A flow loop system for study of fibre flocculation insuspensions has been developed. The system is designed tosimulate the flow conditions in a paper machine headbox. It isequipped with a radial distributor feeding a step diffuser pipepackage, after which the flow is contracted in a 2-D nozzle.The flow system is also equipped with a secondary flowcontraction with an area reduction ratio of 2:1 after theheadbox nozzle, mimicking accelerations that may take placeduring forming. The flow system is equipped with heating andcooling devices for the study of temperature effects on fibresuspension flocculation. An online dosage device for the studyof chemical effects on fibre suspension flocculation is alsoincluded. The maximum flow velocity in the system is 16m/s. Flowing fibre suspensions were studied using a high speedCCD video camera and transmitted infra-red laser light pulseillumination. Images were taken either separately before andafter or along the secondary contraction. Images of fibreflocculation were evaluated by power spectrum analysis, and themean floc size and the flocculation index were calculated. Aconcept of mean floc area reduction, based on power spectrum,has been introduced to characterise the fibre network insuspensions. By comparingthe fibre flocculation before andafter the secondary contraction, or by following the fibreflocs along the secondary contraction, floc rheologyinformation can be obtained. The effects of chemical additivesand fibre surface modification can also be studied by comparingthe corresponding fibre flocculation. For a bleached softwood kraft pulp suspension at a fibreconcentration of 5 g/l, the fibre flocs along the secondarycontraction have been manually evaluated, and the resultsconfirm that the power spectrum analysis is applicable. Ca 1/5of the flocs were broken into two by the contraction. (...).

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This volume brings together selected contributed papers presented at the International Conference of Computational Methods in Science and Engineering (ICCMSE 2006), held in Chania, Greece, October 2006. The conference aims to bring together computational scientists from several disciplines in order to share methods and ideas. The ICCMSE is unique in its kind. It regroups original contributions from all fields of the traditional Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and all branches of Engineering. It would be perhaps more appropriate to define the ICCMSE as a conference on computational science and its applications to science and engineering. Topics of general interest are: Computational Mathematics, Theoretical Physics and Theoretical Chemistry. Computational Engineering and Mechanics, Computational Biology and Medicine, Computational Geosciences and Meteorology, Computational Economics and Finance, Scientific Computation. High Performance Computing, Parallel and Distributed Computing, Visualization, Problem Solving Environments, Numerical Algorithms, Modelling and Simulation of Complex System, Web-based Simulation and Computing, Grid-based Simulation and Computing, Fuzzy Logic, Hybrid Computational Methods, Data Mining, Information Retrieval and Virtual Reality, Reliable Computing, Image Processing, Computational Science and Education etc. More than 800 extended abstracts have been submitted for consideration for presentation in ICCMSE 2005. From these 500 have been selected after international peer review by at least two independent reviewers.