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AIR2-CT93-1233
Lab Sheet Forming |
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Proposal No: | AIR2-CT93-1233 |
| Date Prepared: | September 1999 | |
| Source: | Final technical report 1996 |
AIR2-CT93-1233 Economical lab sheet forming.
Summary
Introduction Production of printing papers in Europe is rising by some 10 to 15 % a year, in spite of the dynamic developments in electronic data processing and communication - or, maybe, because of this development. Paper was - and still is - serving as the most important means for information transfer and for documentation of our cultural developments: in average, every European consumed around 160 kg of paper in 1994. Today, pa per frequently is manufactured on machines which are often more 10 m in width and run at velocities of 1600 m/min. The rather high costs of investment as well as the high running costs require extensive paper testing and pulp evaluation before a new or modified product is tested on these machines. A defficiency in these investigations can result in high losses in productivity of the paper machines.
Paper testing and pulp evaluation, however, are performed in the laboratories with a much lower efficiencies. Whether the conventional sheet forming method or the Rapid Kothen method is used, the average production rate" is in the range of only several sheets an hour, leading to costs of some 150 to 250 ECU per sqm.
In order to be able to compare test results of within and between laboratories and with literature, standardized procedures have to be applied. The important techniques for lab sheet forming in Europe are the Rapid Kothen Method, the Conventional Method, the Dynamic Sheet Forming Method. In addition, web-formers and pilot paper machines are used test paper, chemicals, water circuits, etc.
Improving the economy of lab sheet forming methods in terms of increased productivity and comparability of the different methods used in Europe was the main aim of this concerted action.
Objective Improving the economy of lab sheet forming methods in terms of increased productivity and comparability of the different methods used in Europe was the dominant aim of this concerted action.
Materials and methods Exchange of experience and common efforts to define the state of the art in European lab sheet forming served as a basis for the resulting suggestions for method improvements. The participants presented their own equipment to the partner institutions and to the public in contributions within workshops and symposia. Literature data and the results of recent research projects, which deal with the subjects of sheet forming and related items were prepared and exchanged. A number of short-term exchange visits were organized to increase understanding of the special needs in the participating countries.
Activities Five work groups have been organized in order to improve the economics of lab sheet forming and to agree on common general conditions in laboratory sheet formiing. Existing standards or their revisions served as a basis for the working groups on the Rapid Kothen Method and on the Conventional Method. For dynamic sheet forming and web forming methods, interlaboratory trials have been performed in order to study useful settings of the equipment used. An extensive exchange of experiences by the experts in workshops and sym posia has been the most important tool to derive common general conditions for all methods.
As a result the objectives of the Concerted Action Economical Lab Sheet Forming have successfully been reached. All partners agreed that they gained a lot of knowledge concerning the various methods of handsheet forming and their economics in terms of profitability (costs per M2 handsheet), reproducibility and comparability. New technical approaches were developed for handsheet formers of superior reliability and profitability, which suit modern mill conditions.
The Concerted Action has helped to:
Exploitation Exploitation has been through applying the findings within the participating institutions, their clients and research partners, by discussions with ISO-standardization working groups and setting up of new research proposals in order to obtain standardized conditions.
Achievements
The following activities were conducted during this Concerted Action.Several workshops took place at different institutions in order to defined objectives. These concentrated on matters such as reproducibility, comparability and profitability of lab sheet forming methods, and on the evaluation of round robin tests. Comparability of equipment in different European laboratories was investigated in round robin tests. Short-term visits helped to exchange expert experiences which served as a basis for the proposed improvements.
During the First Symposium (Munich), "State of the Art and Progress of Lab Sheet Forming in the Pulp and Paper Industry" was presented to 35 participants, indicating advantages and drawbacks of different forming methods, evaluating differences between physical properties of the test sheets formed with different equipment, and demonstrating the need to improve the economy of sheet forming methods. Working groups were set up and organised additional meetings for detailed discussions and agreements on the findings concerning the following topics:
Five group meetings were held in 1996, each covering one of the topics above. These followed on from a two day symposium held in January 1995, entitled "Standards and Conversion Methods for Lab Sheet Forming (LSF)". Forty participants from institutions and from industry received information on the following subjects:
Conclusions
The objectives of the concerted action were reached. Proposals for economical improvements of the following were elaborated:
The results will be discussed within the CEN organization and new research projects on a European level were planned in order to specify standardization efforts. The revised standard procedures allow for changes in the design of the sheet formers.
© Copyright 2006 Policy Statements
Updated
by CPL Press:
03/07/2007
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