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The use of infrared radiation for heating the web in the through air drying process was investigated in lab scale. The hypothesis was that infrared radiation should be a more efficient method to transfer drying energy to the wet web compared to hot air, but that a certain air flow is still required as a transport medium for the evaporated water. A trial program comprising handsheets made of two types of bleached chemical pulps, five grammages (15, 22, 30 and 60 g/m²), and dried with five radiator power levels was performed on a lab scale through air drying equipment. Drying times of the samples were determined from temperature data recorded with an infrared camera. The use of infrared radiation shortened drying times, especially for low grammage samples. The shortening of the drying time ranged between 10 and 45 %. The most substantial shortenings were obtained for the lowest grammages and the highest radiator power level. However, the increase of power did not linearly shorten drying time. After an initial shortening at the lowest power level, the positive effect of the IR heating decreased as the power was further increased.

The influence of grammage and pulp type on through air drying was studied. The temperature of a sample was measured during the drying process and the observed temperature changes were used to evalu ...

A thermographic method has been developed, in order to study in-plane non-uniformity during through air drying of paper tissue products. Non-uniformity in drying of paper is unavoidable, due to the ...

The removal of water is an integral part of tissue paper production. Through air drying (TAD) is used for water removal when producing premium tissue grade products, however, at the price of higher energy demand. A better understanding of TAD may therefore lower the energy demand.The objective was to investigate the influence of formation, pulp type and grammage on non-uniform drying and air flow through sheets. A laboratory method, based on infrared thermography, was used to determine drying time and area-specific and mass-specific drying rates. Air flow rate and pressure drop were used to determine flow resistance and modified permeability.Pulp type had a large influence on the air flow through the sheet. Modified permeability, i.e. the material property describing the air flow through the fibre network, was strongly dependent on grammage for lower grammages, while it approached a constant value for higher grammages. In contrast to that, mass-specific drying rates were similar for the different pulp types at lower grammages, but proved to be grammage-dependent for higher grammages. Formation did not influence the drying speed to any large extent.The results illustrate that industrial TAD processes operate under very special process conditions due to the low grammage sheets.