Smelt spout robots can improve safety, productivity in North American pulp and paper mills

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Restoration boilers characterize a major capital expenditure within the pulp and paper business. Whereas a well-maintained boiler can final for many years, routine care of this method can current challenges. Upkeep duties are sometimes messy and dangerous for the operator, and plenty of duties are time-consuming and require full or partial boiler shutdown. This may hurt general productiveness and mill security.

One upkeep job that’s notably difficult within the care of restoration boilers is smelt spout cleansing. Whereas cleansing smelt spouts is crucial for environment friendly restoration boiler efficiency, it could pose critical security dangers to the operator when the spouts are cleaned manually.

These dangers embody the operator encountering molten smelt, inexperienced liquor, and scorching gasses, in addition to repetitive-motion again and shoulder accidents. Discovering operators who’re prepared to carry out these duties, coaching them, and retaining them over time have additionally change into a part of the problem.

To enhance operator security throughout smelt spout cleansing and enhance each operator and boiler productiveness, pulp and paper services now have automated robotic options that may tackle these harder duties.

Robotic expertise for smelt spout cleansing has been obtainable since 2008, but it surely has solely not too long ago entered North American paper mills. Its delayed entry has been largely on account of low numbers of latest restoration boiler installations, because the robotic requires a certain quantity of house that’s typically troublesome to allocate inside present operations.

Now, as North American operations are in larger want of the advantages that accompany smelt spout cleansing robots, they will spend money on retrofitting present restoration boilers with robotic options.

Good design removes limitations to robotics retrofits

For pulping operations, one of many largest limitations to adopting a smelt spout cleansing robotic is usually the quantity of house that’s required for the robotic to maneuver across the spout deck throughout the cleansing cycle. In lots of services, this space across the smelt spout programs is already tight, which is a part of what makes handbook smelt spout cleansing troublesome and dangerous for operators.

As automation designers have continued to spend money on understanding the protection and productiveness challenges confronted by the pulp and paper business, new options have emerged that take away this widespread barrier to including robotics.

As an illustration, one smelt spout cleansing robotic gives the choice of a standing mount or a dangling mount. All that’s required to make use of the hanging mount and place the robotic subsequent to the restoration boiler is a linear rail meeting.

The meeting permits the robotic to maneuver side-to-side alongside the spout deck to wash all spouts. Then, it strikes off the spout deck as soon as it completes the cleansing cycle. This configuration maintains enough room for the robotic to carry out its duties whereas additionally guaranteeing that operators can safely enter the realm to carry out different duties.

Protecting fencing and a number of entry and exit factors may even be included for added operator security and effectivity. Nearly all of retrofit work can usually be accomplished pre-outage, leaving ample time throughout the upkeep outage for robotic set up and commissioning.

Smelt spout-cleaning robots confirmed within the area

In June 2023, Valmet put in its first smelt spout-cleaning robotic in North America on the Pixelle Specialty Options mill in Spring Grove, Penn. The brand new robotic performs a smelt spout cleansing cycle each half-hour — twice as typically as operators have been beforehand capable of carry out the identical job manually. Every cycle takes quarter-hour, and when the robotic shouldn’t be actively cleansing, it rests in its house place safely out of the way in which.

Bodily security limitations across the robotic additional defend the operators by triggering the robotic to freeze if the barrier is damaged. Operators can even remotely management the robotic’s cleansing frequency and cycles utilizing pre-programmed sequences. In the meantime, an onboard digital camera mounted on the robotic wrist permits for real-time inspection of the robotic’s efficiency and troubleshooting from the protection of the management room.

By automating smelt spout cleansing with a robotic, the producer added one other degree of security for its operators and improved productiveness by liberating them as much as carry out different vital duties. Moreover, the brand new robotic has helped increase the boiler’s liquor high quality, green-to-black liquor normal deviation, and smelt normal deviation by double digits.

Collaboration is essential

When retrofitting a smelt spout robotic to an present restoration boiler or planning a brand new set up, it’s necessary to decide on an automation designer that has business expertise and can collaborate on-site throughout the design part.

Since each operation and facility is completely different, the set up of a smelt spout cleansing robotic shouldn’t be a cookie-cutter course of. The designer must account for present parts across the spouts like piping, flex hoses and consider obtainable structural beams for his or her skill to help the robotic carriage and the linear rail.

A talented designer may even present an set up plan that avoids vital spout deck alterations, as modifications could be pricey and time-consuming.

Know-how works in concord with people

Automation typically comes with the belief of changing human labor, however that’s not the case with smelt spout cleansing robots. As a substitute, this expertise works in concord with boiler operators to extend their security. It additionally frees them as much as carry out different important restoration boiler duties.

Serving to operators really feel safer and fascinating them in a greater variety of duties all through their workday could make it simpler for pulp and paper producers to rent and retain personnel in these positions. With the efficiencies of automation and well-trained, skilled personnel, producers can enhance productiveness in lots of areas, making robotics retrofits well worth the funding.

In regards to the writer

Dan Morrison is Valmet’s product supervisor for Smelt Spout Programs and the Smelt Spout Cleansing Robotic. The Espoo, Finland-based firm is a number one international developer and provider of course of applied sciences, automation and providers for the pulp, paper and vitality industries.

Valmet and Körber not too long ago established a three way partnership to attach the FactoryPal platform with equipment experience to streamline digital optimization throughout the manufacturing traces of tissue store flooring and past.