Turning tissue technology into new improved products; in tissue, the products are soft but the competition is rough. Tissue manufacturers must rely on new technologies in every process area to keep pace.

Tissue and towel producers have long turned to new technology and better processes to market products that are softer, stronger, and more absorbent. More than perhaps any other grade, tissue and towel markets worldwide represent potential for continued growth, both for consumer and commercial products. Developing the right products to take advantage of this growth potential becomes not just a strategy, but a business imperative.

Solutions! queried suppliers to the towel and tissue industry about what their companies were doing to support tissue makers' product development efforts. In this article, we explore how today's tissue technology is being translated into marketable product benefits.

RIGHT ON TARGET

By all reports, tissue manufacturing is not for the taint of heart. As players in what is arguably paper's most commercially-oriented marketplace, tissue and towel makers must remain highly competitive and cost-oriented in an arena shrouded in secrecy and reliant on proprietary processes. The key, say some experts, is to focus intensely on controlling and optimizing the relationships between products, markets, and the process.

"Success in the tissue industry is not as much related to the newest and best equipment as it is to two factors: aligning the manufacturing process with the target market and extremely tight process control on a well defined and aligned process. Successful companies can be volume-driven and low quality, or quality-driven and high quality, or somewhere in between, but the successful ones seem to know their customers' wishes and abilities to buy and then work extremely hard to satisfy the needs of that market segment," said John Stitt, market manager-creped technology, Buckman Laboratories International Inc., Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

The creped products industry, Stitt pointed out, is highly segmented; specific segments require specific equipment and even specific crew skills and attitudes. "Often companies in one segment dream of expanding into another segment they see as more profitable without proper consideration or whether their manufacturing process is designed for this type of production," he said. "A direct entry, long fourdrinier semi-wet creped machine has no more chance of making a product to compete in the through-air-drying (TAD) market than the proverbial snowball. Nor can a modern TAD machine with its energy costs, crew expertise, operational costs, and depreciation expect to compete in the price-driven low-end market. World class does not mean a crescent former and TAD. It means the organization does what it does better than any of it competitors and provides more value to the purchaser than do its competitors."

Yet tissue makers eager to gain a competitive edge will continue to seek ways to bring together seemingly divergent goals: high-end products, high-speed equipment, and low-cost processes. For TAD processes, for instance, suppliers are working to bring the capital cost per ton of smaller installations closer to that of the higher capacity, more cost-effective machines. "Capital cost reductions can only be achieved by optimizing every area of the machine. In-depth knowledge of the entire TAD process is critical," said Elizabeth Belliveau, marketing manager, Metso Paper USA, Biddeford, Maine.

To add to the existing challenges of total optimization is the fact that tissue/towel products are constantly changing to match customer demands. "These demands can be related to product quality, environmental issues, regulatory demands, or cost restrictions," noted Nick Ince, European applications project manager-tissue, Hercules Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware, USA. "These consumer demands apply to all tissue grades; the only difference is in the specific expectations placed on the different grades." Table I illustrates these differences.

SUPPORT FROM NEW TECHNOLOGIES

To meet the challenges outlined above, tissue and towel producers must take advantage of new technologies in every area of the papermaking process. Over the past two decades, the industry has seen significant developments in technologies available from fabric suppliers and chemical suppliers trying to help their papermaker customers meet consumer demand for new and improved tissue products. In paper machinery, tissue sector developments have focused on pressing and on drying, particularly the increasingly popular TAD process.

Below, some of the industry's top suppliers weigh in on what their companies are doing to help tissue manufacturers develop and market products with value-added benefits. (Suppliers are listed alphabetically).

Albany International Corp., Albany, New York, USA

MACHINE CLOTHING Response by: John LaFond, forming product manager-tissue; and Paul Hood, pressing product manager-tissue

New tissue machines built today are running over 1800 m/min (6000 ft/m), putting a high demand on the forming fabrics. We meet this challenge with high-tech triple layer fabrics. The best triple layer fabrics today have a four-shed top surface with a four-shed bottom surface. A unique binding technique combines the two layers for a substantial increase in fabric stability. Another new structure providing similar results on many twin wire machines is the new triple stacked shute design. These fabrics have provided gains in formation, machine runnability and better life from a larger bottom side shute.

A high-tech triple layer design, such as Albany's MICROTEX[R] 6000-T579, is an excellent crescent former application. Our triple stacked shute fabric design, the MICROTEX[R] T586, is an excellent C-wrap former application. Both of these fabric styles improve drainage, fabric stability, formation and CD profile.

In tissue, unlike the publication and packaging grades, smoothness and printability are non-issues. Energy is king. Albany's forming fabric design/applications groups have worked hard to deliver a perfectly formed, uniform, flat sheet with the highest possible solids to the pickup fabric. From this point on to the Yankee and the reel, the pickup fabric must maintain these sheet qualities with the lowest energy usage possible.

Press fabrics also need to be more robust in use. They must be able to self-adjust to the grade by running as "steady state" as possible, with uniform vacuum levels and water removal throughout life. Albany's value-added products include the non-traditional textile offering of Apertech[R], with its engineered, porous polymeric layer; Hydroduct[TM], with its highly uniform, compressible, CD-less structure for improved dewatering and the multiaxial lines of Dynavent[R]/Hydromax[TM] with their superior cleanability and steady state operation.

Asten Johnson Corp., Charleston, South Carolina, USA

MACHINE CLOTHING Response by: Ian Lang, advanced product development team leader-dryer

Through air dried (TAD) tissue represents an ever-increasing segment of tissue capacity. The TAD fabric is instrumental in developing tissue quality through the generation of a 3-D structure of the web and its unique surface topography. It creates a product that is superior in terms of increased bulk, water absorbency, and "feel," as well as having the desired surface "shape."

Recent development work by AstenJohnson has produced the "Thermoshape[TM]" family of fabric designs for TAD applications. Thermoshape TAD fabrics provide unique shaping properties and allow for significant bulk generation compared to other fabrics. Thermoshape fabrics have a robust design and offer exceptional strength, runnability, and resistance against the extreme conditions of the TAD drying environment.

The successful operation of any TAD fabric is contingent on a well designed and operated fabric cleaning system. Thermoshape fabrics have proven to be successful at resisting contamination and fiber build-up, maintaining permeability over their life.

Thermoshape fabrics use a double layer construction for greater mechanical stability and higher seam strength as compared to common single layer designs. The use of polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) warp and weft provides for superior hydrolysis resistance allowing for higher TAD hood operating temperatures, with the potential benefit of increased drying capacity and production.

Bayer Chemicals Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

PAPER COLORANTS AND CHEMICALS Response by: Harold Goldsberry, marketing director

Bayer Chemicals has developed novel, synthetic strength resins, many with primary application in tissue and towel production. In particular, we invented a new class of chemistry called "temporary wet strength resins." Bayer products in this technology category are used in a wide range of tissue and towel grades, as well as value-added bath tissue grades. Bayer's strength technology is specifically designed to enhance tissue and rowel quality and optimize efficiency of the papermaking process.

The real key in working with the tissue producer is recognizing that there can be significant trade-offs when pursuing particular objectives. For example, increased refining will enhance strength, but at the expense of bulk and softness in the finished product. In many cases, these limitations can be overcome with the right chemical program.

Buckman Laboratories International Inc., Memphis, Tennessee, USA

PAPER CHEMICALS Response by: John Stitt, market manager-creped technology

The creped products industry is not just one industry, but contains a multitude of segments. How do producers become the best in their segment? They are fully cognizant of the alignment between their assets and the market segment they serve, than they run their operations--whether fiber procurement, stock prep, tissue manufacturing, converting, or distribution--better than anyone else. They work with a holistic approach to objectives for the company in total. They also have a system of process improvement so that innovation and creativity can be actualized for controlled process improvement.

In terms of chemistries, the biggest problem facing most of the industry is stickies control in closed water systems. The total cost of stickies to fine industry is huge. It shows up as lost machine efficiency, degraded product, and operational nightmares. The newest technology that already has started to revolutionize this process roadblock is the use of enzymes to denature stickies molecules and render them no longer sticky. The process and the needs of the enzymes must be aligned--therefore, they are not a solution for all mills. Yet in most mills, application technology is far simpler than earlier technologies for dispersion and fixation and then fabric passivation, and the financial returns are tremendous.

Fleissner GmbH, Egelsbach, Germany

PAPER MACHINERY Response by: Alfred Watzl, senior vice president

During the company's 154-year history, Fleissner has delivered 45,000 flow-through drams worldwide for the man-made fiber, textile, and nonwovens industries. The tissue and towel industry makes high demands on the mechanical and thermal performances of all line components, particularly the TAD drum. For that reason, in 1988 Fleissner developed the bolted drum construction, which features outstanding design and precise manufacturing. We have delivered more than 35 installations to the tissue and paper industry, at machine speeds up to 8000 ft/m.

TAD tissue products are characterized by higher bulk, increased softness and better absorbency. The advantage for tissue producers is that these better product qualities can be achieved with fiber savings; thus, the production cost per square meter of sold product can be considerably reduced. Fleissner through air dryers can be used in rebuilding existing, conventional paper lines as well as new capacity TAD tissue lines. In this way, even older lines can benefit from the effect of higher product quality.

Hercules Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware, USA

PAPER CHEMISTRY Response by: Nick Ince, European applications project manager-tissue

In conjunction with our industry-focused research and development team, Hercules is continuously bringing innovative technologies to the tissue industry. Examples of our latest innovations include:

* Kymene[R] wet strength technology--New, high solids wet strength resins have improved environmental profiles and are more cost effective.

* Hercobond[R] dry/temporary wet strength technology--New temporary wet strength technology offers improved bath tissue decay rates.

* Crepetrol[R] creping technology and Rezosol[R] release technology--Yankee coating technologies to maximize Yankee cylinder protection while optimizing softness generation.

* ProSoft[R] softener and debonder technology--Sheet hand-feel and sheet flexibility is enhanced; the right product can also increase surface smoothness and/or bulk softness.

* Wickit[R] absorbency aid technology--Improves absorbency rate properties for towel grades.

* ProSoft[R] lotionising technology--A range of surface treatments for tissue that can be applied off machine during converting or rewinding. The products will increase softness as well as impart conditioning properties to the final tissue.

Metso Paper USA, Biddeford, Maine

PAPER MACHINERY Response by: Elizabeth Belliveau, marketing manager

TAD tissue production is expanding on a global scale because tissue producers using TAD are realizing higher production rates for premium products, lower production costs, superior product qualities, a higher selling price, and the ability to differentiate products in the marketplace.

Through constant contact with tissue producers, Metso Paper has identified a strong demand for lower capacity, lower cost TAD machines. This demand is from TAD producers that want to expand into regions that have lower consumption levels and also from producers that want to enter TAD production but require a lower capital investment to do so.

To date, the lowest capital cost per ton has been achieved with the high capacity machines. These high production rates require large markets to absorb the capacity. For years, Metso has been using extensive research and development resources, including our TAD pilot machine, to develop an economically attractive TAD machine. These resources, coupled with a reference list of 43 TAD tissue machines (out of 44 total worldwide,) give Metso the knowledge to assess every aspect of the TAD tissue machine. A smaller TAD will give producers the ability to broaden their TAD markets or to include TAD in their product mix.

Voith Paper Technology, Voith Fabrics headquarters, Pfullingen, Germany

MACHINE CLOTHING/PAPER MACHINERY Response by: Jade Finley, communications manager

Voith Paper Technology strives to positively impact tissue sheet properties through our product innovations. At an early stage one can influence the sheet during its formation. With Voith Fabrics' patented Enterprise[TM] forming fabric, we have been able to significantly improve fiber retention, reduce refining loads, and achieve tensile specification. The benefits are improved softness of the bath tissue and better hand feel of the kitchen towel. The Voith Enterprise forming fabric provides tissue product improvements because of its unique weave and high fiber support index (FSI) of 200.

In the area of press technology, Voith Paper has developed a press with specific design considerations for the bulk and softness of our customer's bath tissue. The Voith patented TissueFlex[TM] is a shoe press roll loaded against the Yankee dryer; it provides higher bulk/caliper for tissue makers. The TissueFlex presses and dewaters the tissue sheet in a wider nip than normal, which provides longer dwell time at lower nip pressure. The sheet is still adequately dewatered, but not densified.

Weavexx, Wake Forest, N. Carolina, USA

MACHINE CLOTHING Response by Steve Cole, director, marketing

Weavexx offers tissue makers two product families:

Vantage 16T: The Vantage 16T is a stable, self-stitched, triple layer forming fabric. Ultra-high fiber support improves formation, mechanical retention and sheet release while reducing bleed-through. Vantage 16T's high permeability delivers excellent drainage and easy cleaning.

In one case, a customer running a crescent former could not get beyond 5400 ft/m and maintain sheet quality, tonnage rates, and consistent trim width with competitive products. After applying Vantage 16T, the customer noticed the much-improved width stability during break-in that held width throughout life. Speeds improved to over 5500 ft/m consistently, with overall machine efficiency rising 1.8% points.

Millennium tissue felts: Millennium's specially engineered laminated structure provides optimum pressing uniformity for fast start-up and improved sheet drying, while delivering excellent compaction resistance for improved life.

One customer experienced sheet breaks and poor startup during early stages of felt cycles in addition to relatively high energy consumption. The Millennium design provided a more uniform startup curve with minimal break-in period. Machine ramped to production speeds within 2 hours. The felts also withstood higher pressures from needle showering. S!

Table I: Consumer demands for tissue properties vary by product.

Toilet Tissue    Facial Tissue                     Toweling

Softness         Softness                          Strength
Bulk             Sheet flexibility                 Absorbency
Temporary wet
   strength      Skin transfer and conditioning    Food contact status

                 Marketing advantages from
                 association with natural
                 products

Source: Hercules Incorporated

IN THIS ARTICLE, YOU WILL LEARN

* The competitive challenges faced by today's towel and tissue makers.

* Specific new technologies offered by various suppliers to the tissue industry.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

* "Tissue: Is the glass half empty or half full?," by Shaw Shahery, Solutions!, June 2003, page 34.

* "Tissue industry adjusts to new markets, embraces new technology," by Shaw Shahery, Solutions!, October 2002, page 37.

* For a complete listing of articles, technical papers, TAPPI Tips, and other information on this topic, search for "tissue" at wwww.tappi.org

About the author: Janice Bottiglieri is senior editor of Solutions! and editor of TAPPI

JOURNAL. Contact her at [e-mail].