ABB unveils new features with upgrades to Felt Moisture and Permeability Meters for paper mills

ABB has upgraded its industry-leading L&W Felt Moisture and Felt Permeability Meters with new software, unlocking new features that improve their value for paper mill customers as a key process measurement solution to optimize press section performance.

Having helped identify the effectiveness of felt conditioning for decades, these instruments provide paper mills, and felt and chemical suppliers, with industry-standard results for felt moisture and permeability measurement. Now, in addition to their handheld use, both felt meters have functionality for online scanner usage that will enable mills to maximize their scanner investment while also extending the lifecycle of their felts.

Included in the upgrade of L&W Felt Moisture and Permeability Meters is the addition of ABB’s new easy-to-use PressView 3D software application that streamlines device setup and enables more detailed review and analysis on a PC. With a dedicated function for online scanner usage, operators also gain access to unique zone-related 3D mapping and Graphical Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) analysis. These features help visualize problems that appear at certain frequencies – linking them to machine problem areas – and provide the exact coordinates on the felt safely without additional effort.

The updates create a simplified user experience with keyless operation for scanner and extension handle usage. A new high-definition storage feature allows safer and more accurate data viewing and retrieval for quick and reliable measurements with a minimum of settings. These are the only process measurement instruments available that provide an accurate automatic felt line detection without any sensitivity adjustments necessary from the user.

The new features make more frequent measurement easier and more informative – even with handheld use – to not only create a more efficient felt conditioning program, but also for mills themselves to further optimize press felts to maximize machine runnability and overall profitability.

“With more stringent safety requirements and the increased development in online scanners for felt measurement, these new features help papermakers to maximize their investment in online scanners and make more frequent measurements,” said Ad de Brouwer, Product Manager for process measurements, ABB Pulp and Paper. “The upgrades demonstrate our commitment to continuous product development that helps customers reduce energy and raw material usage, enhance felt life and performance and achieve maximum speed and runnability for their paper machines.”

Obtaining complete data on felt moisture content is critical to keep up with the demands on press felts and increase its lifecycle. Accurate and frequent measurement of felt status using the meters enables customers to take immediate corrective actions to overcome unnecessary high energy costs in the dryer section. It reduces unscheduled shutdowns, increases maximum felt lifetime with optimum de-watering performance, maximizes machine speed, optimizes cleaning using high pressure showers, improves paper quality and reduces paper breaks.