Consumables

ABB analyzer helps pulp mills achieve perfection

The barely-visible speck above is 0.3 millimeters square. ABB's analyzer finds even smaller imperfections in wood pulp.The pulp defect analyzer is an online automated inspection system that analyzes the whole length of a pulp bale, detecting dirt spots and shives (minute wood fiber particles) as small as 0.04 mm2 and with an accuracy of one hundredth of one square millimeter (0.01 mm2).

Tuesday 20. May 2008 - ABB’s unique online pulp defect analyzer is helping a Södra Cell pulp mill in Sweden achieve its target of 100 percent pulp quality by detecting minute defects as small as 0.04 square millimeters.

This is a massive improvement on the alternative method of pulp bale analysis, which is sample-based, covers only a fraction of the bale and is time-consuming, inefficient and error-prone.

“We are at the leading edge thanks to our pulp defect analyzer, whose measurements could set an industry standard worldwide,” says Barbro Andreasson, process engineer for Södra Cell.

With the ABB pulp defect analyzer, mill operators can quickly detect and correct problems in paper pulp.Based on ABB’s hugely successful Web Imaging HDI800 defect detection and classification system for paper mills, the pulp defect analyzer uses ABB’s industry-leading digital camera technology and advanced algorithms to detect and record defects and classify them into meaningful clusters.

This enables operators to quickly identify the source of the defects and take corrective action.

Södra Cell is one of the world’s leading producers of paper pulp and the first company to reap the benefits of ABB’s analyzer.

The installation was completed in January 2007 at Södra Cell’s state-of-the-art Mörrum mill in Sweden, which manufactures both short fiber and long fiber pulp for most types of paper.

The mill has a production capacity of 430,000 tons and exports to paper mills across Europe.

Södra Cell is one of the world’s leading producers of paper pulp and the first company to reap the benefits of the ABB pulp defect analyzer.”Holes, spots, pitches (sap) and shives are typical of the defects we detect. Spots of 0.2 – 0.6 mm2 are very common,” says Mats Lennvid, process engineer at Mörrum. “In liquid carton board and cigarette paper, for instance, it is crucial that we detect such defects. Manual inspection alone is insufficient.”

The pulp defect analyzer integrates seamlessly with ABB and third-party distributed control systems as well as quality control and quality management systems. Södra has installed six ABB pulp defect analyzers in its mills in Sweden and Norway.