Raised productivity with virtual sensors, PaperCon '09 Conference

Please Note: This document will be available in PDF format in the "My Electronic Documents" link on the home page once your order has been completed. Please make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat Reader. Click on the Acrobat Reader icon to check for the latest version, it’s FREE. To print a hardcopy of a PDF file correctly you must have a postscript printer. If you are not sure if your printer is a postscript printer please refer to your owner’s manual.

In today’s modern paper mills, the main focus is generally put on the cost-efficiency of the paper production process, which is characterized by maximum productivity, at minimal running costs, while maintaining quality assurance. In order to keep the process in this very restrictive range of operation, stable production conditions have to guaranteed by the quality and process control system in terms of reduced variability and avoidance, or at least reduction, of critical situations potentially leading to a sheet break, or even an unscheduled machine shutdown. Due to the high complexity of the papermaking process, advanced control techniques, such as Model Predictive Control (MPC) are based on appropriate models, which meet the specific demands of their respective application. Two classes of such models - with the goal of stabilizing the process, improve quality parameters and enhance process transparency in terms of off-line measured parameters - are presented in this paper.