Backflushing pressure diffuser screens

Abstract From the Canadian patent

A pressure diffuser includes in a liquid-tight pressurized vessel a vertical screen and which screen and vessel wall define first and second interior volumes for transmitting pulp from a pulp inlet to a pulp outlet and receiving displacement (e.g. wash or bleach) liquid transmitted from headers through the pulp. The screen ends have different cross-sectional areas, and quick movement of the screen effects backflushing. The volumes are segregated by a vertical, generally cylindrical, screen. A chamber is provided in communication on opposite sides of a piston therein with the pulp adjacent the pulp inlet and the extracted liquid. By displacing the piston immediately prior to rapidly moving …