News Products Process Control
Valmet launches intelligent fiber furnish control to secure better refiner operation

Valmet announced the release of the Valmet Fiber Furnish Control application package for board and papermakers. The product is designed to help them stabilize refiner operation for efficient production while ensuring furnish quality.

The control is based on real-time measurements of multiple fibre properties and freeness. It features feedback and feedforward solutions, as well as model predictive control.

The application can be fully integrated into an existing Valmet DNA Automation System or Valmet IQ Quality Control System. The solution is also available as a stand-alone version including all necessary basic licenses and hardware if required.

During its development phase, Valmet closely monitored the control performance of the application for 18 months at a mill in Finland. According to a statement from Valmet, the application ensured that stock production and quality targets were met from two fibre lines while providing energy savings. In the fibre refining lines, freeness variability was reduced by 30 percent to almost 70 percent compared to the time before the control was introduced.

“In the one and a half years since the project started, the reduction in web breaks due to the more homogenous fibre furnish resulted in several extra days of production. The best thing was the positive feedback from the operators on how they were able to focus more on controlling the machine when making grade changes,” said Ismo Joensuu, manager, Board & Paper Analyzers, Automation business line, Valmet.

Valmet Fiber Furnish Control can be connected to a Valmet Fiber Furnish Analyzer, which continuously measures properties such as fibre length, fines, shives and fibrillation when adjusting the specific energy setpoint for target freeness. Consistency measurements are an important feature of the control.