OnQ ModuleJet actuators with OnQ Profilmatic for the control of the basis weight have been installed on headboxes since the beginning of the 1990s in order to keep paper quality consistently high. Since then, over 30,000 OnQ ModuleJet actuators have become renowned for robustness and thus for low failure rates.
Voith Paper Automation has now brought a new generation of OnQ ModuleJet actuators to the market, which will meet the even higher availability demands of the future. Shortly after market launch, Voith Paper was immediately commissioned to modernize an existing system. Ziegler Papier AG, based in Grellingen, Switzerland, ordered 55 Type LVM-6 actuators and an upgrade of its existing OnQ Profilmatic control software. With this investment, the Swiss paper manufacturer has ensured consistently high quality and system availability.
The main goal of Voith Paper's development of new actuators was to guarantee high system availability. Thus, for example, the operator is informed immediately online when an actuator malfunctions and can exchange it while the machine is running. Defective products or even a shutdown of the machine can thus be prevented. In the new OnQ ModuleJet, the motor and electronics are also separated. Thanks to the resulting compact design, new actuators can also be installed easily and economically in older headboxes, as is the case here in the PM 3. In addition, more safety is offered, because the electronics of the actuator are installed so that they are protected from the white water.
Not only the hardware of a control system must be reliable, but the software as well. Reliability of communications is also a priority for Voith. The new actuators are provided with all the well-known advantages of Ethernet communications.
High quality, graphic inkjet and industrial papers with silicone coating are produced on the Grellingen PM 3, with a very broad basis weight range of 40 to 250 g/m². This bandwidth represents a major challenge for the CD profile control software. The OnQ Profilmatic impressed the Swiss paper manufacturer with its multi-model mapping function. The OnQ Profilmatic stores self-optimizing mapping parameters, such as the assignment of the scanner's data box to the actuator, in a database, where they contribute to control. Thus, the software can rely on these predefined parameters when there is a grade change, and the optimum control state can be achieved as quickly as possible.
