ABB L&W Fiber Online system for monitoring pulp fibre properties

ABB has launched L&W Fiber Online, an online system for measuring, monitoring and controlling significant fibre quality variables in paper stock preparation and pulp production. This helps pulp and paper customers to save production costs by optimising fibre usage, as well as reducing energy consumption through elimination of overrefining, and to improve quality by generating uniform pulp furnish for the paper, board or tissue machine.

Compared with traditional indirect measurements such as Canadian Standard Freeness (CSF) and Schopper-Riegler (SR), the measurements based on fibre images provided by L&W Fiber Online are said to provide more detailed information on the status of pulp quality. Fibre properties are categorised and presented as mean values and statistical distributions of width, length, shape factor, two classes of fines (P and S) and macro fibrillation.

L&W Fiber Online mitigates the problem of detecting late in the production process quality issues caused by fibre variations. By discovering variations earlier in the process — as early as in stock preparation — it becomes feasible to take corrective action in time to produce paper, board or tissue that meets the specifications. The system also allows for multiple sampling points with a single instrument, reducing initial investment and ongoing maintenance costs. For mixed furnishes, the optional Blend software analyses the ratio of reference fibre species in a fibre mix, making it possible to save raw materials when switching grades or during start-up.