Modelling of the drying section of a continuous paper machine : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master in Production Technology at Massey University

Abstract

The invention of paper in 105 A.D. was a milestone in the history of civilization and demand for paper has been increasing steadily ever since. Although it has become more and more popular to store, process and transfer information in electronic forms, paper is to date still the most common means for recording information. According to Storat (1993), production in the last twenty years has increased by more than 60 percent, while capital expenditures in the industry have grown to almost 12 percent of sales, or double the average expenditures of other manufacturing industries. This capital investment has gone towards capacity expansion and extensive rebuilds of existing mills - almost 60 percent of the existing capacity comes from modern facilities containing machines either newly installed or rebuilt in the past ten years. As a result, fossil fuel and energy consumption in this industry fell by 46 percent in the last two decades.[FROM INTRODUCTION