South America · Stable Air-Supply Retrofit for Paper-Machine Production Lines of a Large Paper Mill

Project Background: A large paper mill in South America produces packaging board and tissue, with multiple paper machines running continuously. Compressed air serves pneumatic tensioning, threading, vacuum-pickup-roll control, dryer-fabric blowing, and winding/slitting equipment, demanding high supply stability and cleanliness.

Aging original units caused large pressure fluctuation, leading to unstable threading and tensioning, frequent paper breaks and downtime. Moisture and oil in the air contaminated pneumatic components, raising maintenance cost and affecting paper quality. High energy consumption conflicted with the plant's cost-reduction goals.

Solution: A centralized air-compressor system was customized with multiple variable-frequency screw units as the main supply, auto-adjusting output by the air demand of different paper-machine processes to ensure stable supply. Deep drying and precision filtration strictly control dew point and cleanliness, preventing moisture and oil from entering the pneumatic system.

Buffer tanks smooth instantaneous peak demand to further stabilize pressure. Pipe-network optimization reduces pressure loss. An intelligent monitoring platform tracks operating status and energy of all units for predictive maintenance and fault warning.

Results: After retrofit, paper-machine air supply is stable with more precise threading, tensioning and vacuum control, significantly reducing paper breaks and downtime and raising operating efficiency and output. Clean dry air extends pneumatic-component life and lowers maintenance cost.

Air-system energy saving reached about 22%, helping the mill control energy costs. The solution ensures long-cycle stable production and provides a valuable reference for air-compressor system upgrades in South America's paper industry.