ImpreDry

Project Progress

The digital twin developed in the predecessor project DATA (Digital Assistant for Drying Systems) will be further developed, calibrated using real plant, laboratory and online measurement data, and extended to include models for drying, solvent evaporation and resin curing. Building on this, adaptive operating strategies will be developed to reduce exhaust-air volumes and energy demand. These strategies will be progressively validated in pilot and industrial environments and assessed in terms of safety, product quality and emission reduction. For this purpose, mathematical sub-models will be adapted, simplified where necessary and numerically accelerated. Finally, the digital twin will be used to calculate key performance indicators and made configurable for different impregnation lines.

In parallel, measures to improve impregnation, reduce solvent use and provide alternative heating for the impregnation and drying processes will be systematically investigated. Impregnation quality will be quantified using standard methods, including resin content, volatile content and flow behaviour, as well as supplementary methods for evaluating penetration depth at laboratory and plant scale. Drying and curing progress will also be analysed. Building on these findings, the effects of modified machine technologies, operating parameters, temperature profiles and ultrasound assistance will be evaluated for different products, formulations and impregnation lines. In addition, infrared heating in zones where the material is already dry, renewable heating using air-to-water heat exchangers and measures to reduce methanol emissions will be investigated from both a technical and an economic perspective. The solutions will be implemented as prototypes and validated in terms of product quality, operational safety, fouling, energy demand and CO₂ reduction.

NIR-based process monitoring for resin curing in the air flotation dryer will be further developed, implemented and validated. Building on the results of the predecessor project DATA, the NIR measurement system, which is suitable for inline use, will be optimised for two measurement positions and permanently integrated into the production environment. At the same time, spectral preprocessing methods and chemometric models for determining relevant quality and process parameters, such as the degree of curing and residual moisture, will be further developed. Finally, the system will be connected to the process control system, and long-term tests and comparisons with offline reference measurements will be carried out. Measures for drift compensation and robust 24/7 quality monitoring will also be implemented.

The results will subsequently be assessed from a techno-economic perspective for different impregnation lines, products and formulations. The solutions will be transferred progressively within FUNDERMAX and its associated companies, as well as through workshops involving other industrial users. In addition, the results will be published in scientific journals, presented at specialist conferences and demonstrated in the NEFI+ VR Industry Lab, including via a web server and presentation video.

(Expected) Results

ImpreDry is expected to deliver the following results:

• Improved understanding of the interactions between the operating variables of resin impregnation lines and their drying and curing performance
• Reduction of gas consumption in the impregnation process for phenolic resin-impregnated kraft papers by up to 66% through precise process control and an adapted dryer design
• Reduction of flammable solvents used in the paper coating line by at least 25% through an improved process for impregnating paper with resin
• Knowledge of the techno-economically viable application of the results at other FUNDERMAX sites and in at least one other energy-intensive sector using impregnation lines
• Increased awareness of the research activities and results within the scientific community and Austrian industry