Optimass improves product quality at paper mill

Nineteen Optimass Coriolis mass flowmeters have been installed at a major carton board manufacturing plant, the first paper mill to use highly accurate Coriolis mass flowmeter technology

Nineteen Krohne Optimass Coriolis mass flowmeters have been installed at a major carton board manufacturing plant in Germany.

It is the first paper mill to use highly accurate Coriolis mass flowmeter technology to improve production consistency and product quality.

The nineteen meters are incorporated into a batch system developed by German-based company BVG, which upgraded existing equipment at the plant.

It prepares various coating colour mixes, which are applied as a surface finish to the carton board.

The Optimass flowmeters enable the carton board manufacturer to improve the quality of its products by controlling more precisely the viscosity and consistency of the coating colour mix.

Magnetic inductive flowmeters were previously used to control the dosing of substances used in the coating colour mix but these do not provide precise measurement.

Errors in measurement resulted in production waste.

Slight variances in the mix can adversely affect how well it bonds with the carton board substrate, which causes product rejects and lost production.

Using Wellingborough-based Krohne Optimass Coriolis flowmeters significantly improves the dosing accuracy of the substances used in the mix.

The consistency of the colour coating is precisely maintained and consistent product quality is improved substantially.

Production costs are also cut by reducing waste.

Optimass is calibrated to a mass flow accuracy of 0.1 per cent of measured value and a density accuracy of 0.2 per cent of measured value over a range of operating temperatures.

Some of the substances used in the colour coating mix are viscous and highly dense.

They can include clay, latex and carbonate as well as pigments and dispersants.

Optimass revolutionary single straight tube design, without flow dividers, is resistant to blocking and fouling and can measure these substances precisely.

The installation of the nineteen flowmeters at the carton board manufacturer is particularly compact and uses four of a range of seven straight tube diameters available.

A spokesperson for BVG said: "This is the first time that Coriolis mass flow measurement technology has been used to improve production and product quality within a paper mill.

"This was a substantial installation with nineteen Optimass flowmeters being incorporated into the system.

It all went very smoothly.".

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