BULETINUL INSTITUTULUI POLITEHNIC IAI TOMUL LIV (LVIII), FASC.

5, 2008 ELECTROTEHNIC, ENERGETIC, ELECTRONIC

MODEL FOR SIMULATION OF CONVENTIONAL DRYING OF PAPER

BY

*A. HAZI and *GH. HAZI

Abstract. It is presented a mathematical model for simulation of conventional paper drying with steam-heated cylinder dryers. The model is based on the unsteady state, onedimensional heat conduction equation, which is applied to both the cylinder shell and the paper web. It is account by the mass transfer in the boundary conditions on the sheet surfaces. It is coming in heat transfer equations, mass and heat balance equations for calculus of the mass and heat flux. The finite element method is used to obtain the numerical solution. Finally, it is calculated thermal specific consumption and unitary thermal cost of the paper. In order to verify the simulation output one paper dryers is surveyed. There are presented results of simulation. Keywords: drying paper, model, heat transfer, cost.

1. Introduction Papermaking is one of the most energy and capital-intensive industrial processes in the nation and is the leading industry in terms of energy consumption for drying. The large amounts of energy required in the paper drying process give rise to substantial costs for the paper producing companies. Paper is generally dried in a multi-cylinder dryer section, in which the continuous paper web is heated as it passes internally steam-heated dryer cylinders. It is used a combination of contact and convective drying. A simulation model of the drying section and computer program corresponding to it has proved itself to be a versatile and useful tool for optimizing the production and for obtained a better understanding of the complex interaction of the process parameters. This paper presents a simulation model which is based on the equation for unsteady state heat conduction applied to both the cylinder shell and the paper web. The mass transfer is included only in boundary conditions on the paper web surfaces. The finite element method is utilized for solving equations for unsteady state heat conduction. The heat transfer equations, mass and heat balance equations are used for calculus of the mass and heat flux. Validation of the model to experimental data has shown that it predict the drying process and the energy use very accurately. A simulation tool has been developed in the program Turbo Pascal and it has been used to study the use and costs for energy in a conventional paper dryer

GH. BDESCU, MONICA ARDELEAN and V. CREU

with heat recovery at various process conditions. 2. The mathematical mode As a mathematical basis of model of paper drying process equation of unsteady state heat transfer by conduction is used, perpendicularly to paper web, (in z-direction): Equation for the unsteady state heat conduction applied for paper web is, [1]:
t h 2th h =0 z 2 where: h - density, kg.m-3; cph - specific heat, J.kg-1 . oC-1; th temperature, o C; h - thermal conductivity, W.m-1 . oC-1; z paper thickness direction, m, time, s. The same, for the cylinder shell. Equation (1) is solved with reference to boundary conditions. The dryer section is divided into cycles of five phases, figure 1.

(1)

h c ph

Fig. 1. Nomenclature for the five phases of felt-covered cylinder drying

For phases I, III and IV, boundary condition at the point of contact paper-air is given by the following equation: t * (2) h h | z = h = J va lv + ha t h, h t a z where Jva is mass flux given by Ficks Law, kg.m-2.s-1; th,h paper web temperature for the thickness h,oC ; ta / surrounding air temperature, oC; lv vaporization latent heat, J/kg, *ha - contact coefficient, W/(m2 0C). For phases I, II and III, the boundary conditions of the heated cylinder/paper-interface is described by: t (3) h h | z =0 = ch t c, c t h,0 z where ch contact coefficient which it is determined by the felt tension, moisture content of paper web and by basis weight, W/(m2 0C). Although phase II is similar to phase I and III, the surface in contact with the

BUL. INST. POLIT. IAI, TOMUL LIV (LVIII), FASC. 5

moving air must be treated differently in phase II because of the presence of felt. The evaporation calculated without the effect of the felt (relation 2) is multiplied by 80 percent to account for reduced rate, [2]. Boundary conditions of the cylinder surface/moving air-interface and of the inner surface/ condensate layer-interface are given by the relations as (3), taking into account by the heat transfer coefficient respectively. Using finite elements, the differential analytical model is transformed in a numerical model, [3]. Thus, sheet temperature, th, and outer cylinder surface temperature (vector), [tc], are determined. In the mathematical model, all physical proprieties, coefficients, fluxes that depend on these variables are expressed as functions of them. It is coming in heat transfer equations, mass and heat balance equations for calculus of the mass and heat flux. For example, heat flux transferred by contact from surface of drying cylinder to surface of paper is obtained from equation, (4) Qhi = S II chi (tci t h ) [kW] and heat recovery from exhaust air to the input air is: (5) Qr1 = g a1 (ia 4 ia5 )
2

[kW]

where: SII cylinder surface, m ; tc cylinder surface temperature, 0C; ga1 input air flow, in m3/s, depending on exhaust air flow, ga1; ia4 , ia5 - air enthalpy which input or output from air heating battery, in J/kg, depending on exhaust air flow, steam pressure, paper web temperature and surface cylinder temperature. It is calculated heat specific consumption, csc: (6)
c sc = Qab Qc G2 n

[kJ/kg]

where: Qab, is heat flux of steam which consumed for the paper drying, in W; Qc - heat flux of condensate which is recovered, in W; G2n paper production, in kg/s. Unitary thermal cost, ct, results from relation: (7) ct = c sc pt [$/kg] where pt is price of heat, $/kJ. 2. Results and discussions The model was evaluated against measurements on a paper machine with 46 steam-heated cylinders. The first 20 cylinders are arranged in the slalom configuration. The following quantities are measured: the moisture content in paper web, the surface temperature of paper web, the moisture content in the air, the air temperature, and the cylinder surface temperature. Additional data are necessary, like machine velocity, steam pressures, basic gramage of paper, etc. The working parameters of the paper machine for the simulation model are

GH. BDESCU, MONICA ARDELEAN and V. CREU

presented in the table 1.

Table 1.
Paper Working conditions for the simulation model Basis weight 0.045 kg/m2 Initial moisture content 60 percent Initial sheet temperature 32 0C Final moisture content 7.2 percent Final thickness 0.08 mm Specific heat 1340 J/kg 0C Machine speed 647 m/min Machine width 6.65 m Cylinder diameter 1.524 m Cylinder shell thickness 0.029 m Wrap angle, paper 223 0 Wrap angle, fabric 180 0 Length of free draw 1.167 m Total number of cylinders 46 Felt tension 4.5 kN/m

Machine

Temperature, 0C

Cylinder number
Fig.2. Profile of the cylinder surface temperature: 1 measured; 2 - predicted

Temperature, 0C

Cylinder number
Fig.3. Profile of paper web temperature: 1 measured; 2 - predicted

BUL. INST. POLIT. IAI, TOMUL LIV (LVIII), FASC. 5

As can be see in Fig.2 , the cylinder surface temperature was overpredicted by 5-6 0C for the first 6 cylinders and 8-9 0C for cylinder 14 and 16. For the standard configuration, maxim deviation was at cylinders 28-29 (5-6 0C). The actual paper web temperatures, which were taken approximately in the middle of the free draw, deviate by the predicted temperatures with 10 0C maxim, fig.3. The paper web temperature initially rises rather abruptly and then it increases gradually. The local temperature oscillations seen in fig.3 are due to the cooling taking place in phase IV. These figures show a good agreement between predicted and measured temperatures. The heat specific consumption is 6043 kJ/kg and unitary thermal cost is 71 $/t. 2. Conclusions A mathematical model was developed for the drying of paper in a multicylinder drying section. The model is based on the unsteady state onedimensional heat conduction equation applied both to the cylinder shell and paper web. The finite element method is utilized for solving equations for unsteady state heat conduction. A computer program was developed based on the algorithm this method. The output from the simulation program has been favorably compared with measured data from three different industrial paper dryers. This model can be used to study effects of varying the operation parameters, to obtain a better understanding of the drying process and to optimize existing machine to aim minimizing energy cost and increasing paper quality.
*University of Bacau, Department of Power Engineering, Romania; REFERENCES 1. W i l s s o n B., S t e n s t r o m S. Modeling multicylinder paper drying-validation of a new simulation program. Tappi Journal, April, 157-167 (1996). 2. A s e n s i o M.C., S e y e d-Y a g o o b i J. Theoretical drying study of single-tier versus conventional two-tiered dryer configurations. Tappi Journal, October, 203-21R (1992). 3. B r a t i a n u C., O l a r i u V. Modelarea cu elemente finite. Bucureti: Editura Tehnic, (1986).

GH. BDESCU, MONICA ARDELEAN and V. CREU

MODEL DE SIMULARE A USCRII CONVENIONALE A HRTIEI (Rezumat) Se prezint un model de simulare a uscri convenionale ai hrtiei cu cilindri usctor. Modelul are la baz ecuaiile unidimensionale ale conduciei termice n regim tranzitoriu care sunt aplicate att pentru mantaua cilindrului ct i pentru banda de hrtie. Se ine seama de transferul de mas n ecuaiile care descriu condiiile la limit la suprafaa hrtiei. Pentru calculul fluxurilor de cldur i mas, sunt adugate ecuaiile de transfer de cldur i ecuaiile de bilan de cldur i mas.Pentru rezolvarea ecuaiilor de regim tranzitoriu este folosit metoda elementelor finite. n final este calculat consumul specific de energie termic i costul termic unitar al hrtiei. Modelul de simulare este verificat pe o main de hrtie i sunt prezentate rezultatele.

Prof. dr. ing. Aneta Hazi Phone: +40-234-542411 - 146 (office), Mobile: +40-722-472091 E-mail: ahazi58@yahoo.com