Method and apparatus for measuring contaminating impurities in pulp slurry

An apparatus for measuring contaminating impurities in pulp slurry, comprising an elongated container having a bottom, a side wall and an interior for receiving pulp slurry, at least a portion of the bottom of the container being formed as a flat transparent plate which permits visual observation of the interior of the container, a pulp slurry intake conduit connected to a top of the container, a pulp slurry discharge conduit connected to the bottom of the container, a vertically movable wire mesh which permits passage of moisture in the pulp slurry and traps fibrous portions of the pulp slurry, said mesh wire being in sealed contact with the side wall of the container, a CCD camera positioned and arranged so as to be directed from outside of the container toward said plate to produce an image of a surface of the wet mat pressed against the transparent plate, and a computer for processing the image from the CCD camera to measure impurities per unit area of the wet mat.

A method of measuring contaminating impurities in pulp slurry, comprising, after introduction of pulp slurry into an elongated container having a bottom at which is located a flat transparent plate, lowering into said container a mesh wire which permits passage of moisture and traps fibrous portions of the pulp slurry to accumulate pulp fiber on the mesh wire and form a wet mat, pressing against the flat transparent plate a surface of the wet mat, taking an image of the surface of the wet mat through the transparent glass with a CCD camera, and processing the image taken by the CCD camera to measure impurities per unit area of the wet mat.

An apparatus for measuring contaminating impurities in pulp slurry, comprising a container for receiving pulp slurry, a mesh wire positioned and arranged with respect to the container for permitting passage of moisture in the pulp slurry and for trapping fibrous portions of the pulp slurry on the mesh wire, means operatively associated with respect to mesh wire for effecting relative movement between the mesh wire and the pulp slurry in the container to cause moisture to pass through the mesh wire while trapping fibrous portions of the pulp slurry on the mesh wire, a transparent plate positioned and arranged so as to have pressed thereagainst by the mesh wire a wet mat which is formed through accumulation of fibrous portions on the mesh wire, a CCD camera positioned and arranged so as to be directed toward said transparent plate for producing an image of the wet mat pressed against the transparent plate, and a computer operatively associated with the CCD camera for processing an image from the CCD camera to measure impurities in the wet mat.