Long Sensor Layers for Machinery Monitoring

Abstract

Monitoring the integrity of rotating roller(s) of paper machinery equipment to optimize the paper production processing parameters is crucial to improve the production efficiency and quality of paper sheet and board products. The paper manufacturing industry has found that they can obtain significant cost savings by improving the nip profiles, parent roll hardness profiles and tension profiles for those rolling components in the machines. Utilizing Acellent’s SMART Layer sensing technology, a real-time integrity detection system was developed by Valmet for in-situ integrity monitoring of rotating roller(s). Valmet’s iRoll is the fastest and most sensitive on-line profile measurement tool in the industry. The iRoll can be utilized on a covered roll in paper, board, pulp or tissue production machines to expand the roll’s primary function to include use as a transducer for sensing cross-machine nip linear load or sheet properties such as the tension and parent roll hardness profile. The system is comprised of a long sensor layer, up to 12 meter in length permanently mounted on the metallic roll surface at an angle to measure the force. The sensor rotates under the wrap angle generating a continuous load signal. A mapping of the profiles can then be generated on the basis of the angular position of the roll. Data is processed by a signal conditioning module and transmitted from the rotating roll using a digital radio transmission. This system can evaluate and diagnose uniformity of loading or tension on the surface of roll. Testing has shown that the Sensor Layer, designed from the SMART Layer sensing technology, when mounted on the surface of metallic roll under a composite protective wrap can survive the harsh environmental conditions that a roller undergoes throughout its operational lifetime. The SMART Layer has been evaluated by Valmet and has demonstrated its efficacy for monitoring the integrity of paper manufacturing machines. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/180