New High Performance Headbox for Board Grades, 2004 Paper Summit, Spring Technical & International Environmental Conference, (including Papermakers; Process Control, Electrical & Information; Product & Product Quality)

The headbox, together with the forming section, plays a major role in the production of high quality board and paper. In board and paper making reality, two characteristics dominate when evaluating the performance of the headbox: robust hydraulic performance for stable production and adaptability for varying production conditions. In the new OptiFlo headbox these requirements are fulfilled by combining the excellent performance of dilution profiling with a new fiber suspension homogenization design. The overall optimization and dimensioning of the most significant constructional details enable even profiles and a homogenous board and paper structure. In practice this means pulp-specifically optimized headbox dimensioning and in-built intelligence in which the operating environment and the end product property targets have been carefully considered.

The results obtained with the new headbox on paper grades have established improved (base) paper properties: excellent formation, no streaks, even paper structure and good strength capability. Now the new headbox principles have been successfully applied to board grades: the headbox does not generate disturbing streaks (tiger stripes) and formation is excellent at low tensile ratios for printability.