Daniel Hédou, AstenJohnson's global innovation leader for press fabrics, points out that "this is virtually unheard of. Usually, papermakers will not reorder a product until the trial fabric has come off of the machine and has been fully evaluated."
AccuFlow II is the newest addition to AstenJohnson's press fabric portfolio. It shares some of the unique features of the original AccuFlow (like a patent-pending base design that gives it superior water handling abilities) and has the added ability to resist wear from abrasive fillers.
"Of all of the seamed structure fabrics in the marketplace, we are the only ones laminating a two-layer with another two-layer product," Hédou explains. "The fabric stays open on the machine, giving it exceptional water handling capacity."
According to Hédou, mills running the AccuFlow II fabric have documented savings of more than $13 millon combined due to longer run times, reduced sheet breaks, and greater dewatering with less vacuum, which saves energy. To date, the fabric has been run on 17 different paper machine positions.
The base for AccuFlow II, which is primarily designed for high-speed printing and writing machines, is manufactured using single monofilament and cabled monofilament yarns. This provides resistance to compaction, low flow resistance, high water handling capacity, and increased resistance to wear.
More information on AccuFlow II fabrics for printing/writing grades is available online.
TAPPI
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