Best Practices for the Stability and Agility of a Production Line, PaperCon '09 Conference

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A stable production line requires stable stock preparation, stock blending, approach systems and wet end. Paperproduction and quality can be optimized when the production line is stable and, at the same time, agile. Bothstability and agility are needed to minimize the start-up time, break recovery, and grade change time. Both can beachieved with a holistic approach to production line optimization. This paper examines the stability and agility of aproduction line, discusses problems encountered in stock systems, and outlines best practices in reducing variability. An innovative multivariable predictive control strategy utilizing new measurements to stabilize the wet end of themachine and optimize paper quality is also discussed. A new approach to grade change in closed loop, utilizing thevery same controllers used during the grade runs, ensures the most optimum transition from one grade to another.