has an initial lip height of 2mm-3.5mm. In an exemplary embodiment, the length of the protrusion is no more than 10% of the length of the refiner blade.

[00127] An exemplary refiner plate segment comprises: an inner arc, an outer arc located distally from the inner arc, a first end distal to a second end, the first end and the second end extending between the inner arc and the outer arc, a base located between the inner arc, the first end, the second end and the outer arc, the refining side of the base and the rear side of the base distally from the refining side, the refiner knives connected to the base at the refining side, while the refiner knives have the height of the refiner knife, and at the same time adjacent the refiner knives and base form a groove between adjacent refiner knives, and a protrusion located in the groove, the protrusions having a protrusion top, a protrusion base and a protrusion height between the protrusion top and the protrusion base, and a side connecting the protrusion top and the protrusion base, with In this case, any protrusion of these protrusions has a longitudinal section area, measured from a plane along the longest length of the protrusion, measured from the portion of the protrusion closest to the inner arc to the portion of the protrusion closest to the outer arc, each adjacent refiner blade of the refiner blades having a cross-sectional area measured from a plane intersecting the refining section across the length of the refiner blade, wherein the longitudinal sectional area of the protrusion is less than 20% of the cross sectional area of an adjacent refiner blade.

[00128] In the exemplary embodiment, the refiner plate segment further comprises a difference between the lip height and the refiner blade height, said difference between the lip height and the refiner blade height being the effective groove depth.

[00129] In an exemplary embodiment, the refiner plate segment further comprises webs, wherein the webs have a web longitudinal sectional area, and wherein the web longitudinal sectional area is greater than 20% of the nominal longitudinal knife area, wherein the nominal longitudinal knife area contains the length and height, with the nominal length of the knife running along with the longest web length.

[00130] In the exemplary embodiment, the protrusions are unequally spaced.

[00131] In an exemplary embodiment, any protrusion of the protrusions is in the form of a trapezoidal prism, wherein the protrusion comprises a front surface angled relative to the base on the refining side of the refiner platen segment, said angle being an obtuse angle.

[00132] An exemplary refiner plate segment comprises: an inner arc, an outer arc located distally from the inner arc, a first end distal to a second end, the first end and the second end extending between the inner arc and the outer arc, a base located between the inner arc, the first end, the second end and the outer arc, the refining side of the base and the rear side of the base distally from the refining side, the refiner knives connected to the base at the refining side, while the refiner knives have the height of the refiner knife, and at the same time adjacent the refiner blades and the base form a groove between adjacent refiner blades, and a protrusion located in the groove between two adjacent refiner blades, the protrusion being a flow restrictor comprising a first end of the restrictor located distally from the second end of the restrictor, wherein the first end of the restrictor is connected to the front surface of the first rafi knife ner from two adjacent refiner knives, and the flow restrictor is located above the base of the groove.

[00133] In an exemplary embodiment, the flow restrictor has a longitudinal sectional area measured from a plane along the longest length of the flow restrictor, as measured from the portion of the flow restrictor closest to the inner arc to the portion of the flow restrictor closest to just to the outer arc, wherein the first refiner blade of two adjacent refiner blades has a cross-sectional area measured from a plane intersecting the refining section across the length of the refiner blade, and wherein the longitudinal sectional area of the flow restrictor is less than 20% of the cross-sectional area of the adjacent refiner knife.

[00134] In an exemplary embodiment, the second end of the stopper is connected to the rear surface of the second refiner blade of two adjacent refiner blades.

[00135] The exemplary embodiment further comprises a plurality of protrusions, said plurality of protrusions being flow restrictors.

[00136] In an exemplary embodiment, the first flow restrictor of the plurality of flow restrictors is located at the first height of the flow restrictor, and the second flow restrictor of the plurality of flow restrictors is located at the second height of the flow restrictor.

[00137] In the exemplary embodiment, the first end of the flow restrictor is located at a different height than the second end of the flow restrictor.

[00138] While this invention has been specifically shown and described with reference to its exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, covered by the appended claims.

Claims (55)

1. Segment of the refiner plate, containing: inner arc; an outer arch located distally from the inner arch; a first end distal to the second end, the first end and the second end extending between the inner arc and the outer arc; a base located between the inner arc, the first end, the second end and the outer arc; a refining side and a rear side distal to the refining side; refiner blades connected to the base at the refining side, wherein the refiner blades have a refiner blade height, and wherein a first pair of adjacent refiner blades and the base form a first groove between adjacent refiner blades, and subsequent pairs of refiner blades and base form second grooves; protrusions located in said first groove, each protrusion having a protrusion height, wherein the protrusion height is not more than 30% of the height of the refiner knife, and webs located in each of the second grooves, and these webs include fully overlapping webs and partially overlapping webs, moreover, the distance between adjacent protrusions in the first groove is less than the distance between adjacent partially overlapping webs in the second grooves, which contain partially overlapping webs. 2. The refiner plate segment according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the protrusions has a shape and said shape is selected from the group consisting of: rectangle, rectangular prism, rectangular prism segment, triangular prism, triangular prism segment, prism, which has four or more sides exposed to the feed material, or a segment thereof, a polyhedron, a polyhedron segment, a triangular pyramid, a triangular pyramid segment, a quadrilateral pyramid, a quadrangular pyramid segment, a pyramid having five or more faces exposed to the feed material, or its segment, truncated pyramid, truncated pyramid segment, spherical dome, spherical dome segment, spheroid dome, spheroid dome segment, parabolic prism, parabolic prism segment, truncated parabolic prism, truncated parabolic prism segment, cone, cone segment, spheroid cone , se segment of a spheroid cone, elliptical cone, segment of an elliptical cone, truncated cone, capsule, cylindrical segment, ellipsoidal truncated cone, segment of an ellipsoid truncated cone, cylinder, segment of a cylinder, elliptical cylinder, segment of an elliptical cylinder, sphere, segment of a sphere, spheroid, segment of a spheroid, or their combinations. 3. A refiner plate segment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protrusions are located within the groove at regular intervals ranging from 6 millimeters to 25 millimeters. 4. A refiner plate segment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the protrusions are unequally spaced. 5. The refiner plate segment according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least one of the protrusions has the shape of a rectangular prism, while the protrusion contains a front surface located at an angle relative to the base on the refining side of the refiner plate segment, and when this angle is an obtuse angle. 6. A refiner plate segment according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the projections comprise a material selected from the group consisting of: aluminium, copper, brass, steel, plastic, wood and epoxy resin. 7. Segment of the refiner plate according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the refiner knives have an initial knife height of 10-20 mm, and the protrusion has an initial protrusion height of 2-5 mm. 8. Segment of the refiner plate according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the refiner blade further comprises a nominal blade volume containing the volume of a part of the refiner blade having an overall length with the longest protrusion length, and a nominal blade base extending together with an adjacent the base of the protrusion along the longest length of the protrusion, while the protrusion further contains the volume of the protrusion and the volume of the protrusion is less than 40% of the nominal volume of the knife. 9. Segment of the refiner plate according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the refiner knives have an initial knife height of 12-15 mm, and the protrusion has an initial protrusion height of 2-3.5 mm. 10. Segment of the refiner plate, containing: inner arc; an outer arch located distally from the inner arch; a first end distal to the second end, the first end and the second end extending between the inner arc and the outer arc; a base located between the inner arc, the first end, the second end and the outer arc; a refining side of the base and a rear side of the base distal to the refining side; refiner blades connected to the base at the refining side, wherein the refiner blades have a refiner blade height, and wherein a first pair of adjacent refiner blades and the base form a first groove between adjacent refiner blades, and subsequent pairs of adjacent refiner blades and base form second grooves; protrusions located in said first groove, each protrusion having a protrusion top, a protrusion base and a protrusion height between the protrusion top and the protrusion base, as well as a side connecting the protrusion top and the protrusion base, while any protrusion of these protrusions has an area longitudinal section, measured from a plane located along the longest length of the protrusion, when measured from the part of the protrusion closest to the inner arc to the part of the protrusion closest to the outer arc, while the adjacent refiner knife of these refiner knives has a transverse area a section measured from a plane intersecting the refining section across the length of the refiner blade, wherein said longitudinal sectional area of the protrusion is less than 20% of the cross sectional area of said adjacent refiner blade; and webs located in each of the second grooves, and these webs include fully overlapping webs and partially overlapping webs, moreover, the distance between adjacent protrusions in the first groove is less than the distance between adjacent partially overlapping webs in the second grooves, which contain partially overlapping webs. 11. The refiner plate segment of claim 10, further comprising a difference between the height of the lip and the height of the refiner blade, said difference between the height of the lip and the height of the refiner blade being the effective groove depth. 12. Segment of the refiner plate according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the bridges have a longitudinal sectional area of the bridge, and while the longitudinal sectional area of \u200b\u200bthe bridge is more than 20% of the nominal longitudinal area of the knife, while the nominal longitudinal area of the knife contains the length and height, with In this case, the nominal length of the knife runs along with the longest web length. 13. Segment of the refiner plate according to any one of claims 10-12, characterized in that the protrusions have a shape and the specified shape is selected from the group consisting of: rectangular prism, rectangular prism segment, triangular prism, triangular prism segment, prism, in which the number sides exposed to feed material equal to four or more, or a segment thereof, a polyhedron, a polyhedron segment, a triangular pyramid, a triangular pyramid segment, a quadrilateral pyramid, a quadrangular pyramid segment, a pyramid having five or more faces exposed to the feed material, or its segment, truncated pyramid, truncated pyramid segment, spherical dome, spherical dome segment, spheroid dome, spheroid dome segment, parabolic prism, parabolic prism segment, truncated parabolic prism, truncated parabolic prism segment, cone, cone segment, spheroid cone, spheroid segment cones , elliptical cone, elliptical cone segment, truncated cone, capsule, cylindrical segment, ellipsoid truncated cone, ellipsoid truncated cone segment, cylinder, cylinder segment, elliptical cylinder, elliptical cylinder segment, sphere, sphere segment, spheroid, spheroid segment, or combinations thereof. 14. A refiner plate segment according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the protrusions are located within the first groove at regular intervals ranging from 6 millimeters to 25 millimeters. 15. A refiner plate segment according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that the protrusions are arranged at unequal intervals. 16. A refiner plate segment according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that any of said projections has the shape of a trapezoidal prism, wherein the projection comprises a front surface located at an angle relative to the base on the refining side of the refiner plate segment, and at the same time the specified angle is an obtuse angle. 17. Segment of the refiner plate, containing: inner arc; an outer arch located distally from the inner arch; a first end distal to the second end, the first end and the second end extending between the inner arc and the outer arc; a base located between the inner arc, the first end, the second end and the outer arc; a refining side of the base and a rear side of the base distal to the refining side; refiner blades connected to the base at the refining side, wherein the refiner blades have a refiner blade height, and wherein a first pair of adjacent refiner blades and the base form a first groove between adjacent refiner blades, and subsequent pairs of adjacent refiner blades and base form second grooves; protrusions located in said first groove between said first pair of adjacent refiner knives, wherein each of said protrusions is a flow restrictor containing a first end of the restrictor located distally from the second end of the restrictor, while the first end of the restrictor is connected to the front surface of the first refiner knife of said first pair of adjacent refiner knives, wherein the flow restrictor is located above the base of said first groove; webs located in each of the second grooves, and these webs include fully overlapping webs and partially overlapping webs, moreover, the distance between adjacent protrusions in the first groove is less than the distance between adjacent partially overlapping webs in the second grooves, which contain partially overlapping webs. 18. The refiner plate segment of claim 17, wherein the flow restrictor has a longitudinal sectional area measured from a plane along the longest length of the flow restrictor, as measured from the part of the flow restrictor closest to the inner arc to the restrictor part. flow closest to the outer arc, wherein the first refiner knife of two adjacent refiner knives has a cross-sectional area measured from a plane intersecting the refining section across the length of the refiner knife, and the longitudinal sectional area of the flow restrictor is less than 20% of cross-sectional area of adjacent refiner blade. 19. A refiner plate segment according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that the second end of the stopper is connected to the rear surface of the second refiner blade of said first pair of adjacent refiner blades. 20. A refiner plate segment according to any one of claims 17 to 19, characterized in that the first flow restrictor is located at the first flow restrictor height and the second flow restrictor is located at the second flow restrictor height. 21. A refiner plate segment according to any one of claims 19 to 21, characterized in that the first end of the flow restrictor is located at a different height than the second end of the flow restrictor. 22. Method, including: placing protrusions in the positive grooves of the mold to form inserted protrusions, the protrusions having a protrusion height, the protrusion height being no more than 25% of the negative height of the refiner knife in the mold; pouring molten metal into a mold; fusing the inserted protrusions with molten metal; providing cooling of the molten metal to form a cast segment of the refiner plate and removing a cast refiner plate segment from said mould, the cast refiner plate segment being the refiner plate segment of claim 1. 23. The method of claim 22, further comprising: machining the cast refiner blades and the cast refining ridges on the refining side of the cast segment of the refiner plate.

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