New Dynamic Fiber Orientation Sensor Based on Dielectric Anisotropy Measurement Technology

A new fiber orientation sensor has been developed and tested on an actual paper machine to demonstrate its capability to function as a real-time monitoring system. First, we demonstrate the ability of the sensor system to detect the change in the fiber orientation angle while the sensor head, and not the paper, was intentionally rotated from $-90^{\circ}\;to\;+70^{\circ}$ with respect to the paper-traveling direction. Next, we demonstrate that this system can successfully detect the change in the magnitude and angle of fiber orientation in running paper when the direction of material flow on the wire was changed on the paper machine. The angle and magnitude of fiber orientation were independently confirmed by SST and MOA measurements. Furthermore, we found that the system was capable of measuring the basis weight and the moisture content of running paper while detecting the angle and magnitude of fiber orientation.