In a recent upgrade, the Cartiere del Garda mill successfully replaced a conventional tape turn-up device with Metso’s WaterJet turn-up system. Cuts performed using WaterJet are clean and precise, which ensures an excellent base from the very first spool wrap. WaterJet has the ability to improve turn-up efficiencies and reduce bottom waste on all grades of paper.
The Cartiere del Garda mill is located in the middle of the famous tourist town of Riva del Garda in Italy. The mill houses two paper machines that produce 335,000 tpy of woodfree coated paper in a basis weight range of 90-350 g/m2. The paper produced by PM 3 is coated on a 4.1 m-wide off-machine coater (OMC) equipped with a conventional pope reel that dates from 1980.
Background
“We had two reasons to purchase a new turn-up system. Firstly, we suffered from bad turn-up efficiency of less than 90% at the reel. Secondly, our tape turn-up device marked the sensitive coated paper surface, causing excess bottom waste,” explains Antonio Di Blas, Production Director. “The continuous need for heavy maintenance was an additional negative aspect of the tape turn-up system.”
The WaterJet turn-up system seemed to be the right technology to get rid of these problems. “We examined the offering on the market before making a decision in favor of Metso. The simplicity and ease of use of the Metso system convinced us. Further, we appreciated the high technological competence of Metso’s people, who really understood the challenges set by the old reel.”
99% reliable reel change
At Cartiere del Garda, going from a tape device to the WaterJet system improved the turn-up efficiency remarkably. “The WaterJet system is working great. We are above 99% in turn-up efficiency now. It is really very difficult to fail a turn-up,” says Antonio Di Blas.
The mill’s other goal of reducing bottom waste has also been reached. “Before we lost 5 cm in bottom waste on each parent roll because of tape marking. But now it is only around 2.5 cm with the lower grammages and a bit more with the higher ones. The reason we still produce some bottom waste lies in the reel itself, which needs to be modernized. But this is another story…”
WaterJet success leads to repeat order
“We are extremely satisfied with Metso’s WaterJet turn-up system. It performs very well. Actually so well that we purchased a similar system for our PM 2 off-machine coater,” says Antonio Di Blas.
