Cost savings for paper machines with automation solution packages

초지기 자동화 해법에 의한 운전비용 절감대책

Increasing energy costs have caused profitability problems for paper suppliers. Therefore unprofitable lines are being closed down. The actions aiming for improved profits are focused either on cost savings or on increasing the capacity of the remaining machines. The runnability of a paper machine and its total efficiency have a significant effect on energy consumption. Producing one ton of waste paper consumes at least as much energy as producing the same amount of sellable end product. New automation solutions enable significant cost-effective improvements to the total efficiency of a line without large investment projects. The measures focus on minimizing changes, interruptions, interruption recovery times and grade change times. Newest actuators, online quality measurements and wet end analysators create an improvement potential, which can be optimally implemented with the latest machine direction control solutions, based on model predictive control concepts. Equally, drying management is significant to the energy consumption. The newest control strategies optimize the use of various drying actuators for different situations; either by responding to changes as efficiently as possible or by using only the cheapest energy sources in stable situations. An even steam supply, which is vital for paper machines, is achieved with control for the power plant steam network. This makes possible to avoid the delays upon starting the paper machine and assure an even steam supply for the drying section and the actuators. This document describes means which have brought significant energy and raw material savings for paper machines. Metso Automation has provided efficiency improvement packages, which are usually based on optimized control of dry weight and drying in all running conditions. The solutions are based on performance analysis, on which the estimations for improvement potential and the necessary actions are based on. Typically benefits on an annual level have been from hundreds of thousands of euros to over one million euro. For example, variations in dry weight have been decreased more than 50%. The results are presented with a few examples. Additionally, the analysis models, adjustment solutions and the changes in running methods with which the results were achieved, are presented.