Microparticle System
Microparticle System
This microparticle project at Alberta Newsprint Company consisted of the design and installation of a Starch and Silica system to improve newsprint paper quality, by increasing sheet strength and smoothness for better printing properties.
Starch System
The main starch system equipment was located in the Tank Farm area for ease of accessibility. A hoist and monorail system was designed and installed for positioning and unloading bulk starch bags into two Dry Starch Storage Bins at the Starch Transfer system. The dry starch powder is fed from the Starch Storage Bins through a dual drag conveyor system which feeds the Make-down slurry skid’s volumetric hopper. The feed rate is metered, and controlled with input from high/low level switches on the Batch Bin tied into the Mill’s DCS controls. Hot demineralized water is introduced to the dry starch and is mixed into a slurry through a static mixer. The slurry is then pumped to a Cooked Starch Tank, and into the Paper Machine’s Stock Approach System using metering pumps.
Silica System
Silica arrives at the Mill site in liquid form via railcars. A Railcar Unloading Station was designed to unload the Silica into a storage tank using padded air. Two existing tanks and agitators were modified and converted for use as Silica storage tanks. These tanks are utilized to maintain inventory between rail deliveries. The Silica is meter pumped through Duplex filters, and then mixed with warm filtered water through a static mixer. The Silica solution is pumped into the Primary Fan pump leading to the Headbox at the Paper Machine.
This Project included process assistance, detailed piping design and layouts, tender comparison, supplier drawing review and construction supervision.