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Improving

Getting Started with the SpeedController: Your Guide to Better Felt Performance

Even the best felts can underperform without proper monitoring. The Feltest SpeedController gives you crystal-clear insight into felt performance by combining AirSpeed and TrueSpeed Sensor data. Spot issues early, reduce downtime, and optimize your trials, all from one smart instrument.

Here's your step-by-step guide to getting started with the SpeedController.

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5 things to look for when choosing a new machine clothing supplier

As a papermaker, the relationship with your machine clothing supplier is critical to the performance of your mill. Yet many mills still rely on a single supplier, leaving themselves exposed to potential issues.
Here are 5 characteristics to look for when selecting a new or additional paper machine clothing supplier: 

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Measuring felt permeability: it’s all about baselines

If you’ve read our previous blogs, this statement will come as no surprise: there isn’t a standard, universal metric for ‘correct’ felt permeability. This is because achieving optimal permeability is unique to each machine. And it’s determined by two sets of variables.
So how do you find the optimal felt permeability? Here’s how… 

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To be frank ~ Why papermakers should run their own felt test

Paper machine clothing can make or break a papermaker’s future – yet our industry’s attitude toward testing feels stuck in the past. With downtime and poor runnability costing thousands per hour, the stakes are high—and that breeds nervousness. It could lead to production managers over-relying on their supplier to test machine clothing performance.

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To be frank ~ Daily Data Powers Production

In one way or another, we are all involved in getting the most out of our paper machines. More output means more profit for the company, more job security for us all and better chances for a promotion.

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How a mill took advantage of PMC trials

Where PMC trial theory meets practice… this is a case study about improving felt performance in a 200″ wide machine in a European paper mill.

This article is the follow-up on the previous article about how to maximize pmc value with this innovative mindset. 

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Troubleshooting

Felt compaction vs contamination: do you know the difference?

After you install a new felt, it's normal for its dynamic permeability (the combination of airflow and vacuum) to fall. This means the felt is compacting. However, contamination will also make it denser. 
To distinguish between these two possible causes for a denser felt, you need to…

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Why a felt may become too dense (and how to avoid it)

The batt's top layer should act as a one-way valve, allowing water to flow down towards the base, but not back up. Avoid excessive density to prevent dewatering issues at the nip entry. Learn why felt may become too dense and how to prevent it in the article.

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How permeability changes over a felt’s lifetime

The press felt's key role is to remove water from the sheet without damaging its strength or surface quality. However, unlike other machine components, press felts' permeability and behavior change over their lifetime… 

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Felt Permeability: a Simple Breakdown

A lot of papermakers come to our website to learn about felt permeability and how it affects the performance of their paper machine. In this blog series, we share a simple breakdown of what felt permeability is, and why it matters. 

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Best Practices for Paper Machine Dryer Sections

The paper machine dryer section is vital for achieving the desired quality standards. Optimizing this section ensures efficient operations and high-quality output. In this blog, we'll explore the journey through the paper machine's dryer section, offering you the best practices for keeping things running smoothly. 

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Troubleshooting tip: how to spot speed difference problems and reduce machine breaks

A mill in the Netherlands faced frequent breaks at the pickup roll, about 12 times daily, costing over 7% of production time. Despite trying weekly cleanings, changing doctor blades, and short circulation boil-outs, the breaks persisted. Read our blog to learn how to tackle these problems in-house. 


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Part (3/3) The magical effect of PMC trials - a case study

A 1960s graphic paper machine in the Netherlands, running at 150% of its design speed, faced numerous vibration issues. The fourth press caused felt life to drop to two weeks, and press roll covers lasted just 4-6 weeks, with excessive wear on the granite counter roll. Read more to learn how felt life increased from 4 to 9 weeks.

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(Part 2/3) Maximize Your PMC - Maximize Your Mill

Focusing on innovation maximizes value from paper machine clothing, and in return, will future proof your mill. While PMC tests and trials may seem inconvenient, they are profitable long-term. Consider these three key principles for PMC trials. Each paper machine is unique, so apply these principles to your specific situation.

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(Part 1/3) Breaking a Dangerous Habit

It’s the perceived cost and risk of running PMC trials that causes our industry to play it safe. But this status quo chains papermakers to their PMC suppliers, killing innovation and the long-term survival of the mill. We need to break this dangerous paper production habit.

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How to design high-performing press felts

Designing a successful press felt is an art form. One that requires a careful blend of technical expertise, data, and gut feeling from a real human—the press felt designer. I believe a greater understanding of the complexity of press felts is key to unlocking innovation—and in turn, helping papermakers produce more paper.

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Solving guiding problems on forming fabrics

When a forming fabric misaligns, it causes significant problems and costs, including potential destruction if it hits the machine frame. Continuous corrections lead to excessive wear and high expenses. This article explains fabric guiding principles and offers tips for papermakers to systematically solve guiding issues.

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Introducing three new tools for better paper machine performance

As 2022 ends, it's the perfect time to optimize your paper production. To help, we've launched three new products enabling daily felt tests in just 20 minutes. Gain more data and insights to enhance your paper machine output. 

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Where the Felt Baseline Meets the Bottom Line

Recently, we compared the results of another question held during a survey in our most recent and highly successful webinar, How to Assess Press Felts, to the results of the same question in a LinkedIn poll….Well, we ended up scratching our heads when we reviewed the results.

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How much life is REALLY left in your felt?

Press felts are the paper machine's lungs. Like a marathon runner with optimal breathing, ideal permeability ensures peak machine performance. However, despite the catchy phrase, "perfect permeability" for a press felt doesn't exist.

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How to determine the right Fuji Film type?

Our Fuji pressure-sensitive film aids in investigating press load distribution on paper machines, identifying misalignment, crowning deviations, and roll cover issues. Feltest offers various Fuji Film sensitivities, but selecting the right type can be challenging. This article aims to clarify the selection process.

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5 tips to prevent Sheet Stealing - Trouble Shooting Guide

"Edge stealing": sheet edge sticks to felt at nip exit.
"Sheet stealing": entire sheet sticks at nip exit.
"Edge flipping" or "blowing": sheet edge detaches, sometimes creating a double layer.
"Sheet stealing" is most common. Here are 5 prevention tips.

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5 tips for forming fabrics that will not lay flat

The forming section can only deliver the “best possible sheet” when the forming fabric lays flat. Waviness, ridges, or wrinkles disturb the weight and dewatering profiles of the sheet and therefore must be avoided. Here are 5 easy solutions against wrinkles and ridges of forming fabrics:

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Dependency on PMC suppliers

Producing paper is capital-intensive, with financial experts heavily influencing operations. Reducing costs is a key responsibility for Production Managers, and it's essential. However, we must focus on the right type of cost reduction to avoid future expenses that could be detrimental to long-term success.

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How to maximize Paper Machine Clothing value through innovation

This article is the follow up on the previous article about Dependency on PMC suppliers. Below I’d like to share the practical principles and actions that spring from an innovative mindset, ensuring a paper mill gets maximum value from its paper machine clothing. You can read them as guidelines in making your paper mill and paper machine future proof, ensuring a competitive advantage.

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How measuring felt thickness revolutionized nip dewatering

In the 1980s, press felt performance was judged by the sheet's appearance, with little knowledge of the felt's internal behavior. Nip dewatering introduced the need for more detailed information. Thick, bulky press felts are unsuitable for nip dewatering. This blog post explores the relationship between nip dewatering and the Feltest CaliperProfiler. 

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Feltest presented: 'How to assess Press Felts' on May 4, 2021 at TappiCon Virtual ~ missed it?

Due to its success, Feltest offered you another chance to attend this Webinar on June 3, 2021: I'll show you how better PMC can really increase your paper machine's output. 

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Your fabric tension is too high - without you knowing it

Most paper mills use a mechanical tension gauge to measure the tension of Paper Machine Clothing, mostly forming fabrics. When this instrument is not in a perfect condition, it can cause serious problems in running your papermachine. The 2 most common defects on mechanical tension gauges are a worn sensor bar or a leaking bellow, causing internal friction.

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Beware of low fabric tension

In this blog article, I focus on the signs and consequences of forming fabrics running at a tension too low for optimal performance of your paper machine. One of the causes of low tension is improper use of the tension gauge. 

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How to get reliable results from a mechanical Tensometer

In two previous articles, I reflected on problems related to too high or too low tension in forming fabrics. In this article, I want to focus on the (im)proper use of the mechanical tension gauge.

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Improving Felts – is it really that complicated?

Knowledge-sharing to improve production in the papermaking industry is Feltest’s mission, and we recently experienced directly how important this is in our industry.

Just in the few weeks since our first webinar How to Assess Press Felts, we are already seeing shifts in our customers’ perception of improving felts in the press section. 

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How to determine if your press felt needs replacing?

In the Netherlands we have a saying, ‘meten is weten’, which literally translates to ‘measuring is knowing’. I guess we Dutchies like to analyze before we act. And basically, it says it all when it comes to the maintenance of your paper machine and its components.

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How to prevent breaks in the press section of your paper machine?

Besides removing the most water of all press felts, the pick-up felt has another important task: it has to pick up the delicate sheet from the forming fabric and guide it into the press section. Problems in the pick-up area, often leading to breaks in the press section, are certainly not uncommon.  

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Press vibrations - it’s not the felt!

When press vibrations take place in the papermaking process, machine speed has to be slowed down. This has a negative effect on output and production targets. Replacing the felt is often the expensive solution papermakers reach for, but it is only addressing the symptoms. Usually, the origins of press vibrations can be found elsewhere in the machine.

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Getting Started with the SpeedController: Your Guide to Better Felt Performance

The Feltest SpeedController is a game-changing control unit that delivers precise felt performance data - helping you detect issues early and make informed decisions. Learn how it transforms complex measurements into clear insights for better production.

Here’s your step-by-step guide to getting started.

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Feltest Events

The results are in! Feltest’s first ever global papermakers survey 2021

The year 2021 has already shown us that the Paper Industry will be facing similar challenges to what we faced in 2020. Never before has the reliability of your Paper Machine Clothing been key to your operation’s continuity. 

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Poll outcome: Is one PMC supplier enough?

The majority of our newsletter readers disagreed on this question:
"If the product price wouldn’t matter, would you be perfectly happy with only 1 supplier per PMC position?"

In May 2019, more than 80 newsletter readers gave their opinion in this poll. Of all respondents, 76% disagree with this statement.

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Webinar Assessing and Improving Paper Machine Clothing

Feltest & Tappi presented this webinar on January 22nd, 2020 to empower papermakers all over the world.

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Feltest 20-year anniversary

We are blowing up the balloons and hanging the garlands, because there is something to celebrate: it is Feltest’s 20-year anniversary! For this special occasion, founder and owner Marcel Lensvelt was interviewed:

 

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CONTACT

    • PO Box 205
    • 6960 AE Eerbeek
    • The Netherlands
    • Phone: +31 313 652 215
    • Email: info@feltest.com
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