EP2488695A1 - Technique et système pour broyer un matériau fibreux avec rendement d'énergie et qualité de pâte améliorés - Google Patents

Technique et système pour broyer un matériau fibreux avec rendement d'énergie et qualité de pâte améliorés

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Publication number
EP2488695A1
EP2488695A1 EP10720734A EP10720734A EP2488695A1 EP 2488695 A1 EP2488695 A1 EP 2488695A1 EP 10720734 A EP10720734 A EP 10720734A EP 10720734 A EP10720734 A EP 10720734A EP 2488695 A1 EP2488695 A1 EP 2488695A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
refiner
process section
motor
pulp
control
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP10720734A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP2488695B1 (fr
Inventor
Anders Karlström
Alf Isaksson
Lars Ledung
Simo Säynevirta
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
ABB Research Ltd Sweden
Original Assignee
ABB Research Ltd Switzerland
ABB Research Ltd Sweden
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Application filed by ABB Research Ltd Switzerland, ABB Research Ltd Sweden filed Critical ABB Research Ltd Switzerland
Publication of EP2488695A1 publication Critical patent/EP2488695A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2488695B1 publication Critical patent/EP2488695B1/fr
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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Classifications

    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D21—PAPER-MAKING; PRODUCTION OF CELLULOSE
    • D21D—TREATMENT OF THE MATERIALS BEFORE PASSING TO THE PAPER-MAKING MACHINE
    • D21D1/00—Methods of beating or refining; Beaters of the Hollander type
    • D21D1/002—Control devices
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D21—PAPER-MAKING; PRODUCTION OF CELLULOSE
    • D21D—TREATMENT OF THE MATERIALS BEFORE PASSING TO THE PAPER-MAKING MACHINE
    • D21D1/00—Methods of beating or refining; Beaters of the Hollander type
    • D21D1/20—Methods of refining
    • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
    • D21—PAPER-MAKING; PRODUCTION OF CELLULOSE
    • D21G—CALENDERS; ACCESSORIES FOR PAPER-MAKING MACHINES
    • D21G9/00—Other accessories for paper-making machines
    • D21G9/0009—Paper-making control systems
    • D21G9/0018—Paper-making control systems controlling the stock preparation

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an improved method for controlling one or more refiners in a process section for refining a fibrous material.
  • the present invention is applicable in all technical areas where refiners are used, such as pulp and paper industry as well as related industries.
  • Refiners of one sort or another play a central role in the production of high yield pulp and for pre- treatment of fibres in paper-making for the pulp and paper industry and related industries through grinding, for example, thermo -mechanical pulp (TMP) or chemical thermo -mechanical pulp (CTMP) starting from lignin-cellulose material such as wood chips.
  • TMP thermo -mechanical pulp
  • CMP chemical thermo -mechanical pulp
  • Two types of refiners are important to mention here; low consistency (LC) refining where the pulp is refined at about 4 per cent consistency (dry content), and high consistency (HC) refining where the consistency is commonly about 40 per cent.
  • LC refining is done in a two-phase system chips/pulp and water, while HC refining has three phases; chips/pulp, water and steam.
  • Refiners are also used in other industrial applications, such as for example manufacturing of wood fiber board.
  • refiners consist of two circular plates, in between which the material to be treated passes from the inner part to the periphery of the plates.
  • static refiner plate usually there is one static refiner plate and one rotating refiner plate, rotating at a very high speed.
  • FIG. 4 A schematic illustration of a known refiner 1 is given in Figure 4.
  • the raw material which may consist of wood chips 5 or already treated pulp from a previous stage enters at the center C of the refiner.
  • the material is transported via one or more screw feeders 7.
  • the raw material is normally mixed with dilution water 2 whose flow is usually measured and controlled. Alternatively water may be added directly in the refiner.
  • the material is then treated on its way to the periphery of the refiner plates.
  • the static refiner plate 3, or stator is usually pushed towards the rotating one 4, or rotor, either electro -mechanically or hydraulically.
  • the rotating disc or discs are driven by one or two motors 10.
  • the grinding zone or as it is often called the refining zone may also have a variable gap along the radius dependent on the design of the plates.
  • the figure also shows the outlet position 6 where the pressure P out i et is measured, and the point where production inlet pressure Pinkt 8 may be measured.
  • the diameter of the refiner plates differ dependent on size (production capacity) of the refiner and brand.
  • the plates also called segments 18, 19 Fig 6
  • These segments have grinding patterns, see Figure 6, with bars 15, 15' and troughs 16 that differ dependent on supplier.
  • the bars act with shear forces that defibrate and defibrillate chips or further refine the already produced pulp.
  • the plates wear continuously in use and have to be replaced at intervals of around every 2 months or so.
  • fibres, water and steam are also transported in the troughs between the bars.
  • refiners there are also other types of refiners such as double disc, where both plates rotate counter to each other, or conic refiners. Yet another type is called twin refiners, where there are four refiner plates. A centrally placed rotor has two refiner plates mounted, one on either side, and then there are two static refiner plates that are pushed against each other using, for example, hydraulic cylinders thus creating two refining zones.
  • the refiner plates When refining wood chips or previously refined pulp the refiner plates are typically pushed against each other to obtain a plate gap of approximately 0.2-0.7 mm dependent on what type of refiner is used.
  • the controlled variables consist of the specific energy (i.e. the ratio between the refiner motor load and the pulp production), alternatively just the motor load, the pulp consistency out of the refiner, and best case also at least one variable describing the quality of the pulp (e.g. Canadian Standard Freeness, CSF).
  • CSF Canadian Standard Freeness
  • refiner motors In North America where the grid frequency is 60Hz, refiner motors are traditionally run at 1800 revolutions per minute (rpm) and in Europe and many countries of the world with a grid frequency of 50Hz, they typically run at 1500 rpm. Due to mechanical limitations (for example with a constant speed electrical machine) the refiner motor speed control is normally not even possible, and only on-off settings are possible. Moreover, a typical refiner line consists of two refiners in series; a primary refiner (PR) and a secondary refiner (SR). Often there is also a processing step called reject refining.
  • PR primary refiner
  • SR secondary refiner
  • Control of a complete refiner line often becomes quite complex. Examples of commercially available control concepts may be found in the Licentiate thesis by Liden [1] and in the patent application US2005/263259 (Al) [2]. These control concepts based on Model Predictive Control (MPC) using the traditional controlled variables described above, are used for large complex systems consisting of multiple refiner lines but also single lines or single refiners.
  • MPC Model Predictive Control
  • An alternative control variable central in, for example [2], is the plate gap, which is then controlled by manipulating the hydraulic pressure Phydr- Today there are plate gap sensors to measure the distance between the refiner plates on the market which are applied directly in the refiner plates. Usually only one gap sensor is used per refining zone, primarily to avoid the plates clashing together.
  • a Swedish patent SE530528 entitled “Pulp refiner grinding gap calculating system”, comprises separate or combined pressure and temperature sensors for providing data combinable with material and process variables, describes use of temperature or pressure sensors in pulp refiners. It describes a method to calculate grinding gap in a refiner as well as the central role of shear forces across the diameter of the refiner plates in determining how much work is applied to the fibrous mass to defibrillate and refine it.
  • the design of the refiner segments have proven very important for the shape of the temperature profile along the radius, and it is crucial to take this into account when placing the temperature and/or pressure sensors in the sensor array.
  • WO2004076739 entitled "Control method of a process for producing refiner mechanical pulp” describes a method controlled with a multivariable control algorithm.
  • control variables two or more of the following are used as control variables; a) mass flow of wood (via) speed of revolutions of the feed screw, b) width of the refining split, c) speed of revolutions of the rotor or its peripheral speed, d) rotation force of the motor.
  • At least two measured variables are used of which one is tear, coupled to at least one of control variables a, b, c or d.
  • rotation force of the motor is easy to measure it is similar to motor load and has the disadvantage that the same value of motor load (or specific energy) can produce pulp of different qualities.
  • US2008/288090 entitled “Power Savings Method For Rotating Pulp And Paper Machinery” assigned to Johansson OM describes a method in which the electric motor of a rotating machine is variable.
  • the control system includes a control algorithm to optimize the efficiency of the rotating machine.
  • the control system receives inputs of pressures, flows, consistency and position, and also receives input from a pulp quality measurement device.
  • the motor speed is optimized relative to a pulp quality measurement such as freeness, shives, fibre length etc.
  • the aim of the present invention is to remedy one or more of the above mentioned problems.
  • this and other aims are obtained by a method according to claim 1.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and determining a value for said one or more process variables and calculating a setpoint for the variable motor speed of at least one refiner motor using a multivariable control method.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed in a continuous manner, wherein the refiner also has a plurality of sensors arranged in a
  • the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and wherein a change is calculated for said at least one manipulated variable for said at least one refiner using a mathematical process model.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed, wherein the method also comprises deteirnining a value for one or more process variables wherein energy use by at least one refiner motor is minimum for a specific parameter of pulp quality for said at least one refiner of said process section.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed, wherein the method also comprises determining a value for one or more process variables wherein energy use by at least one refiner motor is minimum for a specific parameter of pulp quality within an upper limit and a lower limit for pulp quality or consistency for said at least one refiner of said process section.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed, wherein the method also comprises determining a value for at least one of the process variables hydraulic pressure (or plate gap), chip feed screw rpm, and calculating a setpoint for Inlet Pressure or variable motor speed of the at least one refiner motor using the multivariable control method.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed, wherein the method further comprises calculating a process change and changing Inlet Pressure or steam valve opening to affect a change in a measure or estimate of pulp quality.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed, wherein the method also comprises measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, wherein the mathematical process model is described by a set of linear differential equations or difference equations.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed, wherein the method also comprises measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, wherein the mathematical process model is described by Laplace transforms and transfer functions.
  • a method for controlling a process section for refining fibrous material, the process section comprising at least one first refiner with at least one motor having a variable speed controller arranged to vary the motor speed, wherein the method also comprises calculating a process change using a measurement in which said internal state is temperature which is calculated using an array of temperature measurements along the radius of a disc inside said at least one refiner.
  • a method for controlling a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, by calculating a process change and changing at least one manipulated variable to affect a change in a measure or estimate of pulp quality.
  • a method for controlling a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, by using the mathematical process model to mimimize the deviation between reference values and measured values, or functions, of internal and/or external states.
  • a method for controlling a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, by using the mathematical process model to minimize the deviation between reference values and estimated values of internal and/or external states.
  • a method for controlling a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, and by feeding the output from said at least one first refiner into a second refiner such that said process section comprises a two stage refiner.
  • a method for controlling a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, by calculating a process change for at least one manipulated variable for the second refiner using said measurement of an internal state of the second refiner and a measurement of said one or more external states for said process section by means of a mathematical model.
  • a method for controlling a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, by calculating a process change for at least one manipulated variable of a process section comprising two or more refiners using said at least one measurement of an internal state for each refiner and a measurement of an external state for each refiner and at least a quality measurement after the second refiner.
  • a method for controlling a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, by calculating a process change for at least one manipulated variable of a process section comprising two or more refiners using said measurement of an internal state for each refiner and a measurement of an external state for each refiner and a quality
  • a method for controlling a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner for the process section and measuring, alternatively estimating, one or more values representing one or more internal states inside said at least one first refiner, and the possibility to manipulate one or more variables using a mathematical process model, by calculating a process change using a measurement in which said internal state is pressure (Pi) which is calculated using an array of measurements along the radius of a disc inside said at least one refiner.
  • Pi pressure
  • a system including a process section for refining fibrous material, said process section comprising at least one first refiner having at least one motor to drive it, and at least one control unit arranged to receive measurements or estimates of one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner wherein the at least one first refiner is arranged with an apparatus for variably controlling the motor speed of the at least one refiner and where a control apparatus is arranged for calculating a setpoint for the variable motor speed using a multivariable control method for said at least one refiner of said process section.
  • a system including a process section for refining fibrous material, said process section comprising at least one first refiner having at least one motor to drive it, and at least one control unit arranged to receive measurements or estimates of one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner wherein the at least one first refiner is arranged with an apparatus for variably controlling the motor speed of the at least one refiner and where the at least one first refiner has a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring one or more process variables for said process section and measuring one or more internal states in said at least one first refiner wherein the system further comprises apparatus for applying a process change calculated on at least one manipulated variable for said at least one refiner using said measurement or estimate of an internal state of said at least one refiner and a measurement of said one or more process variables for said process section by means of a mathematical model to monitor and control said at least one first refiner.
  • a system including a process section for refining fibrous material, said process section comprising at least one first refiner having at least one motor to drive it, and at least one control unit arranged to receive measurements or estimates of one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner wherein the at least one drive motor of a refiner in said process section is arranged with the apparatus for variably controlling the motor speed with a control device for optimising energy use for a specific pulp quality in said at least one refiner.
  • a system including a process section for refining fibrous material, said process section comprising at least one first refiner having at least one motor to drive it, and at least one control unit arranged to receive
  • a system including a process section for thermo-mechanical pulp refining, the process section comprising at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predeteimined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring one or more process variables for said process section and measuring one or more internal states in said at least one first refiner wherein the system further comprises apparatus for applying a process change calculated on at least one manipulated variable for said at least one refiner using said measurement or estimate of an internal state of said at least one refiner and a measurement of said one or more process variables for said process section by means of a mathematical model to control said at least one first refiner wherein one or more of said plurality of sensors are arranged on an active radius of a beating disc of a refiner in said process section.
  • a system including a process section for refining fibrous material, said process section comprising at least one first refiner having at least one motor to drive it, and at least one control unit arranged to receive measurements or estimates of one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner
  • the process section comprises at least one first refiner having a plurality of sensors arranged in a predetermined position on a refiner plate of said at least one first refiner, the method comprising measuring one or more process variables for said process section and measuring one or more internal states in said at least one first refiner
  • the system further comprises apparatus for applying a process change calculated on at least one manipulated variable for said at least one refiner using said measurement or estimate of an internal state of said at least one refiner and a measurement of said one or more process variables for said process section by means of a mathematical model to control said at least one first refiner
  • said process section comprises two or more refiners which are arranged connected in series, alternatively in parallel.
  • a system including a process section for refining fibrous material, said process section comprising at least one first refiner having at least one motor to drive it, and at least one control unit arranged to receive measurements or estimates of one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner whereinthe system further comprises one or more control units arranged as a control optimiser.
  • a system including a process section for refining fibrous material, said process section comprising at least one first refiner having at least one motor to drive it, and at least one control unit arranged to receive measurements or estimates of one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner whereinthe system further comprises one or more control units arranged as a state estimator.
  • a system including a process section for refining fibrous material, said process section comprising at least one first refiner having at least one motor to drive it, and at least one control unit arranged to receive measurements or estimates of one or more process variables representing external states outside of the refiner wherein the at least one first refiner is arranged with an apparatus for variably controlling the motor speed of the at least one refiner and wherein the system further comprises a control unit and/or memory storage device in which are stored one or more computer programs for carrying out a method according to claim 1.
  • controllability in traditional control concepts as described above is possible to improve from a pulp quality perspective as different qualities can be produced at the same specific energy or motor load.
  • This solution relates to achieving energy savings as well as stabilizing the product quality in a refining process by using at least one of two additional manipulated variables: Inlet Pressure (may also be expressed as steam valve opening), Motor Drive speed (which may be called refiner disc rpm). These two manipulated variables are not used in traditional refiner control.
  • control actions are to stabilize the operation of the refiner, giving less variance in the quality variables. Achieving this, the setpoint can be changed without violating any quality constraints and by that the energy input into the refiner can significantly be reduced.
  • the refiner is equipped with a variable speed motor apparatus, preferably an electric drive, or an electronic frequency converter, allowing flexible and continuously variable speed control.
  • a variable speed motor apparatus preferably an electric drive, or an electronic frequency converter, allowing flexible and continuously variable speed control.
  • the speed of the refiner shall also reflect directly in the consumption of the electrical energy by the drive.
  • the motor speed is not limited to a multiple or other function of the power supply frequency, such as 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Neither is motor speed affected by variations in the frequency of the power supply.
  • the motor rpm must be varied over that period due to the wear of the grinding plates in order to maintain a given pulp quality as well as drive the refiner at optimum rpm for energy use.
  • an increased amount of fibrous material can be produced, i.e. that a higher value of production, for example production amount as represented by the chip production flow, can be realized when the refiner is driven at a higher speed for the same value of specific energy (tons per energy unit).
  • measurements that directly or indirectly indicate the work input in the refining zone, measurements such as e.g. temperature, pressure, conductivity and/or shear force (internal states).
  • This innovation implements a control strategy that provides for the optimum speed set-point detennination of the refiners, combined with the optimized and accurate control of the refiners to run within the set control boundaries for speed and product quality.
  • the speed control is arranged such that the speed setpoint may be varied in a smooth or continuous fashion.
  • the control strategy is implemented through manipulated variables, for example motor speed and/or inlet pressure that may be changed instantaneously.
  • the control strategy provides for the optimum speed set-point determination of the refiners within the set control boundaries for speed and product quality and optimizes energy continually and without delay despite variations in the pulp or fibre characteristics (e.g. chip moisture content) as well as changes in any other process inputs.
  • this control strategy can be implemented as a real-time control system to optimize the process on-line and avoiding delays for quality measurements or off-line quality sample testing and the like.
  • the internal states, ⁇ i.e. information
  • each component of the state vector x may in turn be a vector.
  • the input vector can vary in size dependent on the type of refiner studied but could typically be represented by chip or pulp production flow, dilution water flow, and plate gap (or means to influence the plate gap such as hydraulic pressure or alternatively an electro -mechanic force).
  • the inlet pressure in the pulp feeding system is possible to manipulate.
  • the variables can refer to a set of soft sensors (or estimates from the models) describing the hidden process variables in the refining zone.
  • temperature measurements can be used to get proper estimates of the energy balance which indirectly together with zone specific data give information normally difficult to measure directly, like the residence time, defibration/fibrillation work et cetera.
  • the variables can also be referred to as estimates obtained from an algorithm which uses spatial refining zone measurements to find some optimum, like the position for the maximum temperature in the refining zone which can be controlled by e.g. Pi gesturei et as described by Sikter [6].
  • Typical examples of external states, ⁇ which may be measured relatively fast outside the refining zone but slower than the internal states, will be the blow-line consistency, pressure, motor load et cetera.
  • Such external states can also be estimated by a mathematical model.
  • Other typical external states, which are only possible to sample much more slowly and infrequently are placed in the vector Q.
  • Such states are naturally the pulp quality variables CSF, the mean fiber length and shives et cetera which are measured downstream from the refiners. If pulp quality variables are estimated from ordinary system identification procedures, e.g. using ARMAX models, to be used as input to the feedback control, such estimated variables will be placed in the vector ⁇ as the sampling rate will be fast enough.
  • the setpoints for the pulp quality variables may be configured as an upper limit and a lower limit for pulp quality or consistency.
  • the vector u can be truncated to a smaller vector if necessary and/or extended if e.g. the plate gap can be measured accurately (as the hydraulic pressure Phydr could be replaced) which of course affects the size of the matrix.
  • the main variables to be controlled are obtained from the refining zone, i.e. not from the traditional concepts based on motor load or specific energy control.
  • the essence will be that compared with the traditional concept soft sensors and measurements from the refining zone provide information which can be used almost momentarily.
  • the consistency measured in the blow line can be used, if available, but the spatial consistency, which is available from the models, is to be preferred.
  • a model for the whole line can be constructed by combining the individual refiner models. For example, neglecting the mixing effect of the blow-line and only taking the time-delay D 1 into account (which is typically in the order of 5-10 s) we have
  • y(f) h(x(t),u(t)
  • the present invention as used in a preferred embodiment or development describes a way, using among other things temperature and/or pressure measurements directly in the refining zone, to control and optimize process conditions in refiners to improve energy efficiency and pulp quality.
  • the procedure means that the internal states, represented for example by temperature and/or pressure measurements, are primarily used to minimize the variations in pulp quality and/or energy consumption. Thanks to the availability of the internal states for use in the feedback system, the number of interaction elements can be minimized in the model based control.
  • the present invention presents the solution to the problems described, and concerns use of a variable speed motor controller, which in a preferred embodiment used together with robust temperature and/or pressure measurements in combination with available measurement signals from the process together with a mathematical model to control both pulp quality and energy input to refiners much faster than what is the case today.
  • the principle advantage of the present invention is that with the implementation of the accurate process control, the right product quality can now be achieved with a wide array of possible production speeds. Due to this fact and to the energy efficiency of the variable speed drive, the speed of the refiner shall also reflect directly in the consumption of the electrical energy by the drive. In this way the specific energy (energy per ton of fibrous material produced) is minimized for a specific pulp quality parameter. In practice the motor speed will vary only a small amount around a nominal or previously fixed speed of say 1500 rpm or 1800 rpm for refiners designed to be driven at those speeds.
  • the amount of speed variation may be within a greater range than, say, within +/- 10-20% of a nominal or preferred motor speed.
  • a faster control response may be produced of variables that better correlate to the final pulp quality than in traditional refiner control concepts.
  • the present embodiment also provides a significant improvement over the prior art by introducing model based optimization involving internal states of the refiner. In an aspect of the embodiment the method:
  • a computer program, and a computer program recorded on a computer-readable medium is disclosed in another aspect of the invention.
  • Figure 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a method and system for controlling refining process for fibrous material comprising a first refiner having a motor speed controller arranged in the process therewith, according to an embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 2 shows the invention according to Figure 1 in which the diagram also shows a process section comprising a refiner but one that is further arranged with sensors in the refiner for providing additional control options according to an embodiment of the invention;
  • Figure 3 shows the invention according to Figure 1 in which the diagram also shows a process comprising two refiners, according to an embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 5 shows a schematic flowchart of the invention according to Figure 1 or Figure 2 or Figure 3 and in particular steps for carrying out a method according to an embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of the invention according to Figure 1 in which the process section is shown having a refiner arranged with a variable speed drive or speed controller, according to an embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 9 shows the invention according to Figure 1 in which the diagram also shows a process section comprising a refiner arranged with a continuously variable speed motor and in particular where the location of the speed controller has been left open, according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram for a known primary refiner
  • Figure 6 shows a known refiner grinding plate arranged with temperature or pressure sensors or conductivity sensors
  • Figure 7 shows a known array of temperature sensors (or pressure sensors or conductivity sensors) arranged on a refiner plate.
  • Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram for a method of controlling a refiner for refining a fibrous material, such as for example, a TMP pulp refiner.
  • the diagram shows a process with a single refiner 33, and a first control unit 32.
  • a variable speed drive controller 1 1 for controlling the speed of the motor 10 (shown in Figs. 4, 8) driving the primary refiner 33 is shown.
  • One or more setpoints 30 are input to the first control unit or control optimiser 32, or similar device with the same function.
  • the first control unit is arranged to manipulate external process variables such as the hydraulic pressure P hydr - pressing together the refiner plates, flow of wood chips indicated as F p (wood chips indicated as 5, Fig 4) and dilution water 2 indicated as F D , (water indicated as 2, Figs 8, 9) as inputs to the process 33.
  • Refined pulp is produced from the process 33.
  • External variables 37 and 38 representing pulp consistency C from the process and quality Q from sampling unit 35 are input to a second control unit, a state estimator 39.
  • the state estimator calculates and sends 40 a state estimation x to the first control unit, the control optimiser 32.
  • Figure 8 shows a refiner similar to that shown in the Prior Art Figure 4 but with the crucial difference that the refiner motor 10 is arranged with a variable speed controller 1 1 , or drive controller, to allow variable rotation speeds to be used as a manipulated variable.
  • the measured or estimated motor speed may be compared to the calculated setpoint for rotation speed a1 ⁇ 2.
  • the refiner 1 of Figure 8 is otherwise similar and raw material, e.g.
  • the raw material Before entering the actual refiner the raw material is normally mixed with dilution water 2 whose flow is usually measured and controlled. The material is then treated on its way to the periphery of the refiner plates.
  • the static refiner plate 3, or stator In single-rotating disc refiners, the static refiner plate 3, or stator, is usually pushed towards the rotating one 4, or rotor, either electro -mechanically or hydraulically.
  • the rotating disc or discs are driven by one or two motors 10 the speed of which is/are variable and controlled by speed controller 1 1.
  • the grinding zone or, as it is often called the refining zone may also have a variable gap along the radius dependent on the design of the plates.
  • the figure also shows the outlet position 6 where the pressure P ou tiet is measured, and the point where production inlet pressure, Pmiet 8, may be measured.
  • ⁇ is the force (or soft sensor of force) measured inside the refiner
  • T ⁇ an array of temperature measurements along the radius inside the refiner, C; the blow- line consistency and Q; a vector of pulp quality variables such as Canadian standard freeness CSF and mean fiber length MFL.
  • An alternative to ⁇ or Tj is to use e.g. the pressure Pi or shear force f s inside the refiner as a state variable.
  • ui and j may be described by a set of nonlinear differential equations characterised by a vector valued nonlinear function fi ;
  • the main dynamics of the refiner are those for the actuation and sensing (more about sensing further below). Denoting the output from the controller by uj c the following linear differential equations approximately describe the inputs to the refining zone
  • the time constant ⁇ is roughly equal for all inputs and typically in the order of 1-5 seconds.
  • Figure 3 shows a schematic block diagram for a method of controlling a refiner or TMP pulp refiner line.
  • the diagram shows a process with a first refiner 33, and a second refiner 34, which are preferably arranged as a primary and a secondary refiner.
  • a first control unit or control optimiser 32 is supplied with one or more setpoints 30 to the first control unit, or similar device with the same function.
  • the first control unit is arranged to manipulate external process variables such as the hydraulic pressure P hyd r- pressing together the refiner plates, flow of wood chips F P 5 , and dilution water F D 2 as inputs to the first refiner 33; and hydraulic pressure P hy dr and dilution water flow F D , 2' to the secondary refiner.
  • Pulp from the first refiner is led to the second refiner 34 through a blowline (not shown).
  • Refined pulp PR is produced from the secondary refiner 34.
  • the refined pulp is sampled to measure one or more quality parameters Q.
  • External variables 37 representing pulp consistency (C) from the primary refiner and quality 38 (Q) from sampling unit 35 are input to a second control unit, a state estimator 39.
  • a variable speed drive controller 1 1 for controlling the speed of the motor 10 is shown.
  • the diagram of Fig 8 also shows an input 44 to the state estimator 39, where input 44 is the speed of the refiner as driven by the motor and controlled to a refiner speed setpoint co m .
  • the input 44 may be provided to other control units in the processes 33, 34.
  • the state estimator calculates and sends a state estimation x to the first control unit, the control optimiser 32.
  • the estimated state is used as a starting point to calculate the future trajectories of all state variables based on the process model.
  • the setpoints are then compared with the model outputs to obtain a control error.
  • values for a temperature profile or a pressure profile (or the shear forces) from inside the refiner at Tl (primary) 36 and T2 (secondary) 36" representing Internal states and made using sensors as shown 21 in Fig 7, fed to the state estimator 39 may be used to control the process.
  • Figure 2 shows a similar schematic diagram to Figure 1 with the exception that measurements 36 of temperature (or pressure or shear force or conductivity, but not limited to these measurements) are provided from inside the refiner, the measurements denoted here as Ti .
  • measurements 36 of temperature (or pressure or shear force or conductivity, but not limited to these measurements) are provided from inside the refiner, the measurements denoted here as Ti .
  • These Internal values 36 representing the temperature profile or a pressure profile or other measurement from inside the refiner using sensors as shown 21 in Fig 6, are fed to the state estimator 39 as well as the other values of consistency 37, quality 38 and refiner motor speed, shown as 44 in Figs 8, 2.
  • blow-line between the primary and secondary refiners is considered static
  • the blow- line itself introduces a time delay Dj, typically in the order of 5-10 s.
  • a typical set of measurements can be y
  • T x and T 2 are the temperature measurements (possibly vector valued) in primary and secondary refiner, respectively, C x the measured blow-line consistency out of the primary refiner and Q 2 the pulp quality after the secondary refiner.
  • the setpoints for any of the pulp quality variables may be configured as an upper limit and a lower limit.
  • a sampling interval in practice often is 20-30 minutes.
  • the measurement is often preceded by a latency chest, which then acts like an anti-aliasing filter.
  • y(f) h(x(t),u(t)) where and the state variable x(t) is built up by ⁇ it) and x 2 (t) and possibly additional states to account for actuator and sensor dynamics.
  • x(t) is built up by ⁇ it) and x 2 (t) and possibly additional states to account for actuator and sensor dynamics.
  • the optimization target is to the best estimate of all states of the refiner using the available measurements. This can be done using a e.g. Kalman filter [7] (or if the model is nonlinear extended Kalman filter) where a stochastic modelling of the process and measurement noises is deployed. Alternatively we may apply so-called moving horizon estimation [8]. Then the process and measurement noise are introduced using slack variables w and v in a discretized version of the model
  • moving horizon estimation corresponds to minimizing
  • R x and R 2 are weight matrices used for tuning of the estimator, which have a similar interpretation and importance as the estimate and noise covariance matrices in Kalman filtering. As indicated this optimization is typically done over a horizon [ t - MT s , t ], if t is the current measurement time. Since this time interval is in the past we assume access to historic values of the applied manipulated variables u k .
  • the first penalty term in the criterion is to create a link from one optimization window to the next, where x k _ M denotes the estimate for this particular time instant from the optimization run at the previous cycle.
  • the state estimation produces a starting point for the optimization of future manipulated variables, where future setpoints r k are compared with some subset or combination of the state variables m(x k ) calculated by use of the mathematical process model.
  • a formulation of the optimization objective may be, for example, min ⁇ (r k - m(x k )) T W y (r k - m(x k )) + £ Au k r W u Au k
  • the nonlinear model is used as an equality constraint, leading to a nonlinear model predictive control problem.
  • the model is linear, resulting in a model of the form
  • FIG. 5 shows a simplified flowchart for one or more methods according to another aspect of the invention.
  • the figure shows that the method begins 50 by initializing the time t. Each cycle starts by retrieving the measured values from the sensors 52, from consistency 37, from quality 38 and refiner (motor) speed 44. These measured values (and possibly also historic values in a window of length M) are then used together with the process model to calculate 53 a state estimate x . This state estimate is then used as a starting point in the forward optimisation which produces a sequence of changes 55 to the manipulated variables over a future horizon of length N u .
  • measured values 36 of Internal states from the temperature or press sensors 22 inside the refiner may be included in step 52 to form part of the estimated states in step 53.
  • production amount as represented by the chip production flow denoted above as F p may be added as a manipulated variable for calculating a change using a multivariable control method to control or optimize the refiner process.
  • Methods of the invention may also be practised, for example during an installation, or configuration phase, manually during operations, or remotely during any stage, by means of a Graphical User Interface, a graphical or textual or mixed display on an operator workstation, running on a user's logged-in computer.
  • the user's computer may be set up connected directly to a process control system, or configured in some way as a remote workstation.
  • Such a logged in workstation may be used to monitor energy consumption dependent on a motor speed setpoint C0 m , or motor speed 44, and/or monitor a temperature profile or pressure profile inside the refiner provided by sensors 22 and displayed by a GUI or other HMI arranged to display the parameters and values named in this description.
  • the methods of controlling and optimizing as described above and elsewhere in this specification may be carried out by a computer application comprising computer program elements or software code which, when loaded in a processor or computer, causes the computer or processor to carry out the method steps.
  • the functions of the methods such as the method shown in Figure 5, may be carried out by processing digital functions, algorithms and/or computer programs and/or by analogue components or analogue circuits or by a combination of both digital and analogue functions.
  • the methods of the invention may, as previously described, be carried out by means of one or more computer programs comprising computer program code or software portions running on a computer or a processor.
  • the microprocessor (or processors) comprises a central processing unit CPU performing the steps of the method according to one or more facets of the invention. This is performed with the aid of one or more said computer programs, such as, which are stored at least in part in memory and/or and as such accessible by the one or more processors.
  • Each processor may be in a control unit, or as a separate control optimizer unit or in a state estimator unit or part thereof, or may as well run in a local or central control system in a local or distributed computerised control system. It is to be understood that said computer programs may also be run on one or more general purpose industrial microprocessors or computers instead of one or more specially adapted computers or processors.
  • the computer program comprises computer program code elements or software code portions that make the computer perform the method using equations, algorithms, data, stored values and calculations previously described.
  • a part of the program may be stored in a processor as above, but also in a ROM, RAM, PROM, EPROM or EEPROM chip or similar memory means.
  • the program in part or in whole may also be stored on, or in, other suitable computer readable medium such as a magnetic disk, CD-ROM or DVD disk, hard disk, magneto -optical memory storage means, in volatile memory, in flash memory, as firmware, stored on a data server or on one or more arrays of data servers.
  • Other known and suitable media, including removable memory media and other removable flash memories, hard drives etc. may also be used.
  • the computer programs described may also be arranged in part as a distributed application capable of running on several different computers or computer systems at more or less the same time.
  • Programs as well as data such as starting values, historical measurement data or process information may be made available for retrieval, delivery or, in the case of programs, execution over the Internet.
  • Data may be accessed by means of any of: OPC, OPC servers, an Object Request Broker such as COM, DCOM or CORBA, a web service.

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Abstract

L'invention porte sur un procédé pour commander une section de traitement pour broyer un matériau fibreux tel que de la pâte de bois, de la pâte de cellulose, et analogue. La section de traitement comporte une broyeuse entraînée par un moteur dont la vitesse est variable. A l'aide d'un procédé de commande à variables multiples, le traitement peut être optimisé vis-à-vis de l'énergie par variation de la vitesse de rotation de la broyeuse. La section de traitement peut également comporter au moins une première broyeuse comportant une pluralité de capteurs disposés dans une position prédéterminée sur une plaque de broyeuse de la ou des premières broyeuses. Le procédé peut également comprendre la mesure, ou, en variante, l'estimation, d'une ou de plusieurs variables de traitement représentant des états externes à l'extérieur de la broyeuse (η1, Q1) pour ladite section de traitement, et la mesure, ou, en variante, l'estimation, d'une ou de plusieurs valeurs représentant un ou plusieurs états internes (ζ1) à l'intérieur de ladite ou desdites premières broyeuses, et le calcul d'un changement pour ladite ou lesdites variables manipulées (u1) pour ladite ou lesdites broyeuses à l'aide de ladite mesure d'un état interne (ζ1) de ladite ou desdites broyeuses et d'une mesure dudit ou desdits états externes de traitement (n1, Q1) pour ladite section de traitement à l'aide d'un modèle de traitement mathématique.
EP10720734.2A 2009-10-14 2010-05-10 Technique et système pour broyer un matériau fibreux avec rendement d'énergie et qualité de pâte améliorés Active EP2488695B1 (fr)

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US25137509P 2009-10-14 2009-10-14
PCT/EP2010/056355 WO2011045090A1 (fr) 2009-10-14 2010-05-10 Technique et système pour broyer un matériau fibreux avec rendement d'énergie et qualité de pâte améliorés

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EP3547482A1 (fr) * 2018-03-29 2019-10-02 UPM Energy Oy Procédé et agencement permettant d'adapter le fonctionnement d'un appareil de mise en pâte mécanique

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WO2013095203A1 (fr) * 2011-12-20 2013-06-27 Karlstroem Anders Procédure pour contrôler la qualité de la pulpe provenant de raffineurs
EP3441521B1 (fr) * 2017-08-09 2022-10-05 Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG Procédé et dispositif de commande d'une unité d'usinage, produit- programme informatique ainsi que machine à papier
DE102019101808A1 (de) * 2019-01-25 2020-07-30 Voith Patent Gmbh Steuerung der Faserstoffbehandlung

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EP1082487B9 (fr) * 1998-05-27 2005-11-02 Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada Raffinage de copeaux a faible vitesse et a faible intensite
WO2004076739A1 (fr) * 2003-02-27 2004-09-10 Tom Forsman Procede de commande d'un processus permettant de produire de la pate mecanique raffinee
US7381303B2 (en) * 2004-04-27 2008-06-03 Honeywell International Inc. System and method for controlling a thermo-mechanical wood pulp refiner
US7809462B2 (en) * 2007-05-16 2010-10-05 Johansson Ola M Power savings method for rotating pulp and paper machinery

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3547482A1 (fr) * 2018-03-29 2019-10-02 UPM Energy Oy Procédé et agencement permettant d'adapter le fonctionnement d'un appareil de mise en pâte mécanique

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CN102666977B (zh) 2016-02-24
EP2488695B1 (fr) 2016-09-21
CN102666977A (zh) 2012-09-12

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