Modelling drying process in paper manufacturing

Abstract

Euroresinas produces different types of resin-impregnated paper at its factories. Along the manufacturing process, after the paper has been bathed in resin, it is subjected to a drying process which is a fundamental step in the process. Although the temperature is controlled by a heating system, the actual values inside the chain of dryers are only measured at a few points away from where the paper is. The company would like to be able to model the temperature profile inside the dryers to better understand problems such as dusting and sticking, as well as the optimization of different variables related to bathing and drying times and energy consumption. We construct a mathematical model to simulate the drying process. This model describes the steady-state behavior of the temperature inside the dryer machines and predicts the temperature and the percentage of water in the paper film, taking into account several variables.