Developments in Tissue Manufacturing

138 Pages·2.251 MB·English

by  Pira International Ltd

Developments in Tissue Manufacture
Reiner G. Haggenmiller
Published by
Pira International Ltd
Cleeve Road, Leatherhead
Surrey kt22 7ru
UK
T [phone]
F [phone]
E [email protected]
W www.intertechpira.com
The facts set out in this publication Pira International Ltd acknowledges product, service and company names referred to
are obtained from sources which we in this report, many of which are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered
believe to be reliable. However, we trademarks.
accept no legal liability of any kind
for the publication contents, nor any
information contained therein nor
conclusions drawn by any party from it.
No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise
without the prior permission of the
Copyright owner.
ISBN 1 85802 583 4
© Copyright
Pira International Ltd 2007
Head of publications and events
Philip Swinden
[email protected]
Publisher
Rav Lally
[email protected]
Head of editorial
Adam Page
[email protected]
Global editor
Nick Waite
[email protected]
Head of US publishing
Charles E. Spear, Jr.
[email protected]
Assistant editor
Claire Jones
[email protected]
Customer services manager
Denise Davidson
[email protected]
T [phone]
Typeset in the UK by
Jeff Porter, Deeping St James,
Peterborough, Lincs
[email protected]
Contents
3
List of tables v
List of figures vi
1
Developments in tissue raw materials
and consumables 27
Introduction 1 Pulps, fibre subs and recycled fibre 27
Objective and methodology 2 Customising pulps for tissue
Selection of supplier technology and products 27
illustrations 3 Shift to fast-growing southern
2
grades 28
Increased utilisation of NSWK from
Russian boreal forests 28
Increased use of recycled fibre 28
Overview of the tissue industry 5 Increased understanding of value
Tissue products 5 of pulps 28
Product quality drivers for toilet tissue Full utilisation of forest products 28
products 6 Chemicals 29
Product quality drivers for kitchen towel Enzymes 29
products 6 Nanotechnology 30
Major tissue machinery suppliers 7 Smart delivery systems for chemicals 30
Major tissue producers 7 Clothing 30
Tissue markets 8 Forming fabrics 30
China – developing market 9 Press fabrics 32
Brazil – developing market 10 TAD fabrics 35
EU – maturing market 10 Structuring fabrics 36
US – mature market 11 General 36
TAD technology 12 Single supplier for key consumables 36
TAD technology in the US 12 Alliances involving suppliers 37
4
TAD technology in western Europe 14
TAD technology in rest of world 15
Other advanced tissue technology
machines worldwide 16
Advanced tissue technologies and Developments in paper machinery
capacities worldwide 16 and major subprocesses 39
Tissue capacity additions 18 Compact stock systems 39
Drivers for development in tissue Utilisation of recycled fibre 40
technology 19 Advanced refiner technology 40
External drivers – challenges and Head Boxes 41
opportunities 20
Internal drivers – challenges and
opportunities 24
Page iii © Copyright Pira International Ltd 2007
Developments in Tissue Manufacture
Contents
Dewatering of webs prior to thermal TAD technologies 80
drying 41 TAD technology configurations and
Extended nip or shoe press technology definitions 81
advances 43 Comparison of P&G CPN and WEBS
Conventional shoe presses 43 TAD technologies 84
Andritz PrimePress XT 46 TAD technology developments 86
Metso ViscoNip press 48 Pseudo-TAD Technologies 94
New design TAD rolls 50 Metso structured tissue technology
Large diameter Yankee dryers 51 (STT) 95
Welded steel Yankee dryers 51 Advanced tissue moulding system
Advanced creping processes 56 (ATMOS) technology 100
Control of CD profiles 57 STT vs ATMOS 105
Ultra-high-performance hoods 58 Air dried tissue (ADT) 105
6
Dry-end sheet conveyance 58
Full-width reel turn-ups 58
Advanced reel configuration 59
Controls, programmes and management
information systems 59 Tissue technology at major tissue
Dust and fire control 60 manufacturers 107
Reduced energy consumption – reduced Overview of technology developments at
greenhouse gas emissions 61 big four tissue manufacturers 108
Impact of new developments on major Kimberly-Clark 110
tissue technologies 61 Georgia Pacific 111
5
Procter & Gamble 112
SCA 113
Tissue technology at mid-sized and small
tissue manufacturers 114
Developments in wet-lay tissue Projected developments of
manufacturing technologies 63 technologies 115
Conventional technologies 65 Non-technology-related
Dry crepe technology 65 developments 116
Super dry crepe technology 70
Wet crepe technology 72 Appendix A: Abbreviations 119
Recrepe Technologies 72 Appendix B: Selected patents 121
SRC technology 72 Appendix C: US patent review for
DRC technology 76 tissue manufacturing 127
Page iv © Copyright Pira International Ltd 2007
List of tables
2.1 Installed/announced advanced 5.4 Critical hardware and process
technology capacity worldwide, distinctions for major
since 2002 17 TAD machines 89
2.2 External and internal drivers of 6.1 Primary technologies employed by
development affecting the tissue major tissue manufacturers 107
industry 20 6.2 Patents by areas and by
4.1 Possible targets for dewatering assignees 108
ahead of thermal drying sections 42 6.3 Advanced technology machines at
4.2 Applicability of major developments mid-sized tissue companies 114
to major tissue technologies 61 C.1 Numbers of US patents in different
5.1 Capacity potential of current and areas of tissue making by assignee,
future DC technology 70 January 2005–August 2007 128
5.2 LDC and SDC quality vs TAD C.2 US patents by areas and by
quality 72 assignees – January 2005 to August
5.3 UK: consumer toilet tissue market 2007 132
shares 76
Page v © Copyright Pira International Ltd 2007
List of figures
2.1 Quality segments vs technologies 4.5 Metso ViscoNip extended nip
in the US tissue market 13 press – pillow press schematic 49
2.2 TAD capacity worldwide 4.6 Internals of welded steel Yankee
1995–2010 16 by Andritz 54
2.3 Tissue capacity additions worldwide 5.1 Evolution of tissue technologies 64
by region (number of machines) 18 5.2 Typical LDC machine – Andritz
2.4 Tissue capacity additions worldwide configuration 65
by region (tonnes per annum) 19 5.3 Metso DCT 300 tissue machine 69
3.1 Cross-section of advanced warp 5.4 Typical SRC configuration 74
bound triple-layer – Avantiss 355 31 5.5 DRC configuration 77
3.2 AstenJohnson Helix ID press 5.6 P&G TAD machine – CPN version 82
fabric – base fabric 33 5.7 WEBS TAD machine 83
3.3 Albany Apertech press fabric 34 5.8 KC UCTAD machine – consumer
4.1 Metso’s new OptiFlow II TIS head version 83
box – jet stabilisation 41 5.9 KC UCTAD machine – AFH
4.2 Andritz PrimePress XT shoe version 84
press – MD pressure adjustments 46 5.10 Andritz PrimeLine TAD machine 85
4.3 Andritz PrimePress XT shoe 5.11 Metso SST machine 97
press – trading off dryness for
bulk via shoe positioning 47
4.4 Shoe press – dryness levels vs shoe
positioning 47
Page vi © Copyright Pira International Ltd 2007
1
Introduction
This study reviews the recent trends in the manufacturing of tissue products taking
place at leading suppliers to the industry, and examines the proprietary developments
controlled by leading tissue manufacturers. Challenges and opportunities for the industry
based on emerging technologies, major trends, economic requirements, etc. are briefly
reviewed and the qualitative impact on the tissue industry is projected. Key drivers for
development in the industry are also listed.
To provide the reader with an overall context and background, the study includes a
brief review of the tissue industry, its key players, its size, its key products and reviews of
four representative markets.
The study suggests that current developmental projects in the industry are focused
largely on improving product quality and performance, finding lower-cost ways of
producing high-performance products, reducing overall cost and, in particular, cost and
usage of energy, and reducing environmental impact by reducing water usage.
The major developments with regard to distinctive tissue making technology occur at
the major tissue producers, while the major machinery manufacturers focus on innovative
hardware, upgrading performance of unit operations and paper machines per se.
They probably account for more than 80% of the developments.
Based on the survey of newly introduced equipment, conference presentations and
comments by suppliers, as well as on a completely arbitrary assessment by the author,
the most important developments recently introduced to the industry are judged to be:
 Structured tissue technology (STT) and advanced tissue moulding system (ATMOS),
which emulate TAD technology by producing low-density, high-performance tissue
and towel products;
 Upgrades to the shoe press such as PrimePress XT and ViscoNip;
 Methods and apparatus for reducing need for high-cost thermal drying;
 Developments in ‘structured’ clothing for forming and structuring of webs in both
conventional as well as advanced tissue manufacturing technologies;
 Innovative press fabrics reducing energy consumption and permitting increases in
machine speed and reduced break-in time;
 Welded steel Yankees which may increase drying rates due to their lower shell
thickness, can be spray metallised for long life and should be less liable to
catastrophic failure;
 Developments in the area of advanced fibres via cloning, screening, chemical or
mechanical treatments, etc.;
 Improved dry ends for tissue machines, addressing high-speed operation, low-density
webs, control of fire and dust, etc.;
 Increased use of customised chemicals to improve both product performance and
quality, as well as operating performance of tissue machines;
 Reduced fresh water usage on tissue machines.
Page 1 © Copyright Pira International Ltd 2007
Developments in Tissue Manufacture
Introduction
In addition, substantial and noteworthy effort is directed towards developments in the
following areas:
 Low-cost TAD technology, permitting also easy and/or low-cost retrofits;
 Efforts to control cost and complexity of tissue machines by standardising machines,
reducing their complexity, modularising machines, etc.
The key challenges for the tissue industry and its suppliers over the decade from 2007
appear to be as follows:
 Reducing energy usage and permitting use of renewable or recovered energy, e.g.
waste to steam, biomass, biofuels, forest biorefineries, etc. or energy with low
greenhouse gas emissions;
 Reducing greenhouse gases and water usage per consumer unit of product;
 Reducing the cost of manufacturing high-performance products to increase their
acceptance in the marketplace and to grow the tissue market;
 Development and adaptation of additional or new sources of fibre, such as recycled
waste paper, cloned trees or alternative wood fibre sources, such as bagasse, bamboo,
etc., to meet the demands of rapidly growing markets;
 Developing a more effective and commercially successful method of dewatering the
web ahead of the Yankee or TAD, permitting the use of patterned pressing;
 Improved understanding and control of wet-end chemistry on tissue machines with
the ever more complex chemical systems;
 Controlling capital costs and cost or quality trade-offs.
 Balancing the adverse impact of the highly aggressive patent strategies pursued by
some companies with the intent to protect and further legitimate development and
innovation.
Major opportunities for tissue manufacturers are coming from the following new
technologies:
 Nanotechnology offering potential advances in the areas of product and process
improvements;
 Enzyme technology offering fibre modifications for improved product properties and
improved dewatering or drying;
 Microencapsulation added post-Yankee, offering the possibility to add product
characteristics activated only under certain conditions;
 Microprocessors, robotics, technologically savvy employees offering higher levels of
process control, product performance, reduced operating cost, etc.
Objective and The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of developments and trends in
methodology the manufacturing of tissue paper and to identify the impact of some of the emerging
technologies, consumer trends, changes in cost-versus-quality relationships, etc. on this
industry. Of course, the limited scope and time available to prepare this report, together
with the well-known secrecy in the tissue industry, makes it impossible to review fully,
discuss and analyse all the current developments. Rather, it is intended to alert the reader
Page 2 © Copyright Pira International Ltd 2007
1
Developments in Tissue Manufacture
Introduction
to the general direction of developments and to cite some relevant examples, to identify
the most important trends and to assess their potential impact on the tissue industry.
The report focuses primarily on papermaking technology, as well as on some aspects
of key supplies and consumables used in tissue manufacturing. Converting and value
adding operations post the paper machine are excluded.
The report is based primarily on the following sources:
 Articles in trade journals;
 Papers obtained at various conferences;
 Phone conversations with representatives from tissue machinery manufacturers and
some tissue manufacturers;
 Reviews of recently issued patents;
 Personal contacts, records and experiences of the author.
The study did not attempt to review specific developments at academic institutions, since
their efforts are typically more upstream and would be first screened and then applied by
the tissue industry or by its suppliers.
Selection of supplier Many of the developments introduced by one vendor, in particular those highly successful
technology and ones, are or will be offered by other vendors, albeit with somewhat different technical
illustrations or engineering approaches or solutions. It is not possible to assess or describe all the
various approaches to the recently developed technical challenges and opportunities
now offered by the industry. The concepts, performance levels and illustrations described
were typically chosen on an arbitrary basis, largely based on availability, accessibility and
convenience, but clearly with the intent to give each major vendor about equal exposure
as far as was possible and practicable.
It should by no means be inferred, therefore, that the described concept or the
chosen vendor is the best or the only one that would work. Nor should it be inferred that
the omission of both larger and smaller vendors reflects an adverse assessment of their
capabilities or their technical approaches and solutions.
Page 3 © Copyright Pira International Ltd 2007