Jenike & Johanson, Paper Industry Experience

Pulp and paper plants are faced with heightened global competition, mergers, and acquisitions such that plants with limited capacity, low or inconsistent quality, questionable reliability and safety, or which experience loss of talent, are being forced to close. Those plants which remain open are vulnerable if they do not make changes to address these problems.

Even though paper has been made since the days of the ancient Egyptians, solids handling continues to be much less reliable than the handling of liquids and gases. The reason is solids are much more complicated than liquids and gases, yet most engineers get training in only fluid mechanics. Wood chips, paper pulp, and the various chemical powders which are used or produced in a pulp and paper plant can exhibit basic flow problems such as arching (bridging) and ratholing. This can lead to costly consequences such as unreliable discharge from bins and silos. Uncontrolled flow or flooding [524K QuickTime video] of fine powders is also possible. Wood chips present a special challenge because of their anisotropic behavior. The bin geometry and type of feeder become very important.

Even if you haven't encountered these problems yet, you eventually might, considering today's tough demands of increased production rates, tight quality control, and minimization of product loss. Flow problems during manufacture may result in excessive downtime, extra labor, inefficient operation and even off-spec product—all of which are costly. If you are currently experiencing solids handling difficulties, Jenike & Johanson can help you eliminate them. Or, if you are planning a plant expansion or developing a new product, we can utilize our industry-leading technology to help you avoid production mishaps in the future. Contact us to discuss how your handling system can work to improve your bottom line.

Some of the paper/wood problems we have analyzed and solved:

Inadequate packing/filling of wood chips in a reactor vessel
Nonuniform steaming of wood chips in a digester
Sticking of paper pulp in chutes
Segregation [220K QuickTime video] and hangups of synthetic wood poly-resin blend
Unreliable flow of hot lime from a kiln through a storage bin

Case Studies

Case studies for the paper industry are currently being prepared for posting to this site. Please visit us again.

Some of the paper/wood equipment we have designed and/or supplied:

Mass flow screw feeder for wood pulp
Batch digesters
Continuous digesters
Pre-steamers
Digester filling systems
Full live capacity wood chip and sawdust storage structures and silos
Feeders
Conveying systems
Chute systems

Some of the paper/wood materials we have handled:

Bark
- Ash
- w/Fiber
Cellulose Fiber
Paper
- Dust
- Grade
- Pelletized
- Sludge
- Wet Solids

Wood
- Chips
  - Cooked
  - Hardwood
  - Mill
  - Recycled
  - Whole Tree
- Dust
- Flour
- Pellets

Pulp
Sawdust
w/Acetic Acid
w/Sawdust Pellet

Wood Types
- Cedar
- Fir Larch
- Hemlock
- Spruce/Balsam

Some of the companies we have helped with paper or wood applications:

ABB CE Services
Amoco Chemicals
Arkansas Eastman
BioEnergy
Buckeye Cellulose
Catalytic
Celgar Pulp
Celanese Fibers
Dravo Engineers
Ecodyne

ETG Environmental
Foster Wheeler Energy
Henkel Corp
Hoechst Celanese
ITT Rayonier
Kamyr
Kay Musical Instruments
Lincoln Pulp & Paper
Power Recovery Systems

PyroPower
Sprout Waldron
Stock Equipment
Tennessee Eastman
Tennessee Valley Authority
Union Camp
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Watkins Engineering
Weyerhaeuser