ABB India completes mill modernization for Bilt Graphic Paper Products

ABB India said that it has completed a mill modernization project for Bilt Graphic Paper Products Limited (BGPPL) at its factory in Ballarpur, India by commissioning an Induction xP Plus Profiler system on the latter’s paper machine 3 (PM3).

According to Uday Kukde, the general manager and unit head of Bilt Graphic Paper Products, Ballarpur, the company had decided to change its ABB CD caliper control system (ThermoProfiler) with the latest Induction xP Plus profiler for paper machine 3 at the Ballarpur plant. This was part of the company’s paper mill modernization project.

Bilt Graphic Paper Products produces premium uncoated woodfree writing and printing paper along with high-quality office paper from virgin wood fibers at the Ballarpur paper mill.

Uday Kukde said: “This upgrade to a newer, more reliable product was critical in order to improve our efficiency, safety and quality by reducing product variability, breakdown and inventory cost.”

ABB India completes mill modernization for Bilt Graphic Paper Products. Photo courtesy of ABB.

The commissioning of the Induction xP Plus Profiler system was done remotely by the subsidiary of Switzerland-based automation company ABB.

Rajmohan Arumugam – Engineering Manager – QMS, ABB said: “This has been a significant, first-of-its-kind remote commissioning for ABB, made possible by the team’s strong domain expertise.

“Despite it being a complex task, the team overcame all logistical and health and safety hurdles and ensured that the entire process ran smoothly and exceeded customer expectations.”

The company’s new Induction xP Plus is a cross direction (CD) caliper profile control for getting maximum induction heating in the shortest time possible. This helps in reduced variability of products and quick corrections to sheet finishing profiles.

ABB said that the actuator by using an alternating magnetic field heats the calender roll, thereby creating heat causing eddy currents that result in the expansion of the roll. This process narrows the nip between rolls and will compress the paper for lowered caliper and increased smoothness to provide advanced caliper profiling and sheet finishing capability to paper producers.

The actuator is said to be an integral part of the ABB Ability Quality Management System (QMS), which is based on the digital platform – ABB Ability System 800xA.

Bilt Graphic Paper Products, which is a subsidiary of Ballarpur Industries Limited owned by Netherlands-based Ballarpur International Holdings B.V.,  is engaged in manufacturing coated and uncoated woodfree paper along with copy paper from various facilities across Maharashtra.

The company exports paper products to 55 plus countries and has a total capacity of 670,000 metric tons per year across three paper mills.