Heat Exchangers: Paper and Pulp Applications

Certain industries benefit more then others from specific industrial products or machines. Heat exchangers are pretty popular across the board, but are absolute essentials for the paper industry. Without heat exchangers, paper mills would have exceedingly high energy costs, which is bad for the environment as well as the purse size of the paper companies. There are a couple ways that the paper and pulp industry utilize heat exchangers, both of which are financial boosts, eco-friendly, efficient and effective methods.
In essence, the paper process, beginning with wood pulp processing and refining and then going into the bleaching and cleaning before the paper formation, is all done with heat exchanger help. Specifically, plate heat exchangers are used to heat the liquids used to create pulp from wood, a process involving chemical compounds that pull apart the wood structure, leaving a goopy like substance that can be formed into paper after more processing. Secondary processes involve bleaching or dying the pulp, which is a process also heated by plate or spiral heat exchangers. After the desired color is achieved, the pulp becomes paper by way of a paper machine, which knits the pulp into thin webs that form sheets. During which all the moisture is removed and some style of blower is utilized to dry it out completely.
One part of the paper machine also uses a type of heat exchanger known as a waste heat recovery system, which is one of the ways that heat exchangers are able to save companies energy, resources and money. A waste heat recovery machine is able to absorb the heat and moisture in a room to be reused without putting a greater strain on the energy source that usually provides air and water for the paper making process. In essence it is a recycling system that has no down side.