PTS-News 'Fibre based solutions for tomorrow`s products' · one step farther and even integrated...

02/13PTSNEWSFIBRE based solutions for tomorrow‘s products

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VESTRA PILOT COATERVESTRA MODERNISATION COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY

» Editorial: Paper Coating – Cutting-edge technology featuring a variety of possibilities

» PTS employee wins science award of Fraunhofer UMSICHT

» Flexible Individualists – Effluent treatment pilot plants require specialised know-how

» Paper technology as a basis for modern composite materials

» Ink adhesion on table decoration products – options for testing

FIBRE based solutions for tomorrow`s products2 Y PTS NEWS 02/2013

Some of you will perhaps recall the PTS Coating Symposium that took place two years ago in BMW

World. An impressive backdrop that ex-uded the sheer delight of extra class tech-nology. This impression was certainly accentuated by the breakneck ride of an off-road motorcycle with an impressive sound over the various stairways and entries and exits of the building. With terms such as Twin Power Turbo, Dou-ble Vanos, etc., the eyes of some visitors glowed with bright-eyed anticipation of the sophisticated technology to come.The Coating Symposium, on the con-trary, makes it appearance in a more tranquil guise. But first impressions are often deceptive: machines that coat a paper web up to 2.5 km long and 10m wide in a minute with minimal deviation in the cross-direction profile are scarcely

inferior to automo-tive technology, ex-cept perhaps for the Coolness Factor. Whereas the car in-dustry sometimes finds itself in a satu-rated market, the paper industry must cope with the com-petition of new tech-nologies that fulfil the same function. That sounds some-what more danger-ous, and it probably is. Replacing the function of one ma-terial by better tech-nologies can herald the closing stages of an entire industry, very reminiscent of the Boston ice in-dustry of the distant past. For centuries, ice from the lakes surrounding Boston was cut and sold

worldwide during the winter. The ice produc-tion was intensively

optimised year-in, year-out: i.e. the ice saws were drawn by horses, the surface was artificially irrigated to promote faster ice growth, etc. Business was brisk until --- until the advent of the electric icebox (the refrigerator). The ice industry sub-sequently withered into a marginal role.

One might maliciously assume that at least the graphic paper sector is now in this optimisation phase. The reactions to this development may vary in type. In the Scandinavian countries, in which the company owners are the owners of the forests, other ways of using fibre can be found, i.e. away from papermaking and towards light-weight parts, for example. Or one might look for locations that can better serve an existing need. As Paul Herbert (Ilim Group) described during the last Coating Symposium, fibres are

harvested from surplus wood in Siberia and then delivered to near-by China with its great demand for chemical pulp.Many companies view the production of digital paper as their salvation. Of course, the use of this grade of paper is rising in principle. One of the reasons for this is the requirement-oriented and even the personalised production of printed matter. Operating instructions, for in-stance, are no longer being provided in German, English, Russian, Egyptian …, but rather one copy in the right language per country. This also means, however, that the volume of paper required for this application has dropped to less than 10 % compared to past requirements. The overall demand for graphic paper, how-ever, is still so great and of such central importance that, with a balanced market and efficient production, it will long en-joy a solid basis. Generally speaking, the high efficiency and precision of coating machines makes them suitable for the multi-layer coating of web-type materials. This opens up a broad pallet of new applications based on the functionalisation of surfaces. Paper-based composites are conceivable for the sectors of building protection or agriculture, electronic displays and many more applications. Multilayer Curtain Coating, for example, is not only a tech-nology for optimising the production of graphic paper, but may also be a tool for discovering new horizons in technology and business segments.Visit the 26th PTS Coating Symposium this year which will once again take place in BMW World. Come and be in-formed and inspired.Incidentally, the ice industry is experienc-ing a certain revitalisation. “Sikuvodka“ is a brand of vodka now being produced using glacial ice from Greenland. As a pa-per manufacturer, however, I would not wish to rely on such a reincarnation.

PAPER COATING – CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY FEATURING A VARIETY OF POSSIBILITIES

Dr. Gerd Papier, Senior Vice President Research & Development, Schoeller Technocell GmbH & Co. KG and member of PTS` Board of Trustees

FIBRE based solutions for tomorrow`s products PTS NEWS 02/2013 Y 3

Dr Benjamin Simstich, who has worked as project manager for PTS since 2006, received this

year’s science award of UMSICHT, the Fraunhofer institute for environmental, safety and energy technology, for his doctoral thesis. The award includes prize money of 10,000 € and is a great accolade for the scientific work of PTS in the field of environmental technology.The prize was awarded by Prof Dr med Dietrich Grönemeyer in Oberhausen on 16 July. The award ceremony and presen-

tation of winners were part of a sympo-sium on “open innovation“. Main award criteria had been the environmental rel-evance and especially market orientation of scientific results. Benjamin Simstich had applied with his doctoral thesis on the “Use of submerged MBR technology for thermophilic aero-bic circulation water treatment in paper production“, which he had completed in 2012. The evaluators were particularly impressed by the clear practice-orienta-tion of his work, and that his scientific

findings will be used as basis to improve the technology. In Mr Simstich’s award-winning work, a new process variation of wastewater treatment technology was tested for the first time. The technology will offer paper mills a new way of process-integrated cir-culation water treatment. The combined use of aerobic-biological treatment and ultrafiltration leads to solids-free filtrates with greatly reduced COD and BOD5 levels and lower calcium concentrations which can be used as substitute for fresh water. The higher operating temperature of the innovative water circuit design enables users to save water and energy. In the next few months the method will be developed further together with a plant manufacturer, including also the fundamental findings from two IGF re-search projects. This moves the final aim of every ambitious research engineer al-most within grasping distance: the full-scale implementation of a concept that had originally been no more than a sci-entific idea. However, there is still a long way to go, and quite a few obstacles have yet to be overcome. The award, however, has been confirmation and encourage-ment that we are on the right track. Contact: [email protected]

PTS EMPLOYEE WINS SCIENCE AWARD OF FRAUNHOFER UMSICHT

Awardees of the UMSICHT Science Prize 2013: Nina Lindlahr, Jörn Auf dem Kampe, Jürgen Bischoff and Dr. Benjamin Simstich, PTS (from left) - image source: Fraunhofer UMSICHT

PTS presents itself for the first time at Hannover Messe

Our application for exhibiting at the joint booth of Bay-ern Innovativ was successful. For the first time, PTS had the chance to present itself at Hannover Messe, the world’s leading trade fair for industrial technology. Focal points of the presentation were new fibre-based materials such as a multi-functional paper-sheet metal composite, ceramic and metallic sinterable papers, fibre composites for fire protec-tion, waterproof papers and a security feature based on bio-molecules for product protection. The enormous interest of trade fair visitors in our exhibits showed the great potential of these still fairly young research and development areas of PTS.

Contact: [email protected]


PTS, with the co-operation of Voith, implemented the moderni-sation and general overhaul of

the automation system of the VESTRA pilot coater in Munich. The objective was to standardise the automation system that had been purchased and assembled from different providers in the course of time and to bring the plant up to the lat-est state-of-the-art technology. “The en-tire PCS of the machine control system was exchanged, a new drive control and a new quality control system incorporat-ing two scanner beams were installed”, is how Thorsten Schenk, Automation Project Head at Voith Paper describes the scope of the work.All systems were provided on a common platform, the Siemens PCS7. “That means advantages for the plant operator”, says Klaus Steinhart, Area Sales Manager at Voith Paper. “He no longer needs to deal with a variety of different subsys-tems. Up to now, he had to familiarise

himself with three different systems; that is now much simpler and more effec-tive”. In the process, Voith actually went one step farther and even integrated the VESTRA quality control system into the same platform. Scanner beams, sensors and the measurements are now centrally operated, controlled and evaluated, sup-ported by OnView as the data acquisi-tion, recording and analysis system.Modernisation also ensures greater flexi-bility and effectiveness. “VESTRA is now a proper pilot coater”, emphasises Alfred Kramm, Head of the PTS Pilot Coater. “I like to say that we can even make square pegs fit in round holes if we wanted to, in keeping with the principle: “we are not forced to do anything, but are allowed to do everything”. All components that had been installed since 1995 and some of which had been shut down or disman-tled during past rebuilds, were able to be reinstalled thanks to the professional work of the Voith team.

“NOT FORCED TO DO ANYTHING, BUT ALLOWED TO DO EVERY-THING” – VESTRA MODERNISATION COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY

All this provides the VESTRA with new possibilities. Alfred Kramm illustrated this point by citing two practical exam-ples: “The fact that all rollers in the plant have drive units has many advantages, although it has also caused difficulties in the past. For example, the guide roll has very little wrap in the dryer section, as can be seen in the image. If the drive unit of the guide roll failed, the entire ma-chine would stop dead in its tracks until the drive unit had been repaired. In some cases, that could not be done in a single day because it was simply impossible to obtain spare parts at such short notice. Today, I can simply deselect this drive unit. The motor will then no longer be driven, but the rest of the machine can continue operation”.Another example: A test series conducted on the film press was intended to test dif-ferent roll coverings for film formation and wear without using a paper web. It would only have been necessary to ro-

The VESTRA team, with Klaus Steinhart, Area Sales Manager at Voith Paper, Alfred Kramm, Head of the PTS Pilot Coater, and Thorsten Schenk, Automation Project Head at Voith Paper (from left to right)


tate the two film press rolls and dose the coating colour. Unfortunately, it was only possible to start up the working circuit once the machine was fully in operation. “We can now carry out maintenance or other optimisation work simultaneously on unaffected parts of the machine dur-ing such trials”, says the VESTRA boss with great delight.Additional advantages for the custom-er result from the fact that even exotic machine settings can be used. Alfred Kramm has yet another example from everyday trial runs: “In the meantime, we can even coat overboard using the curtain coater. That worked out well in response to a request within the scope of a research project in which a very nar-row paper web (23 cm) was to be coated both with the curtain coater and then with the blade. We might have had the courage to use the blade even with the old control system, but that would nev-er have been possible with the curtain coater”. This high-tech unit can now be run in an entirely new mode of opera-tion. Until now, the coating colours have been transported to the work containers in IBC containers or via a transfer pipe. From there, they were then conveyed to the coating head via the work stations. “Thanks to the new control system, we can now transport the coating colours directly from the coating kitchen to the curtain. That of course only functions with single-slot operation”, reports Al-fred Kramm.And what are his expectations for the new quality control system? “A quality control system is a nice luxury for a pilot plant, but it is not absolutely necessary. In my opinion, however, it is important for a pilot plant to have flexible gram-mage and moisture measuring systems

in order to measure and document the corresponding values. I do not mean to degrade in any way the quality of our new achievements. The control centre that belongs to this control system, how-ever, is still the operator sitting at the control console. Since all possible grades of paper are run through a pilot plant and we rarely know in advance what to ex-pect, it is important that we can quickly compare the displayed values with the values that were actually determined in the laboratory. We can now do that on-line without having to interrupt the trial procedure, thereby saving considerable time and paper. By the same token, we can also document “same spot measure-ment”, which is very important in the event of significant quality fluctuations, as well as “fixed position measurement” to document constant quality in the ma-chine direction.”“Same spot measurement” means that the measured base paper value is stored until the same spot arrives again at the second scanner once the paper has been coated. The value at the same spot is then compared with the currently measured total grammage. “Fixed position meas-urement” makes it possible to obtain a trend in the machine direction without having to traverse the web.This combination of ultramodern tech-nology and the vast competence of the operator team are convincing more and more customers. One trend is that the pa-per coater is now conducting trials on his own in more and more cases. “There are also more and more requests for an “All-round Carefree Package” in which we de-velop a pilot programme from the labo-ratory work and then offer consultation during the mill trial”, says Alfred Kramm.The rebuild including the planning stage

took about one year and was successful-ly completed in May 2013. It proceeded in several partial steps so that the pilot plant had to be shut down completely for two weeks only. Alfred Kramm de-scribes the experience he had during this project as very positive indeed: “I have been working for more than 30 years in pilot plants and have never experienced a rebuild that was so smooth and trouble-free. I must greatly commend Voith for their excellent work”! Klaus Steinhart added: “We at Voith also had a strategic interest in presenting our automated fa-cility as part of this pilot plant which is used by so many customers from the pa-per industry”.And what happens now? Stagnation is regression. Over and over again, it is pi-lot plants above all where new ideas that arise during the trials have to be imple-mented. There are plans to further opti-mise the handling of the coating colour on the curtain coater. “We are currently holding talks on installing a single-slot curtain and will have a new coating head on the film press in September, right in time for the Coating Symposium, says Alfred Kramm, who hopes to whet the appetites of the symposium participants to take the excursion scheduled for VES-TRA. There are also plans to use the PTS terahertz sensor to determine the coat-ing weight in the measuring unit. “In the case of multi-layer coatings that are applied in one work step in the curtain coater, I would like to install a modified dryer section in order to avoid blistering in the coating layer”, says Alfred Kramm, adding a new item to his wish list. Talks with dryer suppliers are already be-ing prepared. PTS-News will keep you abreast of developments. Contact: [email protected]

PTS AT ZELLCHEMING 2013At this year’s Zellcheming, PTS could be found at a joint booth together with Paper Centre Gernsbach, the German paper industry’s employers’ associations, and the Ger-man Pulp and Paper Association. PTS made good use of the event: By presenting examples of innovative, fibre-based materials at the special exhibition ”Fibres – The Next Generation“. With John Schulz, head of surface finishing, and Dr.-Ing. Johannes Kappen, head of resource management, contributing to the ”Fibres in Process“ forum. Last but not least, PTS also showed its colours in the lecture programme: Björn Zim-mermann talked about “Hz-Time Domain Spectroscopy for Formation Analysing of Thick Fibre Based Materials“. Contact: [email protected]


Algae-bacteria bioreactors, na-nofiltration, thermophilic and anaerobic membrane bioreac-

tors – PTS has spent the last 10 years conducting research and customer pro-jects together with machine operators and plant manufacturers to successfully develop new procedures and pilot plants for effluent treatment. Corinna Hentsch-ke and Peter Hiermeier, project manager and technician in the PTS Water and En-ergy Resource Management Department, report on their experience.“At the beginning, we focused on devel-oping the processes,” Corinna Hentschke remembers. “We are now doing con-sultancy work in plant engineering as well and have gathered the necessary know-how needed for the project plan-ning and up-scaling of facilities on a pilot plant scale”. These pilot plants, as they are known, are positioned between lab-oratory-scale and industrial systems and require special know-how. “Traditional plant manufacturers normally think in the dimensions of large-scale engineer-ing technology,” says Peter Hiermeier.

PTS makes the most of the gap between the two.Although pilot plants function in the same way as do large-scale plants, plan-ning has to be done using entirely dif-ferent components. Pumps, stirrers and the like are commercially available on the market either for laboratory-scale or industrial-scale plants only. This explains why obtaining such units on a pilot scale often proves to be difficult and requires any amount of creativity. It is sometimes necessary to think “outside the box” and look beyond the limits of the paper in-dustry into other sectors, e.g. chemical engineering. “Owing to the many pilot plants that we have built in the past few years, we take the broader view and pro-vide support to plant manufacturers”, Corinna Hentschke emphasises.The special type of construction goes hand in hand with its own set of chal-lenges: “The smaller pumps and tube diameters may cause problems with par-ticles that don’t even occur in commer-cial-scale plants due to their building de-sign,” Peter Hiermeier relates. This fact

FLEXIBLE INDIVIDUALISTS - EFFLUENT TREATMENT PILOT PLANTS REQUIRE SPECIALISED KNOW-HOW

requires unusual solutions such as pinch valves to cut off water flows. “Since the requirements on wear resistance and ser-vice life in pilot plants are significantly lower, we also enjoy some latitude in the selection of materials.”In addition to the individual components, great operational flexibility is an essen-tial requirement of pilot plants in order to be able to realise other and different process designs. “Since no-one can ever predict exactly what will happen during operation when new processes are being developed, it is very important to be able to quickly react to new findings”, Peter Heirmeier knows from long years of ex-perience. He goes on to enumerate some of the important aspects when develop-ing such facilities: “Sometimes an instru-ment has to be retrofitted in order for it to be quickly installed in the control sys-tem. Or the pumps have to be exchanged quickly and easily. In this instance, rigid pipelines are unfavourable, which ex-plains why we work with flexible tub-ing. It is always a good idea to plan on one pump more than necessary, since

Corinna Hentschke and Peter Hiermeir explain the essential aspects of building pilot plants for effluent water treatment. The new TMBR pilot plant, cur-rently under construction, can be seen in the background.


it might take several weeks to obtain a replacement.” Corinna Hentschke adds: “All in all, a pilot plant has more meas-uring equipment installed in it to make fine-meshed production data acquisition possible”.It is therefore very important to design a pilot facility for different operating con-ditions whilst still in the planning stage and not merely to settle for a condition in which “everything is working fine”. Start-up phases, cleaning cycles, pos-sible malfunctions must be taken into consideration. “That of course relates in particular to the quality of effluents, whose fluctuation ranges can be much greater during test operation than dur-ing production”, Peter Hiermeier adds. “You have to be able to react quickly, for example by installing other pumps with greater throughput rates”.At the moment, a thermophilic mem-brane bioreactor is evolving at PTS, a completely new cleaning process that has not yet been implemented on an industrial scale. “In this case, there are two reactors operating simultaneously”, explains Peter Hiermeier. By directly comparing both reactors operating under different conditions, PTS hopes to gain new insights into this promising process. One of the reactors can also be provided with an additional upstream biological treatment stage. The system also makes it possible to recycle the volume of air required to aerate the membrane, thus al-lowing the system to operate in a perpet-ual circle. “That is a major novelty, and it is the first time ever that such a feature has been studied under pilot-scale condi-tions”, Peter Hiermeier gloats. The goal is to regulate the pH when there is an elevated CO2 concentration in the back-flushing air for the membrane so as to

reduce deposits on the membrane. “An-other new test bench is scheduled within the framework of a European research project for the algae-bacteria (ALBA) bio-mass process, to which PTS has already contributed groundbreaking work on a specifically developed laboratory-scale plant in the past three years. The new pilot plant will be utilised in the paper industry for a period of several months. These are only two examples of highly developed pilot plants which PTS has planned, built and put into operation for a very specific application.Not only is the technical know-how im-portant, however. The good coordination of communication and the co-operation of all persons involved are also critical factors in the success of a project. Pilot plants are normally located in a produc-tion environment. The plant manufactur-er and operator, e.g. PTS, the production firm itself, as well as normally students for the daily work and documentation of the measured data must always kept in-formed of the operating conditions. “We obtain the effluents for the pilot plant

from the production plant and must of course know which changes might have taken place in production”, Corinna Hentschke substantiates. The condi-tions at the location must be just as well known as any stoppages or downtimes that might occur or any additional clean-ing cycles. Only in this way can the data be reliably evaluated. “Close communi-cation is what it’s all about”, Peter Hier-meier concludes.Most PTS customers currently still come from the paper industry. Corin-na Hentschke reports: “In the past few years, we have also conducted several research and development projects with breweries, i.e. users with a different ef-fluent matrix”. PTS’ expertise can be eas-ily adapted to other sectors, particularly since the requirements for paper mill ef-fluents with high COD loads, additives, calcium and solids contents are more stringent in most cases than in other in-dustrial sectors –good perspectives for the PTS effluents experts.

Contact: [email protected] [email protected]

Within the EU project AquaFit4use PTS has build in Trostberg its largest pilot plant for wastewater treatment to date – even Google Maps shows the plant as an aerial photo

PTS ASTOUNDS AUDIENCE AT ÖZEPA WITH RECOVERED PAPER SELECTIONA special highlight and eye catcher of the PTS booth was a recovered paper bale serv-ing to demonstrate the operation of the PaperBale Sensor, a measuring system devel-oped by PTS that is already being used by several paper manufacturers to optimize the quality of incoming recovered papers. The system determines the material composi-tion of recovered paper bales by measuring quality parameters like moisture, plastic, ash and groundwood content, evaluates the results against thresholds and displays them within seconds. Further features include the wireless data transfer to a tablet PC and allocation to supplier data. Contact: [email protected]


I t was not only the look onto the river Elbe from her office window at PTS Heidenau that prompted Dr

Christina Dornack’s spontaneous remark ‘That’s where I belong’. Having been born in Dresden, the scientist had known PTS for quite some time from supervis-ing many diploma theses issued jointly by the Institute of Waste Management and Contaminated Site Treatment of TU Dresden and PTS.Asked about her background, Christina Dornack says: ‘When I studied water management, the focus was always on sludge issues.’ After obtaining her doctor-ate in 2001, she worked at the Fraunhofer institute for several years, followed by seven very formative years as scientific assistant at the Institute of Waste Man-agement and Contaminated Site Treat-

ment of TU Dresden chaired by Professor Bernd Bilitewski. Her next position was assistant lecturer at Brandenburg Univer-sity of Technology in Cottbus. However, because her family lives in Dresden, she was looking for a new challenge and thus very pleased when PTS offered her the position as head of the department of raw materials and recycling. ‘The job offer from PTS arrived just at the right moment‘, she says. No sooner said than done – in March 2013 she began to work at PTS Heidenau. What had really appealed to her was the good development prospects at PTS: ‘In the past I had mainly focused on bio-mass, i.e. biogas and the utilization of bi-ogenic residues. The new job offered me the opportunity to work more frequently on recycling issues‘, the 43-year old sci-

FOCUS ON RAW MATERIALS AND RECYCLINGDR. CHRISTNA DORNACK UNDERPINS PTS RESOURCE COMPETENCE

entist describes her plans for the future. Paper and plastic materials are of course particularly interesting in this respect. During her time at TU Dresden, Christina Dornack had already dealt with the paper sector in her lecture series about produc-tion-integrated environmental protec-tion. ‘I see enormous potential in the pa-per industry in this respect because the composition of recovered papers, espe-cially of packages and cardboard boxes, varies strongly, which repeatedly calls for new solutions in treatment and pro-cessing operations.’ Even though paper recycling mills must take the raw mate-rial as it comes, manufacturers need to think about the future recyclability of their products during design and the se-lection of fillers and additives. ‘This is an exciting topic which fits very well into the work of my department, especially with respect to mass flow analyses of re-covered paper/paper cycles and dry sort-ing, and which I would like to expand ’, Christina Dornack adds with enthusiasm. In this context, she also sees good chanc-es for cooperation with other depart-ments, for example her colleagues from the sensor technology team, who have great expertise in NIR technology, or the department of pulp technology. Another field that is directly linked with recycla-bility is the utilization of residues in bi-orefinery processes and use of alternative fibrous raw materials for papermaking. The list of exciting new tasks could be continued here – it’s going to be interest-ing to learn about her future projects. Contact: [email protected]

RECOVERED PAPER − A FASCINATING RAW MATERIALA B.A. THESIS AT PTS

The fact that he intended to study en-gineering, was clear once he had com-pleted his school leaving examination – but in which field? Paper and Packaging Process Technology at Munich University of Applied Sciences sounded interesting. But the actual impetus for Stefan Buerg-mayr did not come until he took a guided tour through the Rieger paper mill in

Trostberg: “The moment I saw the paper machine, the decision to study paper-making was clear as a bell”.The road that ultimately led him to PTS was also quickly found, not least because PTS is located very close to the university. “I used the PTS research database on the website very intensively because the nu-merous publications there are extremely

valuable”, is how the 26 year-old de-scribes his initial experience. “For exam-ple, there is virtually no information avail-able on formation measurement, but you can really strike it rich in the PTS data-base, even with such specialised themes.” Personal contacts were soon made during a one-week internship that took place at the PTS pilot plant for papermaking and


fibre technology in Heidenau.“I spent my practical semester at one of the largest recovered paper recycling plants in Germany and when I then read the invitation to bid for a research post on pulping recovered paper at elevated process temperatures on the PTS home-page, it fit like a glove”, rejoiced Stefan Buergmayr. In addition, the idea of el-evated process temperatures had previ-ously been dealt with during the semes-ter as a sort of thought experiment. The decision to work on his B.A. thesis at PTS was an easy one.The work was part of the EU research project W2PHeat. The acronym stands for “From Waste Heat to Process Heat”, i.e. the production of process heat from waste heat as produced by the dryer section, for instance. A new high-temperature heat pump (HT HP) technology is to be devel-oped for this purpose to enable unavoid-able waste heat flows to be upgraded di-rectly for process heat production.After clarifying the theory relating to dif-ferent pulping units, process conditions and influences, the student drew up a

concrete trial design. Different paper, paperboard and wet-strength paper were studied on a laboratory scale at process temperatures between 20 °C and 90 °C. In addition to a standard disintegrator, the original intention was to use a heated laboratory-scale pulper that operates in the high stock consistency range. Such a machine with the desired properties, however, was not available on the mar-ket. “This is where creative improvisa-tion was called for, and we were able to successfully “misappropriate” a kitchen appliance for the lab tests”, Stefan Buerg-mayr recalls.The results are convincing: “Although the scientific literature cites that the process temperature affects pulping, no concrete figures could be gleaned within the framework of the research project”. It was clearly documented that the residual content of fibre bundles was significantly higher at low temperatures than at higher temperatures.And his future plans? “I am now in the second semester of my M.A. paper tech-nology course and am naturally looking

around for a topic for my M.A. thesis”, the paper engineer reports. Since the B.A. the-sis arose in a research environment, Ste-fan Buergmayr would be more interested in doing his M.A. in an industrial envi-ronment, particularly since it is now the time to begin preparing for a career. He is therefore definitely looking for an op-portunity in the paper industry, preferably focusing on recovered paper, of course. Contact: [email protected]

After his Bachelor at PTS Stefan Bürgmayr has now startet his postgraduate master studies

ONSTAGE: PTS RELAUNCHES HOMEPAGE

PTS has given its homepage a major over-haul facelift – to structure it more clearly and make the navigation easier. Since 15th

July, you can see for yourself if we have done a good job on it. In the “company” section, you will find anything worth knowing about Papiertech-nische Stiftung. Including a database with contact persons, images and press releases for download and job offers for employees and students. Under “services“, we will present our offers in the fields of research and development, (including a data-base with abstracts and report of about 900 re-search projects), consultancy, measuring and test-ing. Information about continuing education with an overview of our training events and proceeding for download can be found there as well as the service offers of the pilot plant facilities in Mu-nich and Heidenau. “Solutions” is the headline we have chosen to show our four new core ar-eas – new materials, packages, print products and resource efficiency – in a particularly prominent position. There are a lot of things worth knowing - We look forward to welcoming you as a visitor at www.ptspaper.com.



A generational transition has taken place in the symposium organisation at PTS. Anastasia

Vanpoperynghe came on board in mid-March 2013, taking over the responsibili-ties of Heinrich Hammer who went into retirement after some 30 years at PTS.To clear up a question that invariably arises: the surname is Flemish. French by birth, Ms Vanpoperynghe studied Inter-national Business focusing on Strategic Marketing and did her diploma thesis at EADS in Ottobrunn. An internship at Tex-as Instruments ensued, culminating in a permanent position. “After seven years in an American firm, I wanted to work in a German environment”, Anastasia Van-poperynghe explains. She was in Event Marketing at Texas Instruments, where she organised customer and partner events for the EMEA region Europe, Mid-dle East and Africa. “The concept with exhibitors, sponsors and partners is quite

similar to the PTS symposia so that I can contribute my experience to full effect”.Anastasia Vanpoperynghe sees three pri-orities for herself in organising the sym-posia: conducting follow-up, address-ing the customer and developing new styles of seminar. “The follow-up after the event is very important to me. It is frequently neglected. Actually, important input can be obtained for improving sub-sequent events. Satisfied customers keep coming back.”A better understanding of customer needs is to be included in the customer database so that promotional campaigns can target the customer more accurately. “That is the foundation as far as I am concerned. Without a well-structured and well-kept customer database, even the best measures will come to nothing”, the 33 year-old knows from her own experience. She also sees potential in communicating with customers, both in

promotional addresses as well as in the knowledge transfer during the seminars themselves. “This communication is of-ten somewhat dry and down to earth in a scientific environment such as that at PTS. We will work on giving the semi-nars a revitalised structure so that there will be not be just traditional teaching approaches based on direct instruction or lecturing with PowerPoint transparen-cies, promises Anastasia Vanpoperynghe.Other ideas relate to the utilisation of new technologies. “In 2014, we plan to begin with the first web seminars and are currently evaluating different platforms”, she admits. However, the web seminars are not intended to replace all attend-ance courses; rather they are initially conceived as entry events which will then be used as a foundation on which to build more advanced seminars at PTS. “With this seminar structure, it will be very easy to test how new themes are accepted or disseminate current results from research projects”, says Anastasia Vanpoperynghe with enthusiasm. There are other tangible benefits as well: the companies no longer have to pay travel expenses or long non-productive times, and the learning phases can be better co-ordinated with scheduled business pro-cesses.The implementation of these ambitious and long-term objectives requires great skill and much perseverance – attributes that Anastasia Vanpoperynghe fosters in her private life when she indulges in her passions of jugglery and running mara-thons. Contact:[email protected]

BETTER FOCUSED AND LIVELIERANASTASIA VANPOPERYNGHE TAKES OVER THE ORGANISATION OF PTS EVENTS

“COLOUR FIELDS“ – AN EXHIBITION AT PTSWorks by Alina Maria Schütte are on display at the PTS institute in Munich from 3 May to 3 December. Her art can be defined as colour field painting, a highly individual, unconven-tional creative principle: Alina Maria Schütte soaks cellulose in high-quality pigment dyes to throw it onto a large-format canvas. The colourful “projectiles” end up as splashes on the canvas, leaving inscriptions of stunning beauty that are at the same time directed by chance and by the artist’s throwing hand. The consistency of the cellulose material creates a very unique, three-dimensional colour scene. The brilliance of her paintings also embraces the radiant energy of the digital age. Contact: [email protected]


The paper industry is feeling the growing pressure to innovate in the light of the prevailing trend,

especially towards electronic media. New applications and markets for paper and board products must be tapped.Paper technology, however, offers the possibility of producing ultra-modern materials for new applications and of opening up new markets in future. Pa-per has been a composite material since time immemorial. In addition to natural pulps, synthetic fibres, fillers and bond-ing agents can be added to adapt the property profile of the paper to the re-spective application. And that is precise-ly the forte of a composite material. By selectively combining different compo-nents, combinations of properties can be achieved in a material which cannot be achieved with the pure substance alone. Textbook examples of such composites are fibre-reinforced plastics, in particular glass and carbon fibre reinforced plas-tics (GRP/CRP), which are making ever greater inroads into automotive engi-neering, for example. These are light, but nonetheless very stiff and unbreakable.PTS is currently conducting a system-atic follow-up of the composite material principle and transferring it to paper ma-terials. Paper technology offers decisive advantages in this context. Based on this sophisticated and reliable technology, flat composite materials can be manufac-tured continuously and very efficiently. The composites may vary in thickness and may be produced in multiple plies. Established coating and finishing proce-dures complete the configuration pos-sibilities as well. In particular, the pos-sibilities of shaping the composites by paper technology methods offer great potential for light-weight construction, for instance. The wet process involved in papermaking makes it easy to blend different components and combine them into one material. This makes it possible achieve remarkable properties in the re-sulting material due to synergy effects. The use of functional fillers alone gives the composite material a decisive cut-ting edge for new applications. Hence, the materials can be designed to be so

PAPER TECHNOLOGY AS A BASIS FOR MODERN COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Dr. Andreas Hofenauer with the demonstrator of a lightweight composite board with fire resistance performance capability according to class A2

Tensile testing of a CFRP sample based on a specialty paper (in co-operation with LCC)


text, emphasis is placed on the specific advantages offered by paper technology, a wide multitude of new possible appli-cations will ensue. Paper materials thus have the potential to shape the markets of the future.The research projects set forth above are being funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology via the AiF. We would like to express our gratitude for this support. We would also like to express our appreciation to the partici-pating partners and participating compa-nies in the paper, supplier and applica-tions industries for their assistance and contributions. Contact: [email protected]

highly refractory or functional, for ex-ample, that they can directly influence the indoor climate efficiently. In this context, PTS, in co-operation with the Institut für Gießereitechnik (Institute of Casting Technology) in Düsseldorf (IFG), looked into the possibility of manufactur-ing cast pipes based on specialty paper that are to be used to guide molten metal in the foundry industry. In another pro-ject, in co-operation with Holzforschung München (HFM)(Wood Research Mu-nich), a lightweight board was developed on the basis of a sandwich construction. This light-weight composite building board has a specific weight of approx. 300 kg/m³ and adequate strength values for applications such as suspended ceil-

ings or nonload-bearing drywalls, for ex-ample, and thus achieves fire protection class A2.Furthermore, the use of modern synthet-ic fibres provides considerable leverage in the production of modern materials. In a project in co-operation with the Chair for Carbon Composites (LCC) at Munich Technical University, semi-finished prod-ucts for the production of CFRP products are being developed using paper tech-nology based on recycled carbon fibres. This is intended to make an important contribution to the efficient use of car-bon fibres in the production of modern composite materials.If paper is understood to be a modern composite material and if, in this con-

Paper samples after exposure to molten metal (1400 °C) (in co-operation with IFG) Samples of a non-flammable lightweight sand-wich board (in co-operation with HFM)

Two teams – whenever this pro-ject title is mentioned in a dis-cussion, the reactions are po-

larized: ‘Two Teams? Roadmap? Never heard of that!“ is what some people will say. The other camp is well-informed and therefore responds slightly impatiently: ‘Sure, the first step towards implement-ing the Roadmap. Two teams competing for the best plans.’ Red or blue? How many fans do you have? Already posted some ideas? These are further typical reactions, which are usually followed by inquiries about details. The plans, for example, what are they like? Which ideas are going to win? And who are the team members? The answer is always silence – to keep the results confidential, as was agreed on at the beginning of the project. This confidentiality is meanwhile taxing the

patience of the industry, which has be-gun to cast covetous eyes on the project results. Their interest can certainly be re-garded as a first and very important pro-ject result. Two teams have taken up the challenge of a virtually insoluble task, and nobody smiles at them. Quite the reverse: The industry gradually realizes that the Two Teams are working to de-sign a certain part of its future, and that drawing up concepts is highly important for the future paper sector. As a first step that heralds the dawn of a new area. The Roadmap and ongoing Two Team Project have already achieved one key result: The European paper sector has started to jointly shape its future. By organizing events and forums whose topics focus on the sector’s future perspectives. By establishing technical committees that collect ideas and pass them on to the

“TWO TEAMS” HEADING FOR THE FUTURE

Workshop at TU Darmstadt, chaired by J. Kappen

Two Teams. The more the industry un-derstands what’s going on in the project, the more they are interested in its results, and the more impatient they become. The results will be presented at the Euro-pean Paper Week in November, including the winning Team. The European paper sector has won something already – a small competitive edge. Contact: [email protected]


Users rightly expect that dispos-able table decoration products like napkins, paper tablecloths,

placemats etc. offer both optical attrac-tiveness and the necessary performance characteristics.The current trend towards coloured ta-ble decorations makes it necessary to ensure adequate ink adhesion on these products. They must be largely resistant to ink rub-off or abrasion, for example, to avoid the transfer of ink particles to table linens or the customer’s hands and clothes during use. This makes a suitable test method for evaluating the ink rub-off resistance practically inevitable. Most of the methods available so far use visual assessments of specimens that were ex-posed to mechanical loads; none of them is tailored to the specific characteristics of table decorations, which are usually multi-ply products and can have greatly varying designs.This was the starting point for an indus-try-financed multi-client research project carried out by PTS and renowned manu-facturers of tissue materials, table deco-

rations and printing inks.Besides drawing up specific requirement profiles for individual products and ana-lysing the test methods currently used in industry, the project focused mainly on the development of a suitable, preferably quantitative test method that makes it possible to objectively and reproducibly measure and rank the ink rub-off resist-ance of table decoration products. De-

INK ADHESION ON TABLE DECORATION PRODUCTS – NEW OPTIONS FOR TESTING

clared aim of the project consortium was the development of a test method that can later become a standard. The project has led to a test method for the dry ink rub-off resistance of table decoration products that is suitable for printed, internally dyed, varnished or embossed napkins, table cloths or run-ners made of tissue or nonwoven materi-als.

With a quartant abrasion tester the specimen is rubbed against a reference paper under specified conditions


The method uses a Quartant abrasion tester where the specimen is rubbed against a reference paper under specified conditions. Measure of the abrasion ef-fect is the shift in chromaticity co-ordi-nates Delta E determined by a spectral photometer as colour difference between the original and stained reference paper. The project has shown that the method gives reliable and sufficiently repeatable measuring results if the specified test procedure is strictly complied with and

all devices and aids are used in the speci-fied way, kept in perfect condition and regularly checked. The method was applied by table decora-tion producers and printing ink suppliers over a period of one year, and evaluated by round robins. It was proposed for standardization to the DIN committee NA 074-02-01 AA “Test methods for tis-sue and tissue products“ in May 2013, who accepted the proposal. In view of the vast amount of work al-

ready done and many positive results achieved so far, we expect that a draft standard will be published by DIN before the end of this year. An official standard for testing the dry ink rub-off resistance of table decoration products should be available to the industry in 2014. Contact: [email protected]

At the beginning of April Heidenau’s mayor Jürgen Opitz visited the PTS insti-tute in Heide-nau near Dresden, the cur-rent workplace of 79 of the altogether 153 PTS employees. Irene Pollex, head of the material testing & simulation department and spokesperson of the Heide-nau insti-tute, showed him around the building and explained anything worth knowing about paper. The mayor was visibly impressed by the institute’s state-of-the art labora-tory and pilot plant facilities, close links with other national and European insti-tutes and great commitment to continuing education and training.


HEIDENAU’S MAYOR VISITS PTS

On 27 March, 16 new students of the department of pro-cess engineering for paper and packaging at Munich Uni-versity of Applied Sciences visited PTS. Their visit had been organised by Aktivitas München. Ingrid Demel, head of the fibre composites department of PTS, gave an overview of the institute’s present fields of activity. This was followed by presentations of the current activities of PTS in resource management given by Christian Bienert, project leader for water and energy, and new materials given by Dr Andreas Hofenauer, head of the functional-ized products department. The subsequent lecture about a “New generation of functional cellulose fibre based pack-aging materials for sustainability“ held by Esther Escol-ano, participant in the Marie Curie project ”Initial Train-ing Networks“, tested the English language skills of the students. Final highlight of the visit was the VESTRA pilot coater, where especially the Curtain Coater met with keen interest. Contact: [email protected]

PTS WELCOMES NEW STUDENTS


Mr Dr Fokko Schütt received the Young Talent Award of Zellcheming for his doctoral

thesis on “Steam pretreatment and en-zymatic hydrolysis of poplar wood” at the General Meeting of the Zellcheming association on 12 June 2013. The lauda-tory speech was made by Professor Bodo Saake from the Department of Wood Sci-ence at Hamburg University, who had also supervised the thesis.Aim of Mr Schütt’s thesis was to enable the use of wood that cannot be fully de-barked for economic reasons, in a biore-finery process. The use of non-debarka-ble scrap wood takes some of the tension out of the present competition with the woodworking and wood fibre processing sectors, and improves the cascading uti-lization of this carbon-neutral resource.Mr Schütt has been employed at the PTS department of raw materials and recy-

cling in Heidenau since August 2012. Focal points of his work are the use of residues from paper production and al-

PTS EMPLOYEE RECEIVES YOUNG TALENT AWARD OF ZELLCHEMING

ternative raw materials for papermaking, among other.


Fokko Schütt, Holger Baumgartner, Prof. Bodo Sake and Dr. Wilhelm Busse (from left to right) Source: Christiane Haumann-Frietsch, www.foto-christiane.de

The PTS Environmental Sympo-sium is the meeting place for the industry and its suppliers on

the themes of water, energy, air, wastes and environmental legislation. It is a framework to meet and talk to key con-tact persons - a discussion with leading professionals makes it possible to form opinions and provide orientation. The lectures provide a deeper insight into current developments and supply attend-ees with comprehensive information. The latest findings and cutting-edge de-velopments from scientific research and industrial practice will be introduced and discussed.

Focus of this symposium is on:• Environmental legislation and rel-

evance• Energy• Wastes and valuable materials• WastewaterSpeakers will provide deep insight into current trends, convey comprehensive information and report on the latest find-ings and developments in science and the industry. Make contact with poten-tial partners, get informed and form your own opinion by discussing the topics with renowned experts and solutions to future challenges.On the first day there will be two spe-

cial events after the lectures: A technical visit to Gut Grosslappen, one of Munichs sewage treatmentplants. Their combined treatment capacity amounts to around 160 million m³ per year, the plants pu-rify the domestic wastewater of the city’s altogether 1.5 million inhabitants and en-terprises as well as the sewage from 22 communities in the surrounding areas. After this visit we invite all attendees to a joint dinner at the histroical Augustiner Keller in Munich.Note: Alle lectures will have a simultane-ous translation German/English!

Contact: [email protected] or [email protected]

PTS COATING SYMPOSIUM17 - 18 September 2013 at BMW Welt München

» Keynote lecture by Jussi Pesonen (President and CEO of UPM)

» Current challenges − Challenging application technologies: printing and converting − Permanent challenges for research and production: improved efficiency in processes, raw materials and measuring techniques

» Technologies for the future − Curtain Coating – a coating technology for the future − New products through coating; barriers

www.coating-symposium.comPapiertechnische StiftungHess-Strasse 134 · 80797 Munich/Germany · Phone +49 (0)89-12146-0 · Fax +49 (0)89-12146-36Pirnaer Strasse 37 · 01809 Heidenau/Germany · Phone +49 (0)3529-551-60 · Fax +49 (0)3529-551-899PTS-News is published by Papiertechnische Stiftung · ISSN 1434-7172

Communication: an evening get-together in the exhibition areaTechnical visit: News at the Vestra pilot coater or BMW Munich Plant

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