1

UNION PAPER MILLS

TRAINING REPORT SUBMITTED

BY

1.2 Wor
Prod king
CONTENTS ucts

2.1
Union Paper Mills Pro Wast
cess e
1.1 Introduction and Paper
 2
2.2 Pulping

2.2.1 Pulp

2.2.2 Re-pulping

2.2.3 Screening

2.2.4 Operational Parameters

1
2.3 Refiner
1
2.4 Paper Making

2.4.1 Stock Preparation

2.4.2 Sheet Forming 10

2.4.3 Pressing 11

2.4.4 Drying 12

2.4.5 Sizing 13

2.4.6 Calendaring 14

2.4.7 Reel Slitting Machine 15

2.5 Boilers 16

2.5.1 Biomass 16

2.5.2 Fuel Launch System 17

2.5.3 Furnace 18

2.
5.
 4 Economiser 3

2.5.5 Multi Cyclone Deduster 19

2.5.6 Degasser 19

19
Maintenance

21
3.1 Pump

3.1.1 Gear Pump 21

3.1.2 Eccentric Screw Pump 21
3.1.3 Piston Pump 22
3.1.4 Centrifugal Pump 23
3.2 Bearings 23
3.2.1 Classification of Bearings 23
3.2.2 Selection of Bearings 23

24
Distributed Control System

26
Fire Safety and Control

27
Summary

28
Appendix 1 (Flow Charts)

6.1 Pulping Process

6.2 Paper Making Process 29

6.3 Boilers 29

30
Acknowledgements

31
1.1
Intro
ducti
Union Paper Mills
on
1

UPM are the pioneers in manufacture of paper and paper boards, through the
environmentally green process of recycling waste paper, in the UAE. They are a part of a
major Dubai based business group viz. M/S M.A.H.Y. Khoory & Co.

Set up in 1988, the mill is the first of its kind in the region. Initially it was equipped
with a 100 tonnes paper making machine, a 500 tonne capacity pulping machine and four
diesel oil boilers. In 2005 it acquired a second paper making machine from Europe with a
capacity of 300 tonnes. Recently the company has acquired 2 biomass boilers replacing the
diesel oil boilers. This change has got them several applauds as they make their intentions
for a greener environment. Apart from all the machinery, the paper mill also has a fully
equipped laboratory for quality control and to conduct research on raw material and
process.

1.2 Products

UPM has two machines operating twenty four hours every day producing 400 tonnes
of paper on an average daily basis. Different products include:

 Waste Based Fluting

 Waste Based Test Liner
 White Top Test Liner
 Unbleached Core Board

Process and Working

2.1 Waste Paper

The recycling process requires large amounts of waste paper each day for producing
pulp. The waste paper collected is strewn in with lots of reject material, thus the amount of
the actual raw material maybe less than the collected amount. UPM has a number of
workers who are hired for collection of this waste paper across a number of cities. However
they also have to buy some fraction of waste paper from the markets to maintain a constant
feed for their machines.
 Storage of raw material before being fed into the pulping machine

2.2 Pulping

2.2.1 Pulp

Wood and other lignocelluloses, such as straw or other annual plants consist of
many different cell types in which cellulose and hemicelluloses, and lignin are the main
chemical components. In the chemical digestion of lignocelluloses, lignin, which is
embedded predominantly between the wood fibres as a binder and in the outer cell wall
layers, and the hemicelluloses are largely dissolved out of the fibre matrix. The cohesion of
the structural elements is lost in the process. The fibrous material obtained after digestion,
consisting principally of cellulose, is called pulp.

2.2.2 Re-pulping

UPM recycles paper; hence the only raw material needed in the pulping process is
waste paper and water.

The waste paper is fed into the drum rolls through a conveyor belt. The conveyor
belt ensures a steady supply of waste paper. It does so by constantly measuring the weight
of the raw material and accordingly adjusting the speed of the feed. The complete process is
controlled by manually initiating a set rate in accordance with the quantity of pulp required.
Also it is required to maintain a specific consistency. Hence, the required consistency is set,
and according to the amount of waste paper feed, respective amount of water is pumped in
from the storage tank.
Conveyor belt feeding raw material into the drum roll
 4

The entire length of the drum rolls is around 28.5 metres and has inclined plates
inside for beating of the paper. The rolls are rotated with the help of a 750KW upward push
gear motor. The paper beaten with the water forms pulp which is then diluted to get
required consistency and collected in a Bottom Vat Tank.

Drum rolls – beating of waste paper with water to form pulp

From here the pulp goes through different stages of screening. At the end of the
screening processes, the pulp is then moved to the hydro drain where some amount of
water is removed from the pulp to increase its consistency. The pulp is finally stored in a
storage tank from where it sent for refining and paper making.

2.2.3 Screening

The waste paper contains a lot of reject material such as staple pins, plastics and
sand. To remove these and obtain pure pulp, it has to be passed through four stages of
screening.

The first stage is relatively simple in which the large plastics and tapes are rejected.
This process occurs at the end of the drum rolls where the pulp is initially formed. Here
more water is added and the rolls have 10mm diameter hole all around its curved surface
area. So that the pulp is drained down to the Bottom VAT tank for storage and the large
impurities are rejected. After this process, the pulp undergoes more complicated screening
 5

processes. These processes follow a cascade system to minimize the amount of reject or in
other words to reduce wastage of pulp. The cascade systems for different screening
processes are also described below.

Coarse screening. In the second stage it goes through Coarse Screening Process.
Materials with dimensions of greater than 2.4 mm diameter are removed. The coarse
screener is a pressure screener. It consists of a rotating basket with the same rotational
velocity as the pulp. A rotating basket is used here as the reject material is large and by
rotation of the basket, the mechanical damage caused due to friction between the reject
particles and the basket is minimised, thus increasing the life of the screener.

The Coarse Screening Process consists of three screeners. The pulp initially moves
into the primary screener whose reject moves to the secondary screener. The accept of
both these screeners moves to the Dump Chest where it is stored and sent for the next
screening process. The secondary reject moves to the tertiary screener. Tertiary accept goes
back to the secondary screener and its reject is finally thrown out.

Coarse screen basket with hole diameter of 2.4 mm

Medium Consistency Cleaning. The “accept” from the coarse screening process then
undergoes Medium Consistency Cleaning. Here primarily sand particles are removed. The
MCC consists of a conical metallic flask. The pulp is pumped with high velocity tangential to
the cone curve. Due to gravity the pulp starts moving downward but rotating along the walls
of the cone. The sand particles being heavier stick to the walls whereas the pulp remains in
 6

the inner region. As the suspension moves down a fan pump at the centre of the cone
pushes the pulp back up the cone and out through an opening on the top. The sand particles
move down and are rejected.

Cyclone screeners for removal of sand

Fine Screening. The pulp then goes to final stage; the Fine Screening Process. This
process rejects any particle with dimensions greater than 0.15 mm. It is also a pressure
screen in which inner propellants push the pulp outwards. However, here the basket is
stationary due to the small size of the impurity particles. Instead of holes, the basket in fine
screening has longitudinal slits of .15 mm width. This is necessary to avoid frequent
blockages in case of holes due to the extremely small dimensions. The pulp is now sent to
the hydro drain.

Pr
7

The cascade system of MC Cleaning and Fine Screening are similar to that of coarse
screening. However here, the accept of the secondary screeners moves to the primary
screener instead. Only primary accept is sent forward.

DCS image of Coarse Screen Cascade System

2.2.4 Operational Parameters

UPM has a pulping plant of about 500 tonnes. The feed rate of waste paper is about
17 -18 t/h. The consistency at the initial pulping stage is around 19%. Water is added in the
first simple screening process where the consistency drops to about 2-3%. This is required
for minimal wearing of the machines during the various screening processes. After the
Coarse Screening the pulp is diluted to around 1.1-1.2% consistency and after MC Cleaning it
is further diluted to less than 1% consistency. Total amount of water added in the complete
process is about 120 litres per second. Now, when the pulp moves to the hydro drain, water
is removed and a consistency 5-6% is maintained depending on the required gsm of the
paper product.

2.3 Refining

After the pulp has been screened and its consistency increased, it is stored in the
receiving chest from where it then moves to the refining process. The objective of the
refining process is to break loose and fibrillate the fibres in the pulp. This process has a
marked influence on the quality of the pulp. The refiner shown below is a double disk
refiner.

Mechanical refiner

2.4 Paper Making

Various quality requirements have to be met by various types of paper. The

machines and process for manufacturing different types of paper vary correspondingly.
However, the essential steps in the papermaking process that are sheet forming, pressing,
drying, sizing and calendaring are the same and have been unchanged for the past two
millenniums.

Paper consists essentially of fibres, either primary or secondary. The quality

characteristics of the finished paper sheet are determined by the fibre properties, which in
turn depend on the type of fibres and their treatment during pulping, the auxiliary agents
and additives and also the process conditions on the paper machine. Important quality
characteristics of the finished paper sheet are:

 The mass distribution on paper referred to as grams per square metre (gsm).
 The strength properties in machine direction and cross machine direction. Given as
the ratio between the two (MD/CD).
 The optical properties.
 The surface properties.
 Absorptive behaviour. Important here for printing purpose.

It must be noted that the most important working agent in the manufacture of paper
is water. Water is required to provide the individual fibres in the suspension with as much
free space for undisturbed movement, slowing down reflocculation. Water is required to
produce strength in paper which is a result of hydrogen bond formation between fibres
during the drying process.

2.4.1 Preparing the stock

During the process of paper making sometimes, due to a fault in the process or an
impurity, the paper breaks out before being dried completely. This paper falls into the broke
tower which contains water. Also sheets of paper that are torn in the packing process are
manually thrown into this tower. The water-soaked paper from here is pumped into the
thickner where water is first removed and then added to get pulp of required consistency.
This pulp then goes to the broke chest where it is stored.

The pulp from the refiner chest is pumped into the Blender. In the blender, pulp
coming in from both refiner chest and the broke chest is mixed to get a pulp with uniform
consistency and is then pumped to the machine chest. A consistency of about 3-4% is
maintained here. The pulp is then pumped to another screening process. The reject of the
primary screen goes to the secondary. The accept of the secondary is pumped back to the
primary and that of primary then goes to the paper making machine.

10

Blender

This screening process is carried out by pressure screens and is done to be

completely sure that there is no impurity present in the pulp to protect the headbox and
wires from any mechanical damage.
2.4.2 Sheet Forming

In the sheet forming stage a uniform sheet with definite properties should be
formed continuously. Here the water from the fibrous suspension is filtered off on a rotating
continuous wire to produce a water web. This system consists of stock approach, the
headbox and the wire.

Stock Approach System. It is responsible for metering the amount and type of stock
components used, mixing and for delivering the suspension in the required amount and
with the appropriate pressure to the headbox. The suspension delivered must be of
constant pressure, quantity and composition in order to ensure constant and uniform paper
quality.

Headbox. The headbox produces a jet of suspension which should have a largely
constant velocity, thickness and direction across width of the paper machine and be
 11

independent of time. Pumping the suspension to the headbox and their prior passage
through pressure screens creates a pressure variation. Thus pulsation dampers are used to
keep the velocity of the jet constant. The suspension which is delivered to the headbox
through a round cross-section is turned and distributed uniformly across the entire width of
the headbox. The suspension then flows out to the wires through a narrow slit. Important
here is that a suitable process for flow must be adopted to prevent any reflocculation of the
fibre.

Headbox and Wires

Wires. In the wire section, a fibre web is formed from the suspension. Primary
importance is given to three objectives; extensive separation of fibres from water or
dewatering, prevention of fibre flocculation, well-ordered deposition of fibres on the wire.
In the paper making machine used, dewatering is primarily being done by suction rolls.
These have an open shell and sometimes even vacuum is applied through the interior. The
water drained from here moves to the broke water tank.

2.4.3 Pressing

The objective of the press section is to increase the dry content of the paper web by
dewatering and to increase the strength of the web by compression before the web enters
subsequent dryer section. This also saves energy consumed in the dryer section. The press
section usually consists of several successive press bi-nips. The web is transported between
one or two felts through the nip. The water removed from the web is stored and carried
away in the felt. It then moves to the back water storage tank. The most important
properties of the felt are the storage capacity under pressure, the water retention
behaviour on leaving the nip, which in turn, prevents rewetting of the web.
 12

Pressing section

A newer technique known as shoe press is also employed in the pressing section.
The line of force here can be varied locally across the width. Thus desired properties of
paper can be varied accordingly.

2.4.4 Drying

As indicated, the water is removed in this section by heating. The heating effects in
fibre-fibre bonding via hydrogen bonds and the web strength is increased. Dry content of
the web after this section is above 95%.

The web is transported through a long course of steam heated cylinders. Dryer felts
press the web against the drying cylinder for better heat transfer. The dryer section is
aerated with hot air to carry off the water vapour generated and to increase drying
efficiency. The entire dryer section is enclosed in a drying hood. Apart from this technique
used in the plant, forced convection drying and infrared drying are also used in the paper
industry.

During drying process, the paper web shrinks. The extent of shrinkage really depends
on the stock type, ie. degree of beating or the fibre orientation. Longitudinal shrinkage can
be controlled by stretching between individual drying groups. However shrinkage across the
width is non-uniform and higher at the ends than the centre of the web.

Dr
13

The steam required for the drying process is produced in the boilers. Boilers are
discussed in section 2.5.

2.4.5 Sizing

During size press, starch, size or pigments are applied to the fibre matrix to increase
the strength of the paper and to modify the surface properties with respect to liquid uptake
during writing, printing, or coating.

In sizing, a thin layer of size is applied to the paper just before it moves into the roll
nip. As a result of the hydraulic pressure in the roll nip, the paper web absorbs the sizing
liquor. The amount of size taken up by the paper depends on the dry content of the web. To
guarantee uniform size uptake across the width, the web must be pressed uniformly across
the width in the nip and must exhibit constant moisture content.

14

Red pipe transferring the additives being sprayed on the paper

The water applied in the size press is evaporated in the after-dryer section. This
section is similar to the initial drying section; however the temperatures of the steam are
kept higher in this section.

2.4.6 Calendering
 The objective of this exercise is to produce a smooth paper surface which meets the
requirement of printing and writing. Apart from increasing smoothness, calendering also is
used for thickness reduction. However apart from thickness; the opacity, tear strength and
absorptivity of the paper maybe reduced to a certain extent.

The web is fed through counteracting cast-iron press rolls and in this process the
surface roughness of the web is levelled by the action of pressure. The web is passed
through the press nips of these rolls.

The level of smoothness that can be attained is greatly influenced by the type of
stock, the moisture content of the paper web, the temperature of the paper web, the
pressure applied by the roll nips, the retention time in the nip and also the surface
temperature of the roll.

15

2.4.7 Reel-Slitting Machine

In the reel-slitting machine, the paper web is cut to the width required for further
processing. The functions of a reel-slitting machine include:

1. Unreeling the roll present in the full paper machine width.

2. Cutting to the desire web width.
3. Reeling the individual rolls on to separate cores.

The web is cut with rotating circular knives of high alloy tool steel. At a defined
contact pressure, the disc shaped knives penetrate into the paper. the positioning of the
knives and, consequently, the adjustment of the roll width is performed manually or
automatically.

The most important requirements to be met by the cut rolls with regard to further
processing (printing, cross cutting) are uniform reel hardness across the width of the roll
and in the diameter, straight front surfaces, and absence of roll defects and roll damage.

Now the paper is ready to be packaged and sent to the storage houses. From here it
is then delivered to the target industries.
 Reel slitting machine

16

2.5 Boilers

Temperatures of the cylindrical rollers in the dryer section vary from 80 oC – 110oC.
These temperatures of the surface are obtained by passing superheated steam through
these hollow cylindrical rollers. For round the clock operation of the plant large amount of
steam is required in a continuous supply. This steam is produced by heating of water in large
boilers.

Initially there were four diesel-oil boilers catering to the steam requirement.
However these have now been replaced by 2 large bio-mass boilers. This move has greatly
reduced the emission of poisonous effluents produced by burning of diesel-oil.

Diesel oil boiler

2.5.1 Bio-Mass

Bio-mass is a renewable energy source. It is biological material derived from living or

recently living organisms such as wood, waste, (hydrogen) gas, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is
commonly plant matter used to generate electricity or to produce heat. In this case,
biomass is used to produce heat which is transferred to water to convert it into superheated
steam.

The fuel used in the biomass boilers here mostly consists of old discarded wooden
crates, wooden furniture, branches of dead trees and so on. It is collected by the company
as well as bought from the market. Before being fed, these large pieces are first cut in a
machine. It breaks the pieces of wood into uniform sized chips which helps in better feeding
and control.

17

Biomass – Wood chips

The principle used in boilers is the equilibrium point reached between water and
steam at a given pressure. So that when the steam is removed, the water evaporates to
form steam and attain equilibrium.

2.5.2 Fuel Launch System

The chips of wood are pushed onto the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt alternately
feeds the wood chips into the two boilers depending upon the requirement in each. The fuel
launch system consists of a dosing bin, a funnel, and screw feeders.

The chips from the conveyor belt fall into the dosing bin. The dosing bin is shaped as
an inverted rectangular funnel. That is; it is broader at the bottom. This is done to avoid
bridging. At the top of the dosing bin is a rotary feeder. The rotary feeder helps ensure that
pressure inside is less than outside pressure. Both the inverted funnel and the rotary feeder
are important safety requirements to prevent any back fire.

The fuel then falls on the screws. Each screw has its own gearbox with electromotor
and frequency converter to control the supply of fuel. In order to achieve regular division of
fuel on the screws, they have different rotation directions. Hence, while three of the screws
rotate clockwise, the other 3 rotate anti-clockwise. This ensures that the fuel is spread
across the complete width of the funnel and once again prevents bridging. The velocity of
the screws is controlled to minimise the wear. Critical parts of screw, such as the threads
where maximum wear is expected, are hard coated. Each screw has its own heavy duty
bearing. These bearings help the screws to balance the forces and move within the tube.
Thus large pieces may also be fed as the screw may adjust its positions. Finally another
important safety technique employed to prevent any back fire is that each screw has an
 18

inclination of approximately 15o. Apart from all this, additional fire safety equipment is
present in the Fuel Launch System in case of any back fire.

Boiler showing FLS, furnace, economiser and MCD

2.5.2 Furnace

The furnace floor is lined with grates, where the fuel moves. It is primarily divided
into 5 stages. These are Drying, Pre-combustion, Combustion, Post combustion, and De-
ashing.

The furnace is lined with water columns and the fixed step grates below are lined
with a grid of water pipes. The heat generated in the furnace upon burning of the fuel is
used up by the water in the water columns and is converted to steam. The temperatures
reached inside the furnace are of the range 650oC-800oC. The water grid is placed to remove
local heat from the grates. This water is pumped in and thus it is known as forced cooling
system. As this water absorbs heat, its temperature rises and is thus useful in preheating in
the degasser.

Steam that is lower in temperature comes in from the paper machines and is stored
in the steam collector. From here it moves to the degasser. Water also is pumped into the
degasser where it is preheated in the presence of steam. This water then passes through the
economiser, the steam drum and finally to the water columns in the furnace. All this while
preheating of the water is underway.

Now in order to continue combustion inside the furnace, a constant supply of oxygen
is required. This is provided through two air fans. The primary air fan pushes air from
outside into air boxes that are lined through the furnace. The secondary air fan pushes air
through the grates.
 19

Steam generated then moves into the steam drum and then to the pipes from where
it is carried to the dryer section of the paper machines. The effluents on the other hand
from the furnace go to the economiser, where their heat is used to preheat the water, and
then to the multi cyclone deduster. From the deduster the effluents free of dust particles go
the back filters and finally escape through the chimney.

2.5.3 Economiser

The economiser is long airtight container with a winding of pipes inside. Water, to
the water columns in the furnace, moves through these pipes. Outside these pipes, effluents
and dust produced during combustion; move in the opposite direction towards the multi
cyclone deduster. The main object of the economiser is to save energy by preheating the
water by passing it through the hot effluent gasses, thus, utilising the heat energy of the
waste gasses. The economiser is also lined by soot blowers along its walls. These remove the
ash that gets deposited on the pipes.

2.5.4 Multi Cyclone Deduster

Effluent gasses and dust particles pass through the economiser and into the multi
cyclone deduster. The use of this is to remove the ash and dust particles mixed with the flue
gas before they can escape through the chimney.

The flue gasses and the ash particles enter the flue chamber horizontally. The flue
chamber is lined with conical funnel shaped dedusters. These are homogeneously spread
throughout the chamber by specific positioning. The gasses enter these cyclone dedusters
horizontally into their whirl chambers. Here the dust particles are brought into fast rotation
and due to centrifugal forces they are pressed to the outside walls. Now due to gravity,
these particles steadily move downwards and through the bottom of the funnel they are
removed into an ashbin.

The flue gas on the other hand being lighter remains in the centre of the cyclone
deduster and with the help of a flue gas fan in the centre, they are pushed up through an
outlet from it rises through the inner tubes into the purified flue gas collector. These gasses
then go into the back filters where after further treatment they are discharged through the
chimney.

It must be noted that sealing is a very important parameter in the working of the
multi cyclone deduster. Even a small leak can cause a significant reduction in the efficiency
of the MCD.

2.5.5 Degasser

The water sent to the water columns is first passed through the degasser. Here
water is sprayed through tiny nozzles for maximum surface area between steam and water.
When water at saturation point comes in contact with steam, the oxygen escapes from the
 20

water into the steam by Henry’s Law. Hence the solubility of oxygen in water at saturation
point is practically zero.

Henry’s Law states that the amount of gas dissolved in a given type and volume of
liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas in equilibrium with that
liquid.

The pulper, the boiler and the paper machines are broadly the three different
sections that constitute the paper industry. Each of these has their specialised and
dedicated supervisors, operators and workers.

Boiler - the back filters and the chimney

21

Maintenance

All the machines used in the three different sections discussed above are very large
and involve a lot of moving and stationary parts. Thus there is a constant wearing down of
the components and their proper maintenance and care is essential. The Union Paper Mills
has a detailed maintenance programme and a dedicated unit for this purpose. They have
regular maintenance shutdowns to replace parts that may damage the system and to keep
the machines running at their optimum potential. They also have a fully equipped
workshop, a large storehouse and even a laboratory to ensure their product quality is
maintained in accordance with standards. Discussed below are two very essential
components of any machine; pumps and bearings.

3.1 Pumps

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids or slurries, or gasses. A pump
displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into five major groups:
direct lift, displacement, velocity, buoyancy and gravity pumps. Their names describe the
method for moving a fluid. Each of these categories consists of a number pump types. We
will be discussing a few of them; some of which have been used quite commonly in the
plant.

3.1.1 Gear Pump

A gear pump uses the meshing of gears to pump fluid by displacement. They are one
of the most common types of pumps and have been used in a number of applications in the
plant. There are mainly two main variations; external gear pumps which use two external
spur gears, and internal gear pumps which use an external and an internal spur gear.

As the gears rotate they separate on the intake side of the pump, creating a void and
suction which is filled by the fluid. The fluid is carried in teeth of the gear to the other side of
the pump, where the meshing of the gears displaces the fluid. The tight clearances, along
with the speed of rotation, prevent the fluid from leaking backwards. The rigid design of the
gears and appropriate bearings used allow for very high pressures and the ability to pump
highly viscous fluids.

22

External gear pump working

Internal gear pump working

3.1.2 Eccentric Screw Pump

 An eccentric screw pump transfers fluid by means of the progress, through the
pump, of a sequence of small, fixed shape, discrete cavities, as its rotor is turned. The
volumetric flow rate of the fluid thus depends on the speed of rotation and to the level of
shearing forces applied to the liquid.

It consists of a helical rotor and a two start, twice the wavelength and double the
diameter helical hole in a rubber stator. The rotor seals tightly against the rubber stator as it
operates, forming a set of fixed-size cavities in between. The cavities move when the rotor is
rotated but their shape or volume remains the same. The pumped material is moved inside
the cavities.

Often it is believed that the pumping occurs due to the dynamic effect of the drag, or
due to friction against the moving teeth of the screw rotor. However, this is not the case. It
is actually due to the sealed cavities, like a piston pump. It is thus able to operate at
extremely low rates, even to high pressure.

23

3.1.3 Piston Pump

The piston pump consists of a simple piston and cylinder arrangement. Here the inlet
valve is first opened to allow fluid into the cylinder. After filling, the inlet valve closes and
the piston pushes in. Now the outlet valve is opened and it pushes out the fluid from the
cylinder. After emptying the fluid, the outlet valve closes, and the piston moves out,
creating a vacuum which is filled with fluid from the inlet valve again. The piston pump also
comes under the category of a reciprocating pump.

3.1.4 Centrifugal Pump

It consists of an eccentric rotor which rotates at a high velocity. The impellers are
mounted through a spring on the eccentric rotor. The length of the impellers is such that it
keeps the spring unstressed in the maximum radius region and compressed inwards in the
minimum radius region. The impellers give a rotating motion to the fluid and push it
forward. The fluid is inlet into the larger radius region and is rotated to the discharge side or
minimum radius region. The difference in volume pushes the fluid forward.

In most centrifugal pumps, for pumping fluids with low viscosity such as water, the
minimum radius is kept to a zero to avoid any back flow. However in more viscous fluids and
thick oils, some tolerance is set to avoid jamming of the pumps.

3.2 Bearings

A bearing is a mechanical device to allow constrained relative motion between two

or more parts, typically rotational or linear movement. Bearings maybe classified according
to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation as well as by the
directions of applied loads they can handle. The bearings that are discussed in the following
text allow rotational motion only. However, some of them can bear both radial as well as
axial loads.
3.2.1 Classification of bearings on the basis of the moving parts and load handled

 Ball bearings
 Cylindrical roller bearings
 Needle roller bearings
 Taper roller bearings
 Spherical roller bearings
 Toroidal roller bearings
 Thrust bearings

Each of these bearings has a number of variants. Such as the ball bearings may be
deep groove ball bearings or angular contact ball bearings. These may also be in a
combination with each other such as combined needle roller and angular contact ball
bearings or combined needle roller and cylindrical roller thrust bearings.

24

3.2.2 Selection of bearing type

Each bearing type displays characteristic properties, based on its design, which make
it more, or less, appropriate for a given application. Several factors have to be considered
and weighed against each other when selecting a bearing type. Some of the important
factors to be considered when selecting a standard bearing type are

 Available space
 Loads
 Misalignment
 Precision
 Speed
 Quiet running
 Stiffness
 Axial displacement
 Mounting and dismounting
 Integral seals

Available space. In many cases, one of the principal dimensions of a bearing, the
bore diameter, is predetermined by the machine’s design and the shaft diameter.

Loads. The magnitude and direction of load both play a vital role. The magnitude of
load usually determines the size of the bearing. Whereas depending on the load, axial or
radial, the choice of bearing may vary. Certain designs of cylindrical bearings and oroidal
bearings can support only pure radial load. Others may accommodate some axial load, and
thrust ball bearings may accommodate loads that may be purely axial. Certain types of
double row bearings can also handle a moment load.

Misalignment. Angular misalignment between the shaft and housing occur, for
example, when the shaft bends (flexes) under the operating load, when the bearing seatings
in the housing are not machined to the same height or when shafts are supported by
bearings in separate housings that are too far apart.

Precision. Bearings with higher precision than normal are required for arrangements
that must have high running accuracy as well as those applications where very high speeds
are required.

Speed. The permissible operating temperature limits the speed at which rolling
bearings can be operated. Bearing types with low friction and correspondingly low heat
generation inside the bearing are therefore the most suitable for high-speed operation.

Quiet running. In applications such as for household appliances or office machinery,

the noise produced in operation is an important factor and can influence the bearing choice.
 25

Stiffness. The stiffness of a rolling bearing is characterised by the magnitude of the

elastic deformation in the bearing under load. In most cases this deformation is very small
and maybe neglected.

Axial displacement. Shafts, or other rotating machine components, are generally

supported by a locating and non-locating bearing. Locating bearings provide axial location
for the machine component in both directions. Non-locating bearings must permit shaft
movement in the axial direction, so that the bearings may not be overloaded.

Mounting and dismounting. Frequent mounting and dismounting requires easily

separable bearings.

Integral seals. The selection of a seal is of vital importance to the proper

performance of the bearings.
26

Distributed Control System (DCS)

A distributed control system refers to a control system usually of a manufacturing

process or any kind of dynamic process, in which the controller elements are not central in
location; rather, they are distributed throughout the system with each component sub-
system controlled by one or more controllers. The entire system of controllers is connected
by networks for communication and monitoring.

A DCS typically uses custom designed processors as controllers and uses both
proprietary (manufactured exclusively by the organisation installing the system, as with a
patent) interconnections and communications protocol for communication. Input and
output modules form component parts of the DCS. The processor receives information from
the input modules and sends this to the output modules. Input modules receive information
from the input instruments which in turn receive from it from the Human-Machine
Interface. The input modules then transmit these instructions to output instruments. Each
of the pulper, the paper machines and the boilers has their own dedicated DCS.
DCS of the Biomass boilers
 DCS of the Drum Rolls in the pulper

27

Fire Prevention and Safety

The raw materials used by UPM as well as their finished product, are both
combustible substances. The waste paper used in the pulping process, the wooden chips
and waste used in the bio-mass boilers as well as the final paper product are all
combustible. The fire caused by or in any of these can be categorised as Type A kind of fire.

A number of different varieties of fire extinguishers are available for initial response
to this type of fires. These include dry chemical powder extinguisher, carbon dioxide
extinguisher and AFFF foam type extinguishers. These have been placed at easily accessible
locations within short distances. Apart from these water hoses are also installed which draw
water from a ready water reservoir.

Main sections that need to be regularly monitored include the storage of raw
materials and the dryer section where the temperatures are very high. Being located in a
desert, the daytime temperatures soar extremely high which multiply the risk of large fires
in the raw material storage section. Heat and ample fuel make containing such fires difficult.
To prevent fire in the dryers, good housekeeping of the section is important. The plant
maintains a strict no smoking policy within the premises.

The electricity consumption, for non-stopping functioning of the machines, is also

high. Also an elaborate system of cables has to be installed for the DCS. Hence apart from
Type A fires, the industry also faces potential threats of electrical fires or Type C fires. A
separate fire fighting approach needs to be taken for this category of fires. Water or foam
type extinguishers cannot be used here. Only the dry chemical powder extinguisher and the
carbon dioxide extinguishers should be used. Main cause of such fires is improper insulation
and stacking of cables in a hazardous order.

To avoid confusion in testing situations, all the extinguishers are marked with their
compatibility of the type of fire. The plant engineers and workers are also informed about
the classes of fires and their first response action. A fire safety alarm system is also installed,
though it has yet to be tested. Fire fighting and safety equipment are yet to be installed in
the recently set up biomass boilers.

So far the plant has seen minor fires in the dryer section and a medium intensity fire
in the raw material storage system. Barring these few minor incidents, the plant has a good
fire prevention and safety record.
 28

Summary

Situated in Al-Quoz area of Dubai, Union Paper Mills is one of the largest
manufacturer of paper and paper products in the Middle East, serving the paper
requirements of the Middle East and regions of South East Asia since 1988. UPM produces
c.400 MT ( utilising 100% production capacity ) of paper per day by utilising c.480 MT of
waste paper.

Sizing Drying at
higher
Appendix 1 tempratur
es
Pulping Process
Reel
Waste paper slitting Drum rolls beat the
through conveyor two raw materials
belt + water pumped together to form
from tank pulp

Cascade Coarse Cascade MC

Screen Cleaning

Hydro-Drain to
increase consistency

Paper Making Process

Headbox and
Pressing
wires
 29

Cascade Fine Screen

Drying at lower
tempratures
Initial screening
followed by storage
in Bottom VAT

Calendering
30

Boilers

Air

Wooden
Water
Chips

Boiler

Steam
31

Acknowledgements

I most sincerely thank the Union Paper Mills and its employees for their warm
support and guidance and for making my training at the plant an informative and enjoyable
experience. I would like to mention special thanks to:
1. Mr D Gandhi
2. Mr. T. Anjaneyulu

Ge w Works Manager
Produc Production Manager
Engine