Discovering innovative approaches to cost savings for tissue makers
Cost competitiveness is a significant challenge to tissue makers around the globe, with organizations continually pursuing new ways to keep expenses to a minimum. The only constant is change as rates for raw materials, including fiber, energy and chemicals can vary significantly from month to month. When upstream processes are poorly controlled, this variability is amplified, creating challenges for downstream operations all the way to tissue converting.
Raw materials mean substantial challenges for the tissue industry
As prices for raw materials and energy rise and fall, tissue makers require an optimized and dependable process that offers consistent final quality while minimizing their fiber, energy, and chemical consumption. In addition to fluctuating prices, tissue production can have numerous other challenges, such as unstable end quality properties like strength and softness, dusting, unstable creping and challenging machine runnability.
By applying the benefits of today’s latest automation solutions, mills have more precise command at their fingertips than ever to improve OEE of the whole tissue production line from stock preparation to converting lines. By leveraging robust measurements, advanced stabilizing controls, cutting-edge process optimization, and advanced analytical tools, tissue makers gain precise control over production.
Our machine technologists' know-how from machine lines has been used in the development of automation solutions, so Valmet's tissue machines and automation work together seamlessly.
As the interaction of fibers, fines, and chemistry in the headbox is proven to have a significant impact on the cost of wet strength chemicals and fibers, it should be actively managed by tissue machines. In addition to cost savings, our automation solutions for tissue makers bring improvements to machine runnability, offering better machine and process water cleanliness, less slimes, smoother Yankee coating and reduced dusting. By extending the automation system all the way to the tissue converting lines, we gain better visibility into the converting centerlines. This enables us to identify improvement opportunities and optimize the centerlines across both the converting lines and the tissue machine.
Automated solutions for detection, control, and safety
Already during the very first phase of stock preparation, Valmet's analyzers and control systems provide measurement data of multiple fiber and furnish properties.
This data offers mills the advantage of automated feedback early in the process, eliminating the need to run samples to the laboratory and waiting hours for results.
Collection of data is also where customer safety shines, with workers able to collect process samples directly from our analyzers and samplers. So, there's no need to open anything during the process as the samples are simply and safely collected directly from our analyzers or samplers, and taken to the laboratory.
In parallel, reliable consistency sensors play a critical role by enabling precise mass balance control and maintaining a stable stock preparation process.
Stable mass balance achieved through accurate consistency measurement brings substantial benefits to machine-direction (MD) stability. When stock preparation is stable, downstream controls, including Quality Control System (QCS), can perform at their full potential. Without this stability, even the most advanced QCS solutions cannot fully compensate for upstream variability.
A stable mass balance in stock preparation, combined with real-time fiber and furnish measurements and final tissue quality data assist mills with their fiber selection, refining controls and pulp blending to optimize the entire production and keep intended final tissue properties on target. In essence, tissue makers can find a proper balance between minimizing the usage of long fibers and improving fiber strength while achieving significant cost savings and improved machine runnability.
Wet end stability for better output with improved runnability
It’s not uncommon for tissue makers to spend upwards of 500,000 euros annually on wet strength chemicals.
Less variation in fiber length means less variation in strength properties. By maximizing furnish strength potential and fiber fibrillation in refining, we are reducing dusting and expensive strength chemicals consumption.
During stock preparation, refining and blending controls are used to stabilize and optimize fiber and pulp properties, resulting in optimal and consistent output. On the wet end, through fines management and charge controls, improved machine cleanliness and runnability, a more stable Yankee coating and creping are the results.
In principle, wet strength chemicals work more effectively by keeping the process charge demand and number of fines stable. This brings significant chemical savings when there is less chemical overspending.
With automation, we’re able to provide custom-tailored solutions to our customers for a more stable wet end. This allows for improved management of their Yankee coating, which in effect, results in a creping that is much more stable.
Custom-tailored tissue mill solutions with a customer-first approach
The Valmet approach improves productivity, quality, efficiency, and overall sustainability for the tissue industry, while reducing nuisances for tissue mills.
Unlike others, Valmet is fully committed to customers in the tissue, paper, board and pulp industry. And by expanding our portfolio to include converting machinery solutions, Valmet is better positioned than ever to uncover and deliver new cost-saving solutions to our customers by further strengthening our product range and combining processes and capabilities from tissue machine to tissue converting.
Our long-term service agreements mean we’re there alongside our customers for the entire journey and beyond, ensuring the intended results are maintained for months and years into the future.
With a complete portfolio from early planning and stock preparation to the final tissue product all the way to tissue converting, Valmet provides customized, turnkey package solutions to our customers that are unmatched.
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