Drivesm

Driveability of a dryer section

using dryer felt drives
Francis X.Swietlik I11

As paper machines become wider and f a t q thepractice of driving a dyer

section through the dryer felt becomes more complex. The driveability of the
dyer-to-dyerfelt interface becomes critical, m does the dyer felt tension
throughout the felt loop.

Dryer section driveability

In the conventional papermaking process, the wet paper
web is dried by alternately passing it over and under cast Silent Dryer drives power the dryer section through the
iron, steam-heated cylinders. The web is pressed against fabric. The conventional main section drive and dryer gear
the cylinders by tensioned dryer “felts” or fabrics (the train are replaced with several smaller drives. These
terms are used interchangeably), and the entire section driven rolls transmit power through the fabric to the
of cylinders is driven by a series of interconnecting gears. undriven rolls, as illustrated in Fig. 1.
As the operating speed of a paper machine is increased, One of the keys to a successful Silent Dryer drive
a number of problems begin to develop with the dryer installation is to provide the minimum number of drives
gears. This is particularly true of older machines when to satisfy the power requirements of the system without
the speed is increased above the original design speed. exceeding the driveability of any driven roll-to-fabric
In response to these developing problems, an alternate interface.
method of driving the dryer section was developed in 1984 Another key consideration is the maximum tension level
( 1 , 9).The interconnecting dryer gears were eliminated in the fabric loop. The maximum tension levels in the loop
and the dryer felt was used to drive the dryers as well affect not only driveability but also the bending stress
as apply pressure to the paper web. levels produced in the dryer felt rolls.
The first complete commercial installation of this drive The maximum power that can be transmitted by a dryer
design was started up in late 1984 (3,4).In this installation, section roll to a dryer felt without slipping is dependent
the felts were driven by intermediate felt rolls. All of the on:
dryers were driven by the dryer felt.
The top felt was used to drive the top tier of dryers, the 1. The angle of wrap by the fabric on the driven roll
bottom felt was used to drive the bottom tier of dryers, 2. Material factors (e.g., coefficient of static friction)
and the two tiers were synchronized by a digital electronic 3. The tension of the fabric at the outgoing side of the
reference. driven roll (slack side tension).
With the elimination of dryer gears, there was a marked
reduction in gear noise (51, and the concept was dubbed The angle of wrap between the fabric and roll is a
the “Silent Dryer”@drive. constant, determined by the paper machinery builder. The
Although the application of the Silent Dryer drive is following relationships, as shown in Fig. 2, can be used
quite simple in concept, there are a number of pitfalls to determine the maximum tension differential in a fabric
which must be avoided. The driveability of the dryers is across a roll at the point of slipping. These relationships
a complicated function of machine speed, paper properties, can be used to determine the maximum allowalnle
felt construction design and transient loading, and number horsepower input to a given roll.
and location of drive points.
This paper presents a brief overview of the advantages Tz = Tleum (1)
of the Silent Dryer drive concept and highlights some of where
the important mechanical variables with simplified drive
belt equations. Tz = Tight fabric tension (pli)
T1 = Slack fabric tension (pli)
p = Coefficient of static friction (dimensionless)
(Y = Angle of fabric wrap (in radians).

The fabric tension differential can be expressed by:

Swietlik 111is product line engineer, electric drive, at
Beloit Corp., 1St. Lawrence Ave., Beloit, Wis. 53511. 6 T = Tz - TI = Tl(e*” - 1) (2)
June 1990 TappiJouinal 141
 ’
II .g where
T = Tension differential (pli or Ib/in. fabric width).

The horsepower input at a given tension differential can

1. (A) Felt roll driven dryer section; (B) driven dryers-Silent Dryer
drive; (C)gear cases

be expressed by:
hp = 6 T WS/ 33000
(Horsepower) (3)

where
W = Fabric width (in.)
S = Machine speed (ft/min).

An important point to note is that the driveability

equations are independent of roll diameter. This fact opens
the possibility of driving the dryer felt rolls and
eliminating all gearing in the Silent Dryer drive scheme. E
,--- I

Felt roll driven dryer example

The determination of whether to drive the felt rolls or to
adapt a dryer mounted gear case to several dryer cans
is based on the driveability of the driven rolls and the
tension levels that occur throughout the fabric loop.
Figure 3 illustrates a possible arrangement for a felt roll
driven dryer section.
Taking as an example a 300-in. wide machine geared
in at 4000-ftfmin machine speed with 7241-1. diameter
dryers, the normal running load (NRL) and recommended
drive capacity (RDC) for the dryer section per TAPPI
recommendations on a “per dryer” basis would be:
NRL = 0.0012 hp/in./100 ft/min x 4000 ft/min/100 x 300 in.
NRL = 14.4 hp
RDC = 0.0035 hp/in./100 x 4000 €t/min/100 x 300 in.
RDC = 42 hp/dryer
Typically, there are two to three felt rolls per dryer in
a section, depending on the number of dryers in that
section. The TAPPI normal running load and recom-
mended drive capacity for each dryer includes a factor
for these felt rolls.
An approximate value for the NRL of each felt roll is
0.0002 hp/in. width/100 ftfmin, and the RDC for each felt
roll can be approximated at 0.0004 hp/in. widthf100 ft/
min.
NRL = 0.0002 hp/in./100 ft/min x 4000 €t/min/100 x 300 in.
NRL = 2.4 hp -.-/-.- ’
RDC = 0.0004 hp/in./100 ft/min x 4000 ft/min/100 x 300 in.
RDC = 4.8 hp

The above information can be used to calculate the normal with the example machine, the RDC is calculated as
running load and recommended drive capacity for each follows:
component in the dryer section. Subtracting the felt roll
hp from the section hp per dryer gives the hp for a single RDC = (6 dryers)(32.4 hp/dryer) + (17 felt rolls)(4.8 hp/felt roll)
72-in. dryer. RDC = 194.4 hp + 81.6 hp = 276 hp total (4)

Normal running load = 14.4 hp - (2 x 2.4)hp = 9.6 hp

To determine the minimum number of drive points, the
Recommended drive capacity = 42 hp - (2 x 4.8)hp = 32.4 hp driveability of the driven roll must be determined and
compared to the motor horsepower that would be chosen.
These values can be used to calculate the total section motor Either a felt roll or a dryer with a large angle of wrap
horsepower. Using a section as shown in Fig. 3, together should be chosen as the roll (or rolls) to be driven. For
142 June 1990TapplJournal
2. Roll speed and driveability, 4000 ft/min 3. Felt roll driven Silent Dryer drive

12 in. Felt roll

1272 rpm
72 in. Dryer
212 rpm T, = 1,e p f f

U = Coefficient of friction
a = Angle of wrap

4. Dryer driven Silent Dryer drive 5. Fabric tension levels

d
117

the initial calculations, a value of 180" angle of wrap will where

be used. The exact wrap and driveability must be checked
as part of sizing the drive. TI = 8 pli (assumed minimum)
The minimum number of drives that can be used in the cc = 0.18(typical)
example would be two drives, one per felt. By choosing
a motor hp of 150 hp for a two-drive system, one can a =1800(radians)
compare the driveability to the motor capability. hpd = 8 (eff(33)- 1) 4000(300)/33000hpd = 221 hp
at the point of slippage
hpd = 6T WS/33000 = Tl(ePu- 1) WS/33000 (5)
The RDC values used are based on using a drive with an
June 1990 TappiJournal 143
I overload caDability of 200%full load for 60 s. I. Felt tensions of example shown in Fig. 4

1 For the pLrposebf this paper, the TAPPI NRL and RDC
values have been used. At machine speeds above 2500 ft/
min, it is recommended that the acceleration hp of the &
Top felt Battom felt

section be calculated using the inertia values of the T1 7.44 T12 7.50
components in the section. This acceleration horsepower,
T2 7.60 T13 7.64
when added to the NRL for the section, is compared to
the motor manufacturer’s recommended allowable T3 7.76 T14 7.78
overload capacity for the motor. The relationship between T4 7.92 T15 7.93
the overload level and the acceleration duration is T5 8.08 T16 8.07
nonlinear and based on SCR bridge design, and is beyond T6 8.24 T17 8.21
the scope of this paper. 8.40 T18 8.36
T7
In the above example, the motor overload capability (300
T8 10.09 T19 8.50
hp) is beyond the driveability (221 hp) of the felt rolls. The
following choices are available to match these two values T9 10.25 T20 10.18
more closely: T10 5.60 T21 10.33
T11 5.75 T22 5.67
1. Increase the static fabric tension T23 5.81
2. Increase the number of drives
3. Drive the dryer cans in the fabric loop as opposed to
the felt rolls, thereby reducing the amount of hp
transmitted by the fabrics by an amount equal to the
acceleration load of one dryer
4. Reduce the overload capability of the motor by reducing
the drive current limit to a value less than 200%,thereby Literature cited
reducing the acceleration rate of the section and
increasing the time required to accelerate the dryer 1. Justus, E. J., Beloit Corp., U. S. pat. 4.495,711 (Jan. 29, 1985).
2. Justus, E. J., Beloit Corp., U. S. pat. 4,495,712 (Jan. 29,1985).
section. 3. Evans, J. C., Pulp & Paper 58(8): 74 (1984).
4. Murray, J. B., and Davies, I. S., 1985 CPPA Annual Meeting
Dryer roll driven dryer example Proceedings, B409.
5. Crouse, J. W., Tappi J. 72(7): 73 (1989).
At this point, we explore the results of driving only one Received for review Dec. 10, 1989.
of the dryers per fabric loop, as illustrated in Fig. 4. With Accepted Jan. 5,1990.
a drive system configured as shown here, the fabric tension
throughout the loop can be calculated. These tension levels Presented at the TAPPI 1989 Engineering Conference.
can be compared to the mechanical constraints of the
system (e.g., stress levels in the rolls, stretcher limitations,
etc.). The acceleration hp values for each component in
the section can be used in conjunction with Eq. 3 to
calculate the tension levels in Fig. 5 and Table 1.
The tension levels listed in Table I must be used in the
mechanical analysis of the components throughout the
section. In the event that the mechanical criteria are
exceeded, either the component must be replaced or the
number of driven dryer cans must be increased to reduce
the tension levels in that area of the fabric loop.

summary
Choosing the optimum silent dryer drive requires
investigation in the following areas:
1. The ability to transmit the required power from the
driven roll to the fabric
2. Tension levels in the fabric loop and the effect of these
levels on mechanical components within the loop, as
well as the fabric
3. Cost analysis comparing multiple drives directly
connected to the felt rolls vs. multiple drives connected
through dryer mounted gear cases.0

144 June 1990 TapplJournal