Lorentzen & Wettre introduces new dewatering instrument

KISTA, Sweden, May 15, 2008 (Press Release) - Lorentzen & Wettre introduces a new instrument in the series of portable instruments - L&W Consistency Meter. The instrument is designed to make dewatering in paper, board and pulp machinery more efficient by analyse and optimization.

L&W Consistency Meter is used for measuring the amount of water at various stages after the forming section, to see if all the dewatering elements are correctly adjusted in relation to the product that is currently being produced. All products have different dewatering characteristics. In order to obtain the correct fibre orientation, formation and fine particles, dewatering at the beginning of the wire must take place in a controlled manner. Further on after the wire, it becomes important to optimize dewatering, without losing other qualities, such as porosity. Energy consumption can be minimized by not using more vacuum than necessary in the dry suction boxes, and yet ensuring that the material arrives in the press section as dry as possible. In order to learn how all the dewatering elements are to be correctly adjusted, it takes experience of how they have been set to produce maximum quality.

Storing information for repeatability

Repeatability during different measurements is very important, and with L&W Consistency Meter, all measurements are saved in a database, so that one at any time can download earlier measurement results and use them for comparison with new measurements. The alternative to see previous results in the measurement display at the same time as taking new measurements makes it possible to immediately see whether any part of the dewatering has changed or needs adjustment. This saves time and means that errors can be quickly rectified. All measured data is transferred to the L&W Multiview 3D PC program and saved in a database for analysis and reports to be printed out. The transfer usually takes place wirelessly, either using WiFi or Bluetooth. It is also possible to use a USB connection. The information can also be co-ordinated with measured data from the press section, and all measured data can, if desired, be exported to other file formats such as Excel.

Specially designed

L&W Consistency Meter has been developed and designed for as easy and secure handling as possible. This means that special attention has been paid to the design of the measuring head, the display and transfer of collected data to other computers, and also the transport design. The instrument uses high frequency technology, so it is not dependent on a special permit in order to be used or transported. The technology also means that the accuracy increases as measurements are made closer to the end of the wire, in other words precisely where it is needed. The effect of the wire and the amount of fibre on the measured results is very small, and the results are normally presented in the form of gH2O/m2. It is also possible, if the dry weight is known, to present the result as % dryness.