Energy efficiency is a major focus in the paper industry. Because drying paper consumes large amounts of steam energy, it is important for paper manufacturers to have reliable measures of the performance of the dryer section. Traditional performance indicators that are widely used, such as the paper machine drying rate or kilograms of steam used per kilogram of water evaporated do not provide a good indication of the drying efficiency of the paper machine. This paper examines five energy focused dryer performance indicators (DPI) which focus on the steam energy losses from the steam and condensate system. These indicators, which are applicable to multiple cylinder paper machine drying sections, focus on identifying and quantifying where energy losses are occurring in the system. The deliberate focus on these five energy-specific indicators provides greater insight into dryer section performance and areas for improvement. When applied methodically, this method will yield greater results for optimizing dryer section performance and energy utilization while supporting capital investment decisions that drive real value into papermaking operations.
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