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Paper drying : experimental studies on the influence of dryer fabric

University of British Columbia

This research is an experimental investigation on paper drying that primarily focuses on the effects of the dryer fabric on the drying process of paper. A novel method for moisture content measurement is presented. The working principle of this method is the strong correlation between the optical transparency of paper and its moisture content due to the refractive index matching role of water in wet paper. Spectrographic and microscopic measurement techniques were employed to characterize the relation of moisture content and relative transparency of paper. As optical access to the paper is restricted by the dryer fabric, the optical transparency of paper should be measured only with one-sided optical access. To achieve this goal, a novel technique of transmittance measurement is developed that is able to determine the transparency of thin film objects (i.e. paper) with only one-sided optical access. Employing a fluorescence imaging method, this optical configuration eliminates the spurious effect of reflection of the incident light by filtering the excitation wavelength before reaching the optical detector. To study the paper drying process in a multi-cylinder dryer, an experimental setup is designed to simulate realistic conditions of a typical paper dryer while providing optical access for the measurement system. Ten commercially available fabric types manufactured by weaving synthetic filaments are used in the investigations. It is shown that the fabric structure affects the drying progression and the drying time significantly. The contact area and three-dimensional arrangement of the filaments have the greatest impact on the drying process. To study through air drying (TAD), another experimental apparatus is designed to perform drying under controlled conditions of air temperature and mass-flowrate. Four commercially available TAD fabrics with different structural designs and characteristics are used in the investigations. It is shown that the geometry of the contact spots of the fabrics has a significant impact on the drying time at high drying intensities. Comparing the spatial maps of moisture content with the paper grammage distribution reveals that there is a correlation between the local grammage and the local moisture in a paper sheet during the drying process.

Text

2018-07-19

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/66544

Mechanical Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/