The French paper company PAPETERIE SAINT MICHEL (THIOLLET Group), supported by the regional government of Nouvelle-Aquitania, recently carried out, together with Bellmer, the rebuild of the hood ventilation technology and the steam and condensate system of PM 1
The project has implemented the following:
- New drying hoods for the pre- and post-drying sections made of detachable insulating panels. In this way, practically all heat losses are eliminated by convection and heat radiation from the external surfaces.
- Heat recovery for the hood exhaust air of the two hoods by installing two air/air heat exchangers. The recovered energy is fed into two circuits: both the hood supply air of the pre- and post-dryer sections and the hall ventilation.
- Blower boxes for pocket ventilation in both the pre- and after-dryer sections.
- Ventilation equipment on both hoods for automatic dew point control to ensure optimum energy efficiency.
- Modification of the steam and condensate system with cascade control concept to minimize steam consumption in the entire dryer section.
The close cooperation between PAPETERIE SAINT MICHEL and Bellmer guaranteed an extremely successful implementation of the project. The project objective was achieved completely – in addition to the optimised production processes, the savings in energy costs are higher than expected. After only a few operating weeks, the energy saving rate was already 23%, with the expected rate being 21.5%.
