A Study of the Interaction between Shoe Press Sleeves and Press Fabrics, PaperCon 2013

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In this paper we investigated the interaction between shoe press sleeves (also known as ENP belts or shoe press belts) and press fabrics, and how this interaction affects sheet marking, dewatering and void volume of the sleeve grooves. Our study found that sleeves with coarse grooves have a higher potential to mark the sheet in comparison to sleeves with comparatively finer grooves. If a press fabric can not remove the pressure non-uniformities caused by the groove, then sheet marking will occur. To reduce this marking potential, it is necessary to use a high stiffness press fabric. It was found that, for the majority of the press felts tested in the laboratory studies, a fine groove provides better dewatering than a coarse groove. Under compression, the groove void volume decreases significantly. However, the percentage of the void volume reduction caused by compression is similar between the coarse groove (7TPI) and the fine groove (10TPI). Press fabrics tend to become embedded into the grooves and thus reduce their void volume. It was found that the void volume reduction caused by the fabric embedment for the coarse groove (7TPI) is about 30%, while the reduction for the fine groove (10TPI) is about 10%.