 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2018) |
The defibrator is a machine used as part of the manufacturing process for MDF man-made wooden board. It produces fine wooden fibres, finer than the cut chips used to make chipboard. Although small, these fibres retain good structural integrity.
The machine itself is a thermo mechanical pulping refiner in which the pulp material, such as wood chips, is ground in an environment of steam between a rotating grinding disc (rotor) and a stationary disc (stator) each with radial grooves that provides the grinding surface. Wood chips are fed into the centre and are broken down as the centrifugal force pushes them towards the circumference of the discs where the grooves are finer to produce wood fibre. The size of the refined fibres can to some extent be controlled by altering the distance between the discs where a closer distance produces finer fibres but also requires higher grinding force. The capacity per machine is largely determined by the size of the machine, as well as the motor speed, which can be 1,500 or 1,800 rpm.[i]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-roman> tags or {{efn-lr}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-roman}} template or {{notelist-lr}} template (see the help page).