To ensure efficient dewatering, Voith Paper has developed new polyurethane suction roll covers AquaFlow and SolarFlow. With the help of an innovative bonding system they achieve the highest dry content and also save energy.

Aircraft and automotive industries are using the Interpenetrated Network (IPN) technology . Now Voith Paper too is using this innovative bonding system (WebNet technology) for suction press roll covers AquaFlow and SolarFlow. The benefits of WebNet are tremendous. Due to the threedimensional linking of the polymers the bonding of the functional layer with the roll shell is substantially improved. Thus now the covers have better temperature stability and higher impact resistance against mechanical stress and chemical attack.

The new structure of the polyurethane functional layer permits deeper grooves for even more efficient dewatering. This means that the AquaFlow grooves can now be 2.3 mm deep and the groove width will be between 0.5 mm and 0.9 mm. The land area width will be 2.0-2.5 mm. SolarFlow has even deeper grooves - up to 3.0 mm deep with a width of 0.4-0.9 mm and land area of 1.8-2.5 mm. Thanks to the deeper grooves, the storage volume of the covers is enlarged and the water can be removed faster to the saveall pan.

This leads to efficient nip dewatering with reduced hydraulic nip pressure. Roll covers with additional blind drilling may no longer be necessary. Furthermore it may be possible to remove uhle boxes for felt conditioning - which of course leads to considerable cost savings.