Paper Converting Moisture Sensor

Intelligent Moisture Measurement for The Future of Paper Converting

Have you purchased a new phone or digital clock lately? Look at the packaging- it’s an example of paper converting. Nearly every package, box, book, newspaper, magazine, sticker label, bag, most every piece of paper, etc. has been through the converting industry.

All of these materials have been converted from some form of paper, plastic film, foil , cloth, polyesters, adhesives, silicone, adhesive tape, foams, plastics, felts, rubbers, or other material in order to make a new material or product.

Most materials that go through a paper converting process come in web form (or are quickly converted to web form) before being rolled into large rolls. Large, in this industry, means sometimes weighing it at over 6 or 7 tons. Since many of these rolls can be 10-15 feet or more in width, they are typically cut to a more manageable size.

Moisture Must Be Carefully Measured

Moisture content measurement is especially important to meeting these standards, especially in the case of paper and paperboard converting processes. In order to produce product in the acceptable moisture range (typically 4-8%), moisture must be carefully measured throughout the converting process. The industry demands these standards to avoid costly issues such as:

• Product curl
• Product warpage
• Excess weight
• Delamination
• Density variation
• And more

It is therefore imperative that the moisture level be determined on line in real time in order to avoid delays in receiving lab results that could result in out of spec product (greater than 8%) with associated waste, recycle, labor costs, broken webs, downtime, restart costs, excessive energy usage, and more. Our OMNIR near infrared on-line moisture meter meets this need thanks to their non contact measurement technology that avoids any potential marring of the product surface. The NIR sensor can be mounted as a stationary meter above the web or placed on a scanning frame to move the sensor across the web to show a moisture profile. Outputs are available to control the process via web speed, temperature, spray pressure, or other process adjustment.

Without on line, real time coat weight analysis, much product can be lost to defective product (too much or too little coating applied) or from an uneven coating pattern across the web. On line coat weight analysis means that rework, recycle, downtime, and other costs can therefore be avoided. Instead, you can focus on utilizing the data provided by our intelligent moisture sensing systems to quickly adjust variables throughout your manufacturing process to ensure minimized loss and increased efficiency and thus, greater profits.

Upgrade the way you approach moisture measurement today.