Congratulations to Aaron Paufler on successfully defending his thesis

On July 6, 2026, Mr. Aaron Paufler successfully defended his thesis titled “Development of a Controlled Hot-Air Nozzle for the Convective Drying of a High-Speed Paper Web.”

The thesis was written in collaboration with PTS – Institute for Fibers and Paper gGmbH in Heidenau. Supervision was provided by Richard Schab, M.Sc., and Dipl.-Ing. Valentin Scheffel from TU Dresden, as well as by Toma Schneider from PTS Heidenau. The thesis was reviewed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Beckmann.

As part of the thesis, a test rig was developed and constructed to experimentally investigate the influence of various operating parameters on the convective drying of a moving paper web. The focus was on how the orientation of the hot-air jet affects drying performance and energy efficiency.

The investigations show that an increase in nozzle temperature alone does not necessarily lead to improved drying performance or higher energy efficiency. Rather, the decisive factor is the guidance of the hot-air jet in a targeted manner along the wet paper web. Through optimized jet alignment, both the evaporation rate and the specific energy consumption were reduced. Furthermore, the results illustrate that volumetric flow rate and web speed also have a significant influence on the efficiency of the drying process and must be taken into account when designing suitable operating points.

This thesis confirms that the adjustable nozzle tongue is a key control variable for optimizing convective drying processes. At the same time, it provides valuable insights for the further development of industrial drying systems, particularly with regard to scaling, improved measurement concepts, and automated jet guidance.

The Chair of Energy Process Engineering extends its warmest congratulations to Mr. Aaron Paufler on the successful defense of his thesis and wishes him every success in his future professional and personal endeavors.