Taking control

Resolute FP Clermont’s TMP mill located in Quebec, Canada, is one of the leading newsprint mills in the world when it comes to cost-per-ton of production. It also prides itself on the quality of its products which are used by well-known titles such as the New York Times and other major newspaper publishers in the USA, Europe and be- yond. The mill produces newsprint of a low weight basis, 40-48 g/m2, on its 8.7 m wide paper machine at a speed of 1,275 m/min.

The management at the Clermont recently decided that it needed an upgrade on one of the eight refiners feed-ing its single paper machine to better control efficiency and stability. ANDRITZ, already a long-term supplier to the Clermont mill, was contacted to see if it might have a solution that would bring more control to the existing CD Refiner in question – an older model from another supplier. After consultation, it was decided that this would be possible and improving refiner stability could be achieved by replacing the electromechanical guide-valve with a hydraulic servo valve and removing the in-gap sensor.

The new control system now manages simultaneous plate positioning of the CD and flat zone on the CD refiners. It maintains plate positioning on both zones using standard contactless sensors. The control system also manages plate protection, logics static and dynamic zeroing, as well as providing an up-to-date control platform that is user friendly for operators. 

Mill manager Bouchard is happy with the results of the updated refiner, he says, “We have gone from monitoring the running of the refiner literally by the sound it makes, to now being able to actually analyze the data and fine tune the efficiency and quality of the output.

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