Simulating the forming process with the Moving Belt Drainage Former

To accurately evaluate the papermaking potential of pulps it is necessary t o reproduce, as closely as possible, machine-made sheets in the laboratory. A new laboratory sheet former, the MBDF, has been developed at Australian Pulp and Paper Institute (APPI) for producing 220 by 220 mm handsheets that reproduce certain features of commercial paper. This former uses headbox s tock concentrations that are close to paper machine values, a commercial fa bric, high frequency vacuum pulses and programmed vacuum profiles. This pap er describes the forming process on the MBDF and discusses formation and st rength properties of handsheets made on the MBDF.