Method for fractionation of highly refined cellulose

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for fractionation of a highly refined cellulose pulp into a fine fraction and coarse fraction, said method comprising: a) providing a highly refined cellulose pulp suspension comprising highly refined cellulose pulp having a Schopper-Riegler (SR) number in the range of 40-98 as determined by standard ISO 5267-1 and a content of fibers having a length >0.2 mm of at least 7 million fibers per gram based on dry weight; b) subjecting the highly refined cellulose pulp suspension to dewatering in a belt filter; c) collecting the dewatered retentate as the coarse fraction; and d) collecting the filtrate as the fine fraction; wherein the collected fine fraction contains 2-50 wt % of the solids of the highly refined cellulose pulp suspension provided in step a).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.