RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FUTURE IN PAPER TECHNOLOGY - IS PAPER TECHNOLOGY HIGH-TECHNOLOGY

Developments and current trends in printing paper manufacture are disc ussed in relation to the main driving.forces. Improvement of paper qua lity will continue to be the overriding objective of development work. Advances in forming techniques have been instrumental in promoting pa per quality, but the development of new wet pressing concepts has also played an important role for paper quality improvements The new gap f ormers with hydraulic headboxes produce paper with good formation and desired z-directional fines and filler distribution However, there is still much to be done in optimizing the structure and properties of pa per In addition to forming, selected current and future process develo pments are discussed, including impulse drying and the Condebelt proce ss, Process control and diagnostics are key areas where future efforts should be directed to improve the uniformity of paper quality and pro cess economy An important potential application area where work is cur rently being done is wet end diagnostics. The knowledge-based wet end diagnostic system. WEDGE, developed by the Finnish Pulp and Paper Rese arch Institute is briefly described. The paper concludes with a view o f The technology of a printing paper machine year 2000.