Pieces of steel wire cause machine damage and production downtime

Goudsmit Magnetics Group of Waalre has recently made a series of magnetic filters that are suitable for removing baling wire from paper pulp. These steel wires hold bales of cellulose together and –when everything goes as it should– are removed before the cellulose is processed into pulp. This is done in an automated process followed by human inspection. In practice, the process is never perfect and steel wire still occasionally ends up in the paper pulp. This causes damage to the pulp processing equipment, as well as production downtime. Placing a magnet in the paper line prevents equipment damage, downtime and therefore significant losses.

Magnetic filters remove baling wire from paper pulp and prevent damage to equipment and production downtime

Magnetic filter

The magnetic filters for paper pulp have a large bore for product flow, ranging from DN100 to DN400. This passage is completely surrounded with very strong magnetic bars with a high flux density (also referred to as the Gauss value), making it possible to capture the steel wire even at a relatively high flow rate. In addition, the magnetic insert is fitted with a sturdy guide and pneumatic rods, which simplifies handling for operators. This is not only ergonomic but also ensures that regular inspection takes place.” It is surprising that magnetic filters are not yet standard in paper lines. This seems to be an under-recognized problem that is often only considered after the first damage incident occurs. The investment for these filters is not small, but the payback time is short, since the cost of damage or downtime is many times greater than the purchase price of the filter.

Baling wire

In a nutshell, a magnetic filter removes iron baling wire from paper that is to be processed for cellulose, serves as protection for the installation and prevents downtime of the production process. Several large Dutch paper manufacturers have built a magnetic filter into their process. Currently this solution is gaining more and more attention abroad, especially from large paper producers in Sweden, France and Indonesia.