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Calendar nip impressions Procedure

1. Safety caution
2. Overview Static & Dynamic nip impressions
3. Dynamic nip impression procedure
4. Preparing to take a dynamic nip impression
5. Taking the dynamic nip impression
6. Using the results of the nip impression

Date: 7/26/2019
1. Safety Caution
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DANGER:
Taking nip impressions is dangerous if not performed properly. Only
specially trained personnel should perform nip impressions. In addition,
anyone involved in taking a nip impression on this calender must first be
thoroughly familiar with all safety aspects of the machine and the
contents of the Operating and Maintenance manual.

Taking nip impressions requires proximity to ingoing nips. Extreme

caution must be used when working near rotating rolls and ingoing nips.
Keep hands, clothing, and hair away from ingoing nips to avoid serious
crushing injuries. Always pass the nip impression paper through the nip
from beyond the ends of the roll. Never place hands near the nip.
Any questions or comments regarding the safety aspects of the procedure
or the machinery supplied by an OEM should be addressed to the OEM for
its clarification or other response before using, maintaining or servicing
the machinery.

CAUTION:Taking nip impressions is dangerous if not performed

properly. To maximize safety, it is recommended that the mill contact
Valmet to conduct the dynamic nip impressions.

CAUTION:Hydrodynamic Controlled Crown rolls (older Beloit

Corporation designs) may be damaged while performing dynamic nip
impressions due to lack of oil film between shell and load shoe. Dynamic
nip impressions should not be performed in nips with hydrodynamic CC
rolls.

2. Overview
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A nip impression is a mapping of the surface contact of adjacent rolls. Nip

impressions are usually taken at installation to ensure that rolls are
properly positioned for a uniform nip profile. Nip impressions can also be
used to investigate the cause for decreased paper quality. They may
indicate the need to re-surface filled or polymer rolls.
There are two kinds of nip impressions, static and dynamic (moving).
Both types of nip impressions are taken using a pressure-sensitive type of
material about 10" wide and longer than the face width of the roll. The
paper must be sensitive to pressures up to, and in excess of, the total nip
loading of the calendar.
Static nip impression
A static nip impression measures the width of the nip. The width of the
nip is a machine direction measurement of how much the rolls flatted as a
result of nip loading. It is taken by placing a pressure sensitive strip into
the open nip, then closing and re-opening the stack.
The width of the nip is important when determining the loading needs for
the type of paper being produced. However, it is not recommended that
mill personnel perform this type of nip impression since excessive static
loading can damage the rolls, leading to stack vibration problems.
Instead, it is recommended that the mill contact Valmet to conduct a
static nip impression. When the analysis is conducted by Valmet, a lower
pressure is used, and the results are used to extrapolate the required
loading needs when running.
Dynamic nip impression
A dynamic nip impression can assist in diagnosing the cause for the
following conditions:
inability to wind a good roll of paper (for example: hardness variation)
uneven temperature profile of the calender rolls
A dynamic nip impression should only be taken to resolve problems which
cannot be resolved with other methods.
A dynamic nip impression is used to verify nip uniformity in the cross
machine direction. A chart of high and low spots across the nip is obtained
by passing a pressure sensitive strip through the nip at jog or threading
speed, under normal nip loading.
High and low spots around the circumference of the roll can also be
mapped using a longer piece of pressure sensitive paper.
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3. Dynamic nip impression procedures
It is recommended that nip impressions be taken for all nips in the stack.
For nips consisting of at least one filled or polymer roll, it is recommended
that nip impressions be taken both before and after roll changes. If it is
not practical to take all of the recommended nip impressions, at least the
top and bottom nip impressions should be taken.
If the top and bottom nips look good, the entire stack will usually be
good. However, intermediate roll nip impressions may reveal binding. In a
nip relieving system, they may show either a bad cylinder or badly
proportioned nip relieving zones.
It is important to have enough trained staff available to perform the nip
impressions, and to check the brightness of the nip paper immediately
after all of the necessary impressions have been taken. Nip impressions
should only be conducted by trained personnel who are familiar with the
nip impression procedure as well as the operation of the calender.
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4. Preparing to take a dynamic nip impression

DANGER:Dynamic nip impressions should be taken with great care and

caution since they involve moving parts. To prevent accidental injury, follow
all instructions and warnings!

A dynamic nip impression requires the following staff, time, and equipment:
Staffing:

 (1) calender operator (1 more if no E-Stop on the threading platform)

 (5) calender helpers
 (1) electrical maintenance person

Equipment:

 Portable or laboratory brightness meter

Down-time:

 Approximately 1/2 hour per nip plus any roll change time

1. Take a roll profile of each soft roll using a roll skate.

2. Check for proper operation of the emergency stop cable located on the front of
the threading platform, if so equipped. If there is no E-Stop on the threading
platforms (older systems), position an extra operator at the nearest appropriate E-
stop button.
3. Check that nip guards are in place and properly attached. If your calender does
not have nip guards, check with the calender supplier to determine if guards can be
fitted to your application.
4. Clean the nip guards to remove oil, water, or dirt.
5. Change the calender program logic to allow the calender to be loaded at slow
speed (50 fpm or less).

NOTE:Document all program logic changes that are made. The changes will
need to be reversed later.

6. Ensure that calender rolls are clean and dry.

7. Set the calender loading cylinders to zero bias between the tending and drive side
to achieve equal loading pressure.
8. Follow the appropriate procedure for your system:
With a fixed crown top and bottom roll, use a pi tape to check and record the crown
of the top and bottom rolls.
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With a variable crown roll (this includes deflection compensated swimming and zone
controlled rolls), set the controls to zero bias to achieve a theoretically flat profile.
9. Cut the length of the nip impression paper to extend at least 18” beyond the roll
face.

WARNING: To prevent injury during the nip impression process, it is

important that the paper extends at least 18” beyond the end of the face of
the roll or the shaft nut. This ensures clearance from the nip when all
instructions are followed.
Hands should be kept clear of the nip at all times. All work should be
performed beyond the face of the roll or the shaft nut.

10. Mark the far ends of the nip impression paper to identify the tend and drive
sides. On the drive side, also include the following information: machine number, nip
location, date and time, calender load, for fixed rolls record the top and bottom roll
crowns, for variable crown rolls record the loading pressure and record whether the
nip impression was taken using existing or new intermediate rolls.
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5. Taking the dynamic nip impression

NOTE: It is best to first take a nip impression of the top nip, followed by the
bottom nip, then completing the remaining nips. For nips consisting of at
least one filled or polymer roll, it is recommended that nip impressions be
taken both before and after roll changes. However, mills often take only
post roll change nip impressions.

NOTE: When replacing filled or synthetically covered rolls, make sure to use
rolls with the appropriate roundness and diameter profile as specified by the
roll manufacturer. If the profile of the rolls varies more than the
recommended amounts, it may be difficult to achieve the desired nip profile,
thus affecting web caliper.

1. Close the calender, but do not apply loading (minimum PLI).

2. Run calender speed to 20-30 FPM.
3. Load the calender to the average PLI run on the calender.
4. Position calender personnel so that there are 2 people on the ingoing side of the
nip to be tested, and 3 people on the outgoing side.

 The 2 people located on the ingoing side of the nip must have the correct
length and properly marked nip paper. One person must be located on the TS,
the other on the DS of the stack, ready to hold the nip paper taut as it is passed
into the nip. This positioning keeps operators away from the ingoing nip. No one
must ever place any part of his or her body, or any equipment, in the area in
front of the ingoing nip.

DANGER: Do not place any body parts, hair, clothing, or equipment in the
area in front of the ingoing nip.

 The 3 people located on the outgoing side of the nip should be positioned one
on the TS, one in center, and one on the DS of the stack, ready to remove the
nip paper after it passes through the nip. The person in the center should have
a roll scraper.

5. Carefully, holding the nip paper taut, and keeping all body parts away from the
nip, feed the nip paper into the ingoing nip from both ends of the paper (beyond the
face of the roll).
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DANGER: USE EXTREME CARE when feeding the nip paper into the nip or
removing it from the nip.
It is important that the nip paper is held on the very ends of the paper
(outside the face of the roll or shaft nut) when it is fed into the nip. Keep a
safe distance from nips when rolls are rotating.
Failure to follow this warning can result in serious injury.
Do not guess at the proper procedure. If there are any questions, call your
OEM representative.

6. Carefully remove the nip paper after it passes through the nip. The person located
in the center of the outgoing nip should use the roll scraper to remove the paper in
the event it sticks to a roll.

CAUTION: Use a roll scraper to help remove the nip impression paper from
the outgoing side of the roll. Never use your hands.

7. Roll up the nip paper and set it aside until all nip impressions have been taken.
8. Repeat these steps for each nip.
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6. Using the results of the nip impression

1. As soon as possible after all nip impressions have been taken, check and record
the brightness of the nip paper every six inches across the full length of each nip
impression.

NOTE: A darker spot in the paper indicates higher linear pressure in the nip.
When the linear pressure is uniform, the paper is evenly dark. A closer study
requires brightness measuring (e.g., every 10 cm).

2. Evaluate the top and bottom nip impressions after the roll change.
3. Make any necessary adjustments to achieve the desired flat nip profile, then take
a new nip impression to check the results.

 With a fixed crown roll, this requires grinding a new crown into the roll.
Additionally, if the crown shown for “typical” loading is not correct, adjusting
calender loading may help to determine the “flat profile” PLI for the existing
crown.
 With variable crown rolls, the roll bias is adjusted to give a uniform flat
profile and the new setting becomes the ZERO bias.

4. Compare the results of the "before" and "after" nip impressions to determine
whether the problem is created by the incoming paper or the calender stack.
Finishing the process
After all nip impressions have been made, remove the changes which were made to
the calender program logic to allow loading at slower speed.
For more information on nip impressions and calender operations, contact your
Valmet representative for training or other options.