Method of producing fiber pulp by grinding fibrous material in a steam environment

Claim 1

In the method of producing fiber pulp from moisture-containing fibrous vegetable material wherein the fibrous material is introduced in a steam environment of predetermined superatmospheric pressure and corresponding temperature into a central portion of a grinding interspace defined between a pair of facially opposed grinding discs which rotate relative to one another within a surrounding closed casing to propel the mixture of pressurized steam and ground material radially outwards within the interspace and into the surrounding casing from which the ground material and residual steam is removed under a controlled rate of discharge in response to fluctuations in a predetermined discharge pressure within the casing, the improvement in said method resulting in increased heat economy and improved pulp quality, comprising: contacting the mixture of steam and ground material upon its emergence from said interspace with a noncondensable gas, other than the steam, of lower pressure than said steam environment to reduce the partial pressure of the steam while maintaining the predetermined total pressure within the casing with consequent expansion of the steam to cause it to become momentarily superheated and unsaturated, thereby exerting a cooling effect on the ground material by evaporation of moisture and thereby minimizing hydrolysis of the pulp material.