Modeling of Grade Change Operations in Paper Plants

In this work we developed the closed-loop model of a paper machine during grade change with the intention to provide a reliable dynamic model to be used in the model-based grade change control scheme. During the grade change, chemical and physical characteristics of paper process change with time. It is very difficult to represent these characteristics on-line by using physical process models. In this work, the wet circulation part and the drying section were considered as a single process and closed-loop identification technique was used to develop the grade change model. Comparison of the results of numerical simulations with plant operation data demonstrates the effectiveness of the model identified.