2010-07-15 - "The Industry will hear more from us" promised Paul Goss, Sales Manager Central Europe Paper Systems.
ABB officially launched a new high-performance infrared Moisture Sensor for the paper industry. The compact device called HPIR (abbreviation for High-Performance Infrared) was formally unvieled yesterday by
marketing manager Eamon Devlin.
The new HPIR, a replacement for ABB’s popular HemiPlus moisture sensor, is designed to improve the performance of both new and existing ABB QCS systems. It is the latest advancement in ABB’s 50-plus years history of providing innovation to the pulp and paper industry.
With this new product papermakers can measure moisture streaks in the paper web that are just four millimeters thin. The new moisture sensor significantly increases the signal to noise ratio and calculates measurements 5000 times per second. It is an extremely precise instrument that is expected to set a new standard for papermakers.
According to ABB, HPIR helps customers achieve faster grade changes, quicker start-ups and tighter CD Control. This gives papermakers a greater sense of confidence in the accuracy of their moisture measurements. They can shift their moisture targets so they are closer to their quality limits which helps them save on energy and fiber costs.
" For the customers " , according to George McKeague, European Business Manager for Actuators, "initially their concern was the accuracy of the measurements". The first question they asked about the new product was - " Is it as accurate as HemiPlus? ", McKeague answered with certainity " yes" and then they wanted to know more.
One of the main advantages of HPIR-T compared to HemiPlus is that modules can be replaced locally by employees in the paper mill and so replacement sensors need not be kept as stock.
Behind the HPIR technologies are two completely new patents and Technologies. According to Paul Goss, Sales Manager Central Europe Paper Systems, the company has invested some ten years for this new development. "We cannot afford to launch a product that has not been tested thoroughly," he says.
ABB and its customers including Koehler in Oberkirch and Favini Rossano in Italy, carried out extensive tests under real production conditions over a period of nine to ten months.
The data which were presented yesterday during the press conference are, therefore, based on real data. So far there are about 10 new orders received and ABB expects HPIR to become a best-seller. All the 2,000 HemiPlus sensors in use world wide will be gradually replaced.
The new HPIR-T price does not differ substantially from that of HemiPlus. The price of an upgrade depends on the [version of the] system which is installed.
It was mentioned that in recent years ABB has always presented something new in Zellcheming. The innovative path the company takes was confirmed by Paul Goss, "The industry will hear more from us in the coming months! . "The next novelty will probably be in the field actuators and software development.