ProNamics Control Inc.
Paper Machine Dryer Control Surveys
Evaluating Dryer Section Performance
Dryer section performance has a significant impact
on sheet quality, production rates and energy
efficiency. The following list includes some
important measures of dryer performance.
• Drying rate, defined as water evaporation rate
divided by the total dryer surface area. This is
a good overall indicator of drying efficiency and
performance.
• Dryer energy consumption, defined as the energy
usage per mass of water evaporated.
• MD and CD Moisture Variability, an important
measure of product quality.
• Steam to surface temperature difference, a measure of
heat transfer effectiveness.
• Occurrence of dryer can flooding, compromising
drying capacity and contributing to sheet
breaks.
• Runnability issues related to pressure graduation,
press to dryer transfer, sheet flutter, sheet break
recovery time and others.
Dryer Control Performance
The Dryer control loops play an important role in
dryer section performance, particularly in MD
Moisture variability, energy efficiency, sheet break
recovery and dryer flooding. Optimizing the dryer
control loops is difficult because of the relatively
complicated control strategy, interacting control
loops, and wide variation in process dynamics.
There are usually two control loops for each dryer
section (see schematic). The pressure controller
output is split ranged, stroking the thermal
compressor (TC) from 0 to 50% and the makeup
valve from 50 to 100%. The steam temperature
increases with pressure, providing the driving force
for heat transfer across the shell. The steam
condenses within the dryer at a rate approximately
equal to the heat transfer rate divided by the latent
heat of vaporization. The differential controller
maintains the pressure difference between the
inlet and outlet manifolds. The output is split
ranged, stroking the TC spindle from 0 to 50% and
the vent valve from 50 to 100%. The TC is
available to either the pressure or differential
controller via a low select station. A Blow-through
controller replaces the differential pressure on some
installations. This controller functions by
controlling the ∆P across an orifice plate in the
blow-through steam line. One of the primary
advantages of this strategy is that the percent blow-
through is maintained relatively constant over the
entire pressure operating range.
Design versus Control Performance
The process design is ultimately responsible for
many dryer control problems. An important design
objective should be to minimize the non-linearities
and interactions inherent in this system. Often, the
process design does not recognize this objective,
and the result is a process that is very difficult to
control. Some examples of how the design can
compromise control performance are:
An undersized TC body choking the blow-through
steam flow, resulting in the vent valve opening and
the pressure controller adjusting both the TC and
the Makeup valve.
Oversized TC nozzle causing high variability in the
process gain of the differential loop and generating
cycling during some grades.
Oversized dryer siphons requiring excessive blow-
through rates to ensure adequate differential for all
dryers in the section. The result is frequent
dumping of steam via the vent valve, and
unnecessary interaction between the pressure and
differential controllers.
Control Strategy versus Performance
The dryer control strategy often defaults to the
conventional pressure /differential strategy. The
Moisture controller sets the pressure target on the
main section. This simple strategy has a number of
important weaknesses.
• The pressure controller is difficult to tune
successfully because of the slow, complex and
highly non-linear dynamics. This can result in
controller induced cycling, a limited ability to
attenuate steam header disturbances, and poor
response to sheet breaks and recovery.
 • The Moisture dynamics are relatively non-linear
when the pressure controller is used as the
inner loop. The Moisture dynamics are
relatively linear with respect to steam
temperature and not steam pressure.
• The differential controller does not maintain a
constant percent blow-through. During a sheet
break when condensing rates have decreased
dramatically, the differential controller increases
the blow-through flow. This virtually
guarantees steam venting during sheet breaks.
At the other extreme, if drainage stalls due to a
large surge in condensate, the differential
increases and the controller will reduce rather
than increase the blow-through flow.
• Some of the most important dryer disturbances
are not even measured. These include the
steam header pressure, motive steam pressure,
steam temperature and others.
The blow-through strategy has some fundamental
advantages over differential control. During normal
operation, a constant blow-through / condensate
ratio is achieved, ensuring adequate blow-through
to avoid flooding. The blow-through strategy is
also much more effective in limiting the impact of
system non-linearities and controller interaction.
ProNamics Control Inc.
PO Box 2714
Squamish, BC
Canada, V0N 3G0
Phone: (604) 898-1376 www.pronamicscontrol.com
Fax: (604) 898-1378 sales@pronamicscontrol.com
HOW CAN PRONAMICS HELP?
Dryer control surveys are a ProNamics specialty.
We have a great deal of expertise in improving dryer
performance by identifying design problems,
developing improved control strategies, and re-
tuning control loops.
The survey includes a review of the machine
reliability database to define the occurrence of dryer
sheet breaks and dryer can flooding. Long term
MD and CD moisture variability data is collected
and compared with industry norms. Raw moisture
data is collected with the gauge in fixed-point mode
to investigate high frequency moisture variability
problems. The TC and siphon performance curves
are evaluated to compare expected operating points
with actual conditions.
Process data from all dryer sections is collected in
normal operating modes. Open loop bump tests
are performed to define process dynamics and
control loop health problems. The dryer controllers
are retuned to implement a coordinated tuning
strategy. Finally process variability data is collected
to verify the improvement.
A ProNamics dryer survey will typically result in:
Reduced moisture variability resulting from improved
moisture control performance.
Reduced energy usage, since the reduced variability may
allow a moisture target shift
Improved energy efficiency resulting from reduction in
steam venting.
Improvement in operational efficiency resulting from
reduced sheet break time associated and reduced
occurrences of flooding.
 ProNamics Control Inc.
PO Box 2714
Squamish, BC
Canada, V0N 3G0
Phone: (604) 898-1376 www.pronamicscontrol.com
Fax: (604) 898-1378 sales@pronamicscontrol.com