PAERFORM

PAERFORM – Development of an aerosol former for the production of conditioned nonwovens for low-water paper and board manufacturing.

Objective

The project focuses on the development and investigation of an aerosol-forming approach for the low-water production of conditioned nonwoven fabrics from paper fibers. The goal is to establish the fundamentals for nonwoven formation in an air stream, in which the fibers are deposited as uniformly as possible directly from the air stream of the dry defibering process. This will enable the investigation of a low-water nonwoven formation process that differs fundamentally from the classic wet process and at the same time represents an alternative to conventional airlaid methods.

In the first phase of the project, a discontinuous functional prototype will be developed that is similar in purpose to a laboratory sheet former. This is intended to produce reproducible fiber nonwovens and enable fundamental papermaking technology investigations into nonwoven quality, formation, basis weight, fiber distribution, and the resulting paper properties. As the project progresses, initial investigations into continuous nonwoven discharge are planned to experimentally evaluate the transferability of the approach to continuous nonwoven formation.

Unlike the wet process, the fibers in the aerosol former are transported not in water but in an air-water mixture (aerosol). This results in nonwoven fabrics with a significantly higher dry content (>80 %) than in the conventional sheet-forming process. To implement this web formation process, the design and fluid dynamics expertise of Maschinenfabrik Raschau and the Institute of Fluid Mechanics at TU Dresden are being integrated into the project.

The aerosol former concept combines the excellent formation of the wet-laid process with the water reduction of the airlaid process and is based on an innovative flow pattern that allows the fibers to move freely and deposit evenly.

TBP Future GmbH
TBP Future focuses in particular on the properties of dry fibers and their influence on the subsequent nonwoven production process. The focus is on the process engineering design of the aerosol former, optimizations and conceptual further development of the functional prototypes, as well as the analysis of the aerosol former’s performance and evaluation of its application areas.

Maschinenfabrik Raschau GmbH
Maschinenfabrik Raschau addresses, from a mechanical engineering perspective, the creation of design drawings, the manufacture of individual components, the design of the aerosol former, and the development of the batch nonwoven removal system as well as the continuous discharge mechanism for pressureless nonwoven discharge.

Institute of Fluid Mechanics, TU Dresden
The Institute of Fluid Mechanics supports the development of the aerosol former with its expertise in numerical simulation and experimental analysis of multiphase flows. Key areas of focus include the adaptation of experimental methods, the development and validation of numerical simulation models, the analysis and optimization of the technology, and the experimental verification of fluid dynamics parameters at various stages of technology development.

Paper Technology Research Group, TU Dresden
The Paper Technology Research Group investigates the properties and consolidation of the produced nonwovens, analyzes their influence on paper properties, supports the development of a laboratory sheet former, and compares the results with those of conventional papers.

Partner

• TBP Future GmbH
• Maschinenfabrik Raschau GmbH
• TU Dresden, Institute of Fluid Mechanics

Funding Information

© BMWK