The papermaking industry is diverse and plays an important role in Australia’s manufacturing landscape.
A production pipeline encompassing forestry, wood processing, pulp and paper mills calls for varying skills and equipment designed to combat application-specific challenges.
After treated pulp is pressed into long sheets, it is fed through large steam-heated dryer cylinders, removing any excess water and bonding the fibres into a more stable structure.
According to Nitin Verma, industrial business development manager at NSK Australia, the key challenge with this process arises when trying to maintain uniformity of thickness across each sheet.
“Because the machinery structures are so large, the load on each bearing is extremely high,” he says.
“The paper needs to lie flat from end to end between the rollers, but it can sometimes buckle in the middle, creating a variance in thickness in different areas of the sheet.”
“We combat this by fitting the machines with our tailored NSK Spherical Roller Bearings that are known for their ‘triple ring’ design that is specialised for the pulp and paper making industry,” explains Verma.
“This involves adjusting the outer roll crown shape – also known as the ‘crown control roll’ on the steam machinery, which is responsible for regulating the thickness of the paper during the heat treatment. From there, oil pressure is used internally to change the crown shape.”
An engineer by trade, specialising in industrial problem-solving, Verma has been collaborating with large plants in Australia’s paper-making industry for over ten years.
Working alongside Motion Australia’s product experts, he implements these types of solutions to offer higher rates of machine reliability.
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