Vibrating Foil Forming Technology, 2003 Spring Technical Conference Proceedings

Vibre-Tech has developed a vibrating foil that improves drainage, formation, cross-direction profile and sheet structure. The Vibre-FoilTM imparts a cycling energy pulse to the partially formed sheet to fluidize the fiber slurry. For a brief instant the energy pulse causes the fiber suspension to behave as if it was at a much lower consistency. This allows individual fiber to flow and change orientation to fill in lower basis weight areas of the sheet. As a result the fiber orientation and cross-machine direction (CD) basis weight patterns imposed on the fiber suspension by the headbox elements (tube bundles, rectifier rolls, etc.) are modified to produce a squarer sheet with a more uniform CD basis weight and sheet structure profile. Results of extended paper machine operation with the vibrating foil will be presented to show the improved sheet properties, reduced refining and drying energy and increased machine speed realized with this new technology.