COATING PILOT PLANT OPENS AT WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

KALAMAZOO, Mich., Oct. 14, 2002 (paperloop.com) - A building dedication and open house gave paper industry executives, suppliers, academia and the media the opportunity to get a first look at one of the most unique paper industry research facilities in the world.

Western Michigan University's (WMU) coating pilot plant was formally dedicated Friday as representatives from the city, industry and university tore through a paper banner to signify the formal opening.

The coater, the first element to open in WMU's new engineering campus, is scheduled to undergo trials late this year and be available for contract research in January 2003.

Independent status is unique

There are other pilot coater facilities located around the world, including several in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. In fact, there has been one in Michigan for some time. However, this is the only pilot coater in North America that is not affiliated with a supplier company.

Charles Klass, president of Klass Associates, notes: "Coating is the one step or unit process in papermaking that adds the highest value to the sheet. WMU now has a state-of-the-art coating research facility. It can be utilized by all in the industry to conduct truly unbiased research."

Klass, an industry consultant, is an expert in coating technology, and a recipient of TAPPI's Distinguished Service Award, the association's highest honor.

The coater can be used for product development by paper companies and supplier firms, in addition to supporting academic research and student education in the Dept. of Paper and Printing Science and Engineering (PPSE) at WMU.

In addition to its uniqueness as an independent research facility, it contains one of the most advanced pilot coaters in the world. It is housed in an architecturally impressive 50,000 ft2 building located adjacent to the new 343,000 ft2 engineering building. The coater and building cost about $20 million. It is expected that the facility's customer base will be split about 50-50 between producers and suppliers.

The whole coater line was acquired from Boise Cascade's Portland, Ore., facility and thus is commercial scale. It has been completely refurbished mechanically, and can run a web ranging from 20-in to 40-in-wide at speeds up to 4,000 fpm. Substrates with a basis weight ranging from 20-lb to 80-lb/3,000 ft2 can be coated and calendered on the new line. Omni Associates performed detailed design and installation work.

The coater uses an Allen Bradley control system and variable AC drives, in conjunction with Voith Automation scanners for basis weight, moisture and caliper measurement. The Beloit size press/coater can run in blade metering, rod metering and two-roll puddle size press configurations. For coating, it can be set up to run in short dwell and applicator roll blade modes, and can double coat wet on wet. Marsden infra red (IR) dryers and Black Clawson flotation dryers process the sheet after coating. The sheet can be finished using an extensive Kusters soft calender system located on machine, with four single in line nips that can apply up to 4,000 pli at temperatures up to 400F.

Commitment to the future

"Installation of the new coater really demonstrates the University's commitment to continue its role as an institution that does pioneering work in coating," said Dr. Said AbuBakr, PPSE department chair.

"Our industry needs new products and new product development in order to compete in the future. This facility will provide those opportunities to the industry, as well as facilitate the education of the next generation of management and technical leaders for our industry," noted Klass, who is also a WMU paper tech graduate.

Structural changes in the industry have also been a driver behind the project's development. One change is that the wave of consolidation that has swept all aspects of the paper industry has led paper companies to push research and development more and more to suppliers.

"As a result of this trend, there is a real need for long term fundamental research, rather than just solving short term problems," according to Margaret Joyce, assistant professor in the PPSE department. WMU's ability to offer both coating and printing pilot plants to industry, as well as testing labs for each, are a key advantage to potential customers, according to Joyce. WMU is the only university in the world with paper, coating and printing pilot plants available for research purposes.

In addition to its coating capabilities, other aspects of the facility will be available for use by the industry. Jan Walter, pilot plant general manager explained that "we also offer our off-machine calender, our coating make-down and hot-soft calender for use to clients separate from the coater itself. The hot-soft calender really has potential for use in developing film coated papers."

Much has been written about the demise of several paper mills in the Kalamazoo area in the last few years. However, every cloud has a silver lining, noted Klass. "While it was hard to lose those mills, it also means that we have the experience and talent in the local area to run a coater of this kind. In fact, many people would love to get back into papermaking and coating. This is a great opportunity for them to do so." The pilot plant has added some staff and will be hiring more now that the coater will startup shortly, according to Walter.

For more information, contact Gerry Lucidi at (856) 663-2227

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