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Removing Paper Dust from Embossing Rolls with a Blower-Driven Slit Air Nozzle

Removing Paper Dust from Embossing Rolls with a Blower-Driven Slit Air Nozzle

Solutions or Products Featured
in This Case Study

SLNB

Key Reasons for Implementation

A slit nozzle (air knife) operable with blower air—rather than compressed air—was available in the company’s extensive product lineup.

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Challenges Faced by the Customer

This case study highlights the challenges encountered in the embossing process in a toilet paper manufacturing plant and the measures taken to address them.

“Jumbo Roll”—a large parent roll before rewinding into smaller rolls

Embossed pattern

Toilet paper production involves unwinding jumbo rolls—large parent rolls prior to processing— rewinding them into smaller rolls, and cutting them to household size before final packaging. During the rewinding stage, embossing is applied to impart a soft texture to the paper.

Production Line and Embossing Process

The left illustration shows an overview of the production line, where paper sheets are unwound from a jumbo roll, embossed, and delivered to the rewinding roll. The right illustration depicts the embossing mechanism, in which the upper rubber roll presses the sheet against the lower embossing roll to transfer the embossed pattern.

However, paper dust tended to accumulate in the recesses of the embossing roll, disrupting the pattern and causing variations in finish quality. Frequent cleaning was required to remove the dust, resulting in additional maintenance workload and cost while reducing overall productivity.

In light of these challenges, the customer approached IKEUCHI—an experienced supplier of nozzle products for paper and pulp production lines—for a solution.

Solutions Proposed by IKEUCHI

IKEUCHI proposed an air-blow solution to efficiently remove paper dust adhering to the embossing roll. The solution employed a slit nozzle—commonly known as an air knife—that provides a uniform sheet of airflow across the entire line width. This design enables effective removal of paper dust lodged in the recesses of the roll.

However, the customer wanted to avoid using compressed air because of the high operating costs of the compressors.

From its extensive product lineup, IKEUCHI therefore selected the slit nozzle SLNB Series operable with a blower, and proposed it together with a Roots blower as the power source. This configuration delivers stable, sufficient performance for effective paper dust removal.

Left: Blower-air Slit nozzle SLNB Series | Right: Roots blower driving the SLNB

A test unit was loaned for on-site trials, which confirmed high performance in paper dust removal as well as ease of operation.

Benefits Achieved

Once installed on the line, the SLNB allows operators to simply switch it on whenever paper dust accumulates, providing quick air blow cleaning and significantly reducing maintenance effort.

The SLNB uses blower air to blow off paper dust from the embossing roll below.