Model-based framework for the evaluation of energy-efficiency measures in multi-cylinder paper drying

Abstract

Paper drying is the most energy-intensive step in papermaking and around 90% of the total amount of manufactured paper is produced in multi-cylinder dryers. A framework based on a physical model of multi-cylinder drying was developed to assess the effect of various energy-saving measures at a production site. The framework was applied to the drying section of a paper machine producing corrugated paper. The calculated steam and power savings reach up to 1.55 GJ_th/t_paper and 0.1 GJ_el/t_paper respectively, depending on the chosen combination of efficiency measures. The cumulative effect of the measures is not equal to the sum of their individual effects, which highlights the importance of accounting for interactions when considering the implementation of several measures.

Keywords:

• Multi-cylinder paper drying
• mathematical model
• energy efficiency
• heat recovery
• heat pump integration

Acknowledgments

We gratefully thank Mr. Thorsten Kaesler from Schoellershammer GmbH and Dr. Tim Hamacher from Sustainable Process Heat GmbH for providing plant data and technical information.

Notes

1 Based on experimental results for a wide range of high temperature heat pumps presented by Arpagaus et al 2018.^[35]

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Graduate and Research School for Energy Efficiency Stuttgart (GREES).